"Nick" names

The title of this post is no coincidence. I am going to be talking about nicknames because I have had more than a few in my lifetime. What's weird is that before I was born, my parents were leaning toward naming me "Nicholas", or "Nick" for short. So had that plan gone through, I would have had a real Nick name.

Anyway, my name on my birth certificate is obviously Christopher. Since that is a super long, 3-syllable word, its easier to say "Chris", so then it was. On a side note, my name has the most letters out of anyone else's that I know who only has 3 names - Christopher Anthony Jackson = 25... go ahead, try to beat it.

Back on topic.. I have been called 'Chris' probably more rarely than the combination of all my other nicknames. When I was a bright-eyed little fellow, my grandpa used to sing songs and chants with everyone's names in it, but he would either modify the person's name or give them a nickname. In my song, I was Christy... I guess he thought this was cute. I thought I'd grow out of this, but I catch the old man calling me that now and again to this day - but I am fine with it.

Another nickname given by members of my family - this time my uncles - came as a result of an unfortunately short haircut I received as a prepubescent child. If you can't guess, I will tell you that the nickname was "Buzz". It didn't stop there however... my moniker came in a few different derivations: Buzzingham, Buzzard, etc. Eventually my hair grew out along with the fascination for this nickname, but it took awhile.

Throughout elementary school I received many jeering nicknames due in part my relatively smaller stature (and in part to kids being assholes): shrimp, shorty, midget.... you name it. I was not particularly fond of any of these and as the maturity levels rose, the jeering subsided.

Finally, I was labeled nearly 13 years ago with a name most of my friends and even my in-laws use to this day.... in fact, some people ONLY know me as "Skip" without knowing my real name at all - or even ever really asking for that information. The name started off as Skippy which some people still enjoy using, but I am more willing to be called a "Skip" for the rest of my life. Of course this name, too, took on many different derivations and forms ranging from Skip-Dogg to Skippity-Doo-Da-Day... imagine that! These too have long since passed as my Frankie Gs days came to a close and/or as I grew facial hair (I was going to go with pubic hair here, but thought it was off-color and a bit inaccurate). I like Skip and I am afraid I have no choice but to because it is here to stay. My best friends, their parents, my wife, and her family all call me that, so I am fine with it. Long live "Skip"!

Lastly, a more recent group of friends I met while playing softball in my new leagues in Chicago have taken to calling me "Amp". Having only known me for a relatively short time, they were initially unaware of my somewhat hyperactive and upbeat demeanor - and more specifically, playing softball. If you're wondering, they named me after the Mountain Dew energy drink - they found this easier to cheer from the dugouts. We'll see how this one goes...

I believe that I inherited the need to give everyone else some nickname because of my grandfather's aforementioned affinity to do so. What do you call me? What do I call you? I'm genuinely interested in hearing some feedback here...