Hi all! I need some help. A character of mine's name is Mohammed. He is a vice cop, and involved in a threesome with his best friend and a female (non-gay but a bit riskee). He is a cheeky chap who is a non-strict Muslim (not a major part of the story at all, it's just his background) but he is fascinated with "fallen" aspects of society. The thing is, I can't think of a sexy nickname for him. Obviously, Mohammed is too long, Moe is decidedly un-sexy because of Moe from the Simpsons, and Mo looks a bit lame on page. Help! (if you can, I'd really appreciate it)
In my experience, male nicknames are formed in a few ways: Surname with -y on the end, (Wood becomes Woody) First and second names run together (Tom Pickles becomes Tickles) Acronomisation of initials (Tom Oliver Pickles becomes TOP, pronounced Top) From something to do with their appearence, usually something negative (Trigger, who looks like a horse) From some event their famous for, again often negative or sarcastic (someone prone to accidents might be Trip) Don't know if any of those will help with creating a 'sexy' nickname, and my examples are pretty lame, but hopefully that's some help.
Does your character have a middle name? Some people don't like their first names and go by the middle name if it is better.
Guys nicknames tend to be given to them by their peers, often for something they have done that their friends found funny or embarrassing or that they wish they had done, not necessarily related to their name in anyway. Other potential sources of nicknames would be body type e.g. a big solid guy could be called Tank, or habits and hobbies e.g. Shooter Or they could be random, in my extended group of friends when I was a teen one of the boys, whose real name was Jonathan, was constantly referred to as Sid and I never did find out WHY they all called him Sid. Or it could be a childhood nickname given by a family member that just stuck, especially if your character stays close to home and so there are always people from his past involved in his present and future the name would continue to follow him even though it seems out of place for an adult. Blue
Sounds like a friend of mine We call him Moe but since that's decidedly unsexy what is the character's surname?
Call him Jesus, because one prophet is as good as another to non muslims right? It can be a symbol of the stupid people around him. Or Chip, since he's risque. I worked with a kid (who's real name I can't remember anymore) who swore he was going to strip on a bar room table when he was of legal age. That his dream (chubby as he was) was to be a Chipendale. So I started calling him Chip.
See if you can come up with some sort of funny incident (preferably one that would have caused embarrassment to the character, because that would cause his buddies to use it even more) where he acquired a nickname that stuck due to that. At the moment my creative faculties are escaping me to give you a good one, but I'm sure you could come up with something.
Hammed? (maybe he's drunk all the time ) Med? Momed? Also, maybe he has a non name-specific nickname which relates to something he did in his school days/college days e.g. Spikey (random generic example)
Last name with an 'ee' sound added to the end. First syllable of the last name with a 's' or 'er' added.
Hey guys, than you all so much! Those are fantastic suggestions! I still don't have a surname for him (or a middle name), like quite a few of my characters, he just popped into my head like this. I know what he looks and sounds like and what kind of person he is, and his first name, the name of his friends, but no surname. I am letting it stew for a while, but I think the best way out of this is to do exactly what you suggested - a cool and sexy nick justified by friends, and otherwise in the book reader can find out his full name. ps. but if anyone can think of a sexy nickname for a male cop, I'd appreciate it
Muslims don't take middle names like Christians do. Traditionally they'd have long names to say something akin to "Mohammad, son of Abdullah, of the town of Mutta, of the family of the Hashim or the bani al Quraish Tribe. Mohammad bin Abdullah al Muttailib al Hashim al Quraish". A lot of the people I know only have a first and surname though (which is generally traced back to a tribe their ancestors came from, but not always). When Arabs do take their middle name, it's usually the name of a parent or it's an attempt to blend in with American ways. Nicknames: Prince The Boss Chief Officer Naughty Tiger Rock Star Characters could tease him and call him Habibti jokingly (Arabic: feminine form of baby/darlig/honey/love) Lolll, I suck at nicknaming.
@Quinn: Hey, thank you so much, that was really helpful! I had no idea that's where all those long Arabic names come from. I would call him Prince, that's a great suggestion, but ince I am writing a detective novel, in Jo Nesbo Harry Hole series, a very important character is nicknamed Prince, and that's bugging me. But I'm leaning towards "Brody" for a nickname, that's quite sexy, although I don't know how a Mohammed would come to be nicknamed Brody. Must figure that one out @Pallas: haha, yes, although I worry about fatwas, I am already walking on thin ice with him being in a threesome. I think calling him "Ham" would just about manage to cause an international incident
