Throughout our society, especially in 2025, there is always something to complain about.

You can’t get very far from your bed in the morning without hearing some kind of objection. If you wake up and the first thing you do is pick up your phone and look on social media, you’re not even getting out of bed first.

Although every person, place, or thing known to man is up for speculation or debate, the one aspect of life I have never, ever heard any kind of criticism or negativity about is nicknames.

I’m not talking about an individual nickname because I’m sure there is a code name somewhere that someone doesn’t like whether you’re a parent and you don’t approve of what your son or daughter’s friends call them, or your a baseball player who doesn’t like what your coach calls you, or a bully called you something you didn’t like and an outside ear is now an everyday annoying voice.

I’m talking about the awesomeness of nicknames in general.

Nicknames are awesome for many reasons including the reasons listed why people don’t like them.

The parents might hate them, but their children might think they’re cool, and obviously the ones using the names think they are. The same way the coach and the assistant coaches don’t stop using a nickname, and the reason the bully said it in the first place.

They’re also a term of endearment.

There are the generic ones such as babe, baby, sugar, angel, honey, sweetie pie, boo, love, pet, love bug, cupcake, pumpkin, doll, darling, sweetheart, dearest, hun, buddy, cutie, kiddo, sunshine, precious (or it can be used for an object like in Lord of the Rings, who doesn’t have Smeagol in their head right now), pumpkin, momma, pops, old man, old lady, sis, bro, broseph (I use all of the time), brosiah (I like to think I made up), broshabba (I know I created), partner in crime, homie, wingman or wingwoman, bestie, BFF, partner, troublemaker, my other half, lover, muffin, peaches, and just about any word used for a sweet treat in America or another country.

There are also generic nicknames used in sports such as champ, king, captain, hero, and savior.

There are nicknames for places, food, drinks, attractions, events, objects, and anything else we have whether they’re generic or not.

What’s awesome is, they all tell a story.

I umpired a baseball game last Tuesday in Sandwich. The opponent, Plano, had a catcher who was routinely called “Moose.” Between an inning, I thought I’d ask him, why are you named after an animal I associate with Minnesota, Bullwinkle, or antlers. He smiled and said it’s a long story, but because of the size of his mother’s belly before he has born, someone told her she was going to give birth to a moose.

Even though he turned out to be an average size newborn, his parents began calling him “Moose” and the name has never dropped. Honestly, I didn’t ask him his real name and never heard anyone call him anything but “Moose.”

A few days later, I was back in Sandwich and they were playing Johnsburg. The first baseman and relief pitcher, same person, was called “Bear.”

Not the smallest kid on the team, I made an assumption it was because of his size. Instead of just being big, his basketball coach coined the name because he said he ran like a bear.

If you go to Earlville for any sporting event or social interaction, it seems everyone has a nickname with a cool story behind it.

In my line of work, I’m always trying to find stories or a way to communicate with people. However, even when I’m not trying to work or find an in, I’m always trying to research why someone is called something other than the name on their birth certificate.

On an airplane about four years ago, I met a woman named R.

I literally asked her, what’s the rest of her name. She laughed and told me there wasn’t anymore, it’s just the letter R.

Come to find out, I’m not trying to get dark but stating the truth, she was named after her father who later went to prison. In a display that he was no longer in her life and would never have the chance to be again, she removed the rest of her name, legally, and will now and forever be R.

It’s awesome to be able to tell stories, have a personality, a connection, a bond, and fun with a simple thing such as a nickname.