What's up with a boy named T-Sue and a girl named T-Bob?

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    Many centuries ago people were known only by their first names. It was only 600 to 700 years ago that people began using surnames. As populations grew throughout Europe, merely using first names became confusing because there were too many Marys and Johns in a village, so eke-names were used to better identify them.

    The word nickname derived from the old English eke-name, which meant an additional name. During the Middle Ages, many nicknames became surnames. Thus, an ancestor of Thomas Armstrong may have had strong arms, and Ann White had an ancestor with a pale complexion or light colored hair.

    Nicknames based on first name were also common, among them were Ned for Edward and Nan for Ann. In many French communities, the toughest male became LeBouef, and the sweet timid ones became LeDoux. The duplication of last names causes problems when researching family ancestry since many towns had LeBouefs and Ledouxs who were unrelated although they had the same last names.

    Nicknames were unusually common after World War I here in Acadiana when many of our ancestors spoke mostly French. Soldiers coming back from the war wanted to give children English names they had heard while on their tour of duty. Some elders could not pronounce those names so they used nicknames. To this day when someone dies and their obituaries are posted many do not know the person’s real name, having known them only by their nicknames.

    This column is about T-prefixed nicknames (sometimes spelled Tee, Te, Ti) but additional stories will be written later about other ones prevalent in our area.

    The tee sound at the beginning of nicknames comes from the French word petit (pronounced pee-tee for boys and pee-tit for girls), which means little or small.

    One of the most common T nickname is T-Boy meaning little boy. Other common ones are T-Dan (Daniel), T-Joe (Joseph), T-Don (Donald), T-Sid (Sidney), T-Meyon (little handsome one), T-Will (little William), T-Sha (Cher little boy), T-Man (Sherman or Herman), T-Beb (little baby), T-Adon (little Adam), T-Me (Remi), T-Nom (little man), T-Frere (little brother), T-Lec (Alexander), T-Mais (little corn), T-Nick (Nicholas), T-Paul, and T-Lynn. There are also T names based on colors such as T-Gre (Grey) T-Blue, and T-Neg (dark complected).

    T nicknames were not restricted to boy names. There are also many T nicknames for girls, among them are T-Mit (Mildred), T-Nan (Nancy, Nanny, Marain), T-Sue (Susan), T-Lan (Helen), and T-Bob (Barbara).

    There are some T nicknames selected for reasons other then those given above. Lesley Thibodeaux, who works with the St. Martin Parish Government, is known by family and friends by her nickname, T-Ta. Her explanation of the nickname is, “My very young brother couldn’t pronounce my little sister; he would say my little te-ter.” Soon the family started calling her T-Ta and that is how most people know her as today.

    Many residents and tourists shop at T-Sue’s Bakery in Henderson. How many people know the owner’s name or why he is called T-Sue?

    Comments about Les Vieux Temps articles are always appreciated. Please call (337) 754-9980 or e-mail yknott123@aol.com.