During my perusals of the Telegraph or Times announcements, I often notice a love of diminutive-names that are more brisk and quirky than the standard two-syllable, ie/y-endings we know and love well. Edwards are often Ned, rather than Eddy; several Henrys are Hal, and Christophers are the striking Kit rather than Chris.
And these names are not just used as nicknames for their formal counterparts: frequently they can found in the middle-name spot, offering a little bit of levity to a heavier name. Billie Piper and Laurence Fox's new son Eugene Pip demonstrates this perfectly. Other examples from recent years include Aeneas Ned, Octavius Kit and Timothy Hal.
With this niche trend in mind, here is a run down of some one-syllable diminutives that have become overlooked since they were developed in the Middle Ages. Several of them, perhaps surprisingly, were unisex.
Bess
In the 16th century Bess was a popular nickname for Elizabeth. You could almost say that she was the diminutive for the name, as Elizabeth I was known fondly as "Good Queen Bess". It began to loose favour in the 18th century, but was revived as Bessie in the 19th. In some instances, Bess was also used as a diminutive for Beatrice.
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Dodge / Hodge
Back in the 12th century, Rodge, a pet form of Roger, developed into Dodge and Hodge. Several surnames have been created from both diminutives including Dodgson, Dodson, Hodgson, Hodgkin and Hodgett.
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Gell
Both Gell and Gill are diminutives of Julian, used as both a masculine and feminine name in the Middle Ages. Both Julian, and the feminine Latinisation Juliana, were colloquially formed into Jelion, Jillian and Gillian, and it is from these vernacular pronunciations that Gell and Gill were derived. Joll, Jull and Jell were also used.
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Gib
Gilbert has been used in Britain since it was brought over by the Normans. Gib/b was an early pet-form, and has given rise to surnames like Gibben, Gibling and Gibson. Gil was also used as a diminutive, and from Gib, we also find the variant Gip/p. From the 14th century we also find the term "gib-cat", seemingly because male cats used to be referred to as Gilbert*.
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Hal
After the Norman Conquest, Henry became a popular import. In English, the name was pronounced as Herry or Harry, and from these sprung the diminutives Hen, Han and, more famously – thanks to Shakespeare's Henry V – Hal.
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Hitch
We may be more familiar with Rich, Rick or Dick, but the Middle Ages gave us many more pet-forms for Richard. Hitch was a diminutive common in the 13th century, particularly in Cheshire. Other forms include Hick, Higg and Digg.
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Hud
Many Huds today are shortened from Hudson, but, of course, Hudson itself takes its origins from a "son of Hud". Although unused now, Hud was once a very common pet-form of Hugh.
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Jep
Jep and Gepp were Medieval nicknames for the popular Geoffrey. It is now more familiar from the surname Jepson.
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Jem
Jem was a popular short form and vernacular pronunciation of James. Reaney believes that feminine examples of Jemme and Gemme dating from the 13th century show that, at this time, James was both a masculine and feminine name*. Jemmett and Jemson are still used as surnames, and attest to its popular usage. Jem is now also used as a shortening of Jemima.
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Kit
In the Middle Ages, Kit was used as a nickname for both Christopher and Katherine. There is some evidence that it was also used for Christiana*.
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Moll
From the 13th century Mall and Moll were used as pet-forms of Mary, which had gained popular usage in Britain in the 12th century. Moll became Poll, and, thus, Molly and Polly.
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Ned
Edward can be found shortened to Ned at least as early as the 14th century. The popular folk story is that the phrase "mine Edward" or "mine Ed" was rendered later to "my Ned." Other examples given include Nan (Anne), Noll (Oliver), Nalle (Alice) and Nell (used as a feminine and masculine pet-name for Ellen and Ellis). However, this theory does not explain the concurrent use of Ted, and, as the other names in this post show, rhyming variations by changing initial letters were common.
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Pip
Pip is a short form of Philip, used as both a masculine and feminine name in the Middle Ages, the feminine of which was often Latinised as Philippa. Phipp was also used as a pet-form. Earlier examples of Pip were most likely from Pepin.
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Tam
Tam was a medieval a variant of Tom, a pet-form of Thomas, used particularly, and for many years, in Scotland. It was also sometimes found as a pet-form of Tamsin, itself a vernacular form of Thomasina.
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Tib
In the 13th century Tib/b was used for both Theobald (commonly pronounced tib-old) and Isabel/la. Tibb for Theobald also became Tebb and Tipp, while Bel, Bibb, Ibb, Nibb, Libb and were also used for Isabel. With time, Theobald began to decrease in usage while Isabel/la remained popular. Tibb, therefore, became more often used on females, and by the 16th century, we find "Tib" also used as a term for a young girl, and used as a counterpart to Tom. Tib-cat was used for female cats, as tom-cat was used for males. Later we also find female cats known as Tabitha, which would explain the use of Tibby as a nickname for Tabitha*. Tibert, a form of Theobald, was also used as a name for a male cat, and seem to have got mixed up with Gilbert*.
Maud Hart Lovelace used Tib as a nickname for Thelma in Betsy-Tacy and Tib (1941).
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Wat
Before there was Walt, Wat was the standard pet-form of Walter. It survives in surnames like Watkins, Watson and Watten.
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