Nicknames: Fun and Endearing Options

Your mom has decided she is too young to be called Grandma, the group chat has gone six months without a name, and your daughter wants her Fortnite tag settled before her friends log on tonight. A nickname looks small until you have to pick one, and then it turns into a real question about who somebody is and what they will still answer to in ten years.

Grandparent names run from the classics to the ones a grandmother picks for herself, and they sit alongside sweet or teasing options for a boyfriend or girlfriend, bro names, and cute nicknames for girls and guys. Pets take a big share: male and female dog and cat names, plus corgis, pugs, ferrets, parrots, horses, cows, ducks, betta fish and turtles, along with middle names for a dog whose full name you want to be able to yell across a yard. Screens get their own vocabulary, with Snapchat and anime usernames, gamer girl handles, and character names for a mage, paladin, druid, rogue or pirate. The quickest way in is to decide first whether you want the name to sound affectionate, funny or a little intimidating, because almost every list is grouped that way.