Nicholas-name

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A longer name corresponding to a shortened version common as a nickname, either of which may be the person or thing's actual name. humorous

    "He always calls me my nicholas-name Josephine, even though I keep telling him JJ is fine."

  2. 2
    A familiar name for a person or thing that is used in place of its actual name, usually longer or less wieldy. humorous

    "I'm Kai, but my friends call me Kylesternus. It's a nicholas-name."

Example

More examples

"He always calls me my nicholas-name Josephine, even though I keep telling him JJ is fine."

Etymology

From nickname, based on Nick being a common nickname for Nicholas (although nickname and Nick are unrelated).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.