The Family Pecking Order -- A Memoir

Chapter 3: Nicknames

Louise, my favorite aunt on momma's side, was the oldest of her seven sisters. At some point, she had been nicknamed "Louie" by her brothers and sisters. But I always called her Aunt Louise because it seemed too familiar and somehow disrespectful in my mind to call her "Aunt Louie".

It seems giving nicknames to family members became a tradition at some point because the practice continued into my generation. The oldest of my four sisters, Barbara, was nicknamed "Legs" in high school by some boys in her class. For obvious reasons because she is tall and hers were so long. Sometimes my brother Jim still calls her this today, even though she is in her 70's. My second-oldest sister, Frances, is "Effie". My twin Margaret is "Miggie". And my sister Therese, who looks enough like my twin and me that we could be triplets, is called "Tree". Somehow, I missed out on this ritual. I guess there's not much of a nickname to be made out of just plain "Mary".

Since I was a little kid, I've mostly known my aunts and uncles by their nicknames. I have to think hard sometimes to remember their real names. Three of my Daddy's sisters come to mind though since their names always seemed so unusual, perhaps even downright odd. They were certainly old-timey and from another age. Why anyone on God's green earth would choose to saddle a totally helpless infant with one of them is beyond me.

One of my aunts was named Theodora and her nickname was "Toddy". She was one of the candidates for the "favorite aunt" title on my Daddy's side of the family. Then there was Ada, called "Aiddy". The youngest of my Daddy's sisters with the given name of Agnes, their mother's name, carried the nickname of "Leafy". Goodness sakes! Where did that come from? What was it like growing up being called and answering to the name of one of the parts of a tree? Since I never thought to ask Aunt Leafy what she thought about it, I guess I should ask my own sister Therese, since we still call her "Tree" to this day.

Many years ago, when I was a child, Aunt Leafy had moved to the top of the candidate list for my "favorite aunt" on Daddy's side. Aunt Toddy remained in second place because I liked her personality. She was interesting and very different from her sisters so she always stood out to me.

Oh, and by the way, I found out when I was in my early teens that Aunt Leafy was given her nickname because she had a birthmark on the outside of her right leg. Yep, you guessed it – it is the shape of a leaf. So, that mystery was solved!