Mexican slang nicknames are something else: “Hey Chela, vamos por unas chelas!”
Have you ever heard your Mexican acquaintance Jesús answer to Chucho? Did you know that your friend Chabela probably has Isabel written on her birth certificate? Believe it or not, the names are the same, when looking at how Mexicans apply diminutive.
Almost every first name has its diminutive version in Mexico. The author of The Mexican Slang Dictionary, Alasdair Baverstock lists some of the most common you might hear bandied around as your social circle grows.
Alberto – Beto
Concepción – Concha
Cuauhtémoc – Cuau, Temo, Temoc
Enrique – Kike, Kikis
Ernesto – Neto
Gilberto – Gil, Beto
Graciela – Chela
n.b. The slang word for ‘beer’ is also ‘Chela’, due to the similarity between the words ‘Graciela’ and ‘Cerveza’.
Guillermo – Memo
Ignacio – Nacho
Jesús – Chuy, Chucho, Churras
José – Pepe, Che
José María – Chema
Lucía – Lucha, Chia
Manuel – Manu, Manolo
María del Rosario – Charo, Chayo
Mercedes – Meche
Pablo – Pavo
Patricio – Pato
Rosalba – Chava
Salvador – Chava
Sergio – Checo
Sofía – Chofi, Choso
Vicente – Chente
You can buy “The Mexican Slang Dictionary” on Amazon in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. MND readers in San Miguel de Allende can pick up a copy at Aurora Books.
Alisdair Baverstock is the Mexico City based author of The Mexican Slang Dictionary.
The list misses “Pancho” and “Paco” for Francisco, “Lulú” and “Lula” for Lourdes, and “Lupe” for Guadalupe. There are many more that have been missed, but these three are pretty common nicknames.
There are literally a thousand of these. Literally every name has one.
Lupe for Guadalupe is obvious, that one wouldn’t be a mystery to anyone, not even an anglophone.
Lourdes is not so common that one would throw their hands up and say “OMG how could you omit this?!”
Fransisco I do agree with you about. Because that one is so common and also it makes no phonetic or literal sense; one can’t reason their way to that one.
Chelo for Consuelo. Ale for Alejandra. Guanatos for Guadalajara.
Fer for Fernando
Nicknames are used as in the “English Version” with a caveat.
For family, kids, and close friends, people use endearing “nicknames.”
Carlos– Carlitos, Charlie (yes, as in Charlie Brown), Guillermo– Memo, Memito, “ito” as an endearing diminutive for kids primarily, and sometimes with adults as a sign of affection.
Manuelito, Pedrito, Jorgito, Oscarito, Luisito, Elenita, Luisita, Claudita, etc.
Caveat: You can only add “ito” to really close friends and family and rarely with business associates or people you just met.
Other nicknames are a bit different, like Checo, as in Sergio, or Chuy, as Jesús. Although they are applicable, these endearing versions are frequently used through adulthood.
The same applies to American names, i., e:
Eleanor– Elaine, Ellen, Ellie, Lanna, Lenora, Nelly, Nora
Edward– Ed, Eddie, Eddy, Ned, Ted, Teddy
William– Will, Willie, Bill, Billy…
Make sure you do not mix “nicknames” with regional
“Guanatos” is sometimes used for Guadalajara natives; Gua-Nato, Regiomontano for Nuevo Leon, Monterrey. Pachuco, for Pachuca natives, Potosinos for San Luis Potosí and so on.
English Version:
Wisconsin – Chess Heads, Floridians for Fla, Iowa Iowans or Hawkeyes
The story behind Pepe – or more accurately, P.P. – for Jose is interesting. Pepe comes from the Latin abbreviation for “pater putativus” (“putative father” in English), which is “P.P.” and refers to St. Joseph (Jose in Spanish), the father of Jesus Christ.
Interesting, Chad!
Nacho, traeme los nachos! (but never nachas…)