Spider, Ian Webb – Ian was
named Spider because of surname, Web. Spiders Dad was
called Cob, as in Cob Web.
Philby or Pizza, Phil Billman –
Philby because of Phil and Pizza because he loves pizza.
Mutty, Edward Hooker – He was
sick a lot as a child and he thinks that “Mutty”
means se musa diehd in Norf’k.
Muff, Brent Adams - Brent’s
cousin was nicknamed Moof. When he came to Norfolk Island
to live with Brent, the nickname rubbed off on him.
The Norfolk Island Cadets decided that Muff was funnier
than Moof, so now he is known as Muff.
Carrots, George Smith – George
was hanging out at Middlegate when he was young and
Kissard turned up and said “G’day Carrot
top” and it stuck. (George used to have red hair).
Dar Bizziebee, Darlene Buffett –
Greg Hinks started to call Darlene, Dar Bizziebee on
Norfolk Island radio because she was always so busy.
Shorty, Paul Kiernan - Mark Sanders
named Paul because he was short.
Loppy, Neville Christian – Loppy’s
father used to own a crane that he brought from the
Works and Housing Department. It used to be parked at
the school outside of the bean shed. The name for the
crane was “Jalope”. On Nevilles first day
of school, the older kids started to call him ‘Jalope’
after the crane owned by his dad. Over the years is
has been shorten to Loppy.
Ikey, Allen Bataille - My mum, Mildred
Bataille, named me before I went to school after the
former sexton 'Ikey Bob' Edward who was on the Island
for many years. Ikey was known as a “know it all”.
Kissard, Alan Buffett - Unfortunately
not from what most people think. I believe it stems
from the pronunciation of my second name Clifford, many
moons ago.
Fletch, Paul Fletcher Christian -
Paul was working in Australia in a company with four
other Paul’s, so they started to call him Fletch
after his second name. Once he came back to Norfolk
there were also four other Paul Christian’s on
the Island, so it was just easier to keep calling him
Fletch.
Tanks, Paul Fletcher Christian - They
started to call Paul Tanks when he was bringing in Fibre
glass tanks.
Shelly - Short
for Michele LeCren
- Hinano – Coz I drank so many
in Tahiti
- Tar Drum - coz I’m so white
(!!!)
Baby Al, Alan Anderson - There were
two Alan’s in the family, so because Al was the
youngest he got called baby Al. Alan finds this funny
when someone much younger than him calls him baby Al.
Moochie, John Christian - I didn’t
like cockroaches as a child and I think Goofy named
me cockroach. It then changed to Moochie which, I have
been told, means cockroach in the Aboriginal language.
Dot, Jemima Laurie Quintal - was named
Dot because she was as small as a dot.
Fishy, Debbie Fisher – When
Debbie first came to Norfolk Island there were so many
Debbie’s on the Island that everyone started to
call her by her maiden name which has been changed to
fishy over the years.
Rubber Duck, William Green –
over 25 years ago Ducky was leaning at the bar at South
Pac when the Police Sergeant came in and said that he
was moving around like a duck. The bar person then turned
around and said “More like a rubber duck”.
He is now known as either Rubber Duck or just Ducky.
Bing, Matthew Christian Bailey –
Matthew was football training down at the football fields
at Kingston and while he was running around the field
he was cutting corners when Jeffery LeCren yelled out
“stop cutting the field BING” and it has
stuck ever since.
Pip, Sheree Buffett – When her
parents were away, Sheree and her sister Maree were
living with their grandparents. Every time that Sheree’s
aunty. Gaye Evans, wanted something from Sheree she
called “shepip”. Over the years it has been
shortened to Pip.
Grin, Ian Buffett – John McCoy
used to be called grin because he was always smiling.
One day John started to call Ian “Grin”.
Snoops, Glenn Williams – When
Glenn was a baby his grandfather started to call him
snoops, after snoopy the dog because of his big brown
eyes.
Lettuce Leaf – The year that
Les turned 40 Kim Davies was printing the local telephone
book and listed Les’s name as “Les Lettuce
Leaf 40 oh no Quintal”. It has stuck. (When I
rang Kim to confirm this he told me that they also call
him lettuce leaf because when people turn up out at
Les’s house they keep saying ‘let us leave’
but he won’t.)
Diesel, Damien Finch – Snoop
and Dames were drinking and driving around when Snoop
started to call him Diesel Demon. Because of the amount
of alcohol involved nobody seems to remember why.
Wiggy, Herbert William Knapton –
When Wiggy was a baby his uncle started to call him
Wiggy.
Tet, Terence Grube – Terrence’s
Aunty, Gwen Berganin, called himTettie, which his school
class cut down to Tet.
Aunty Gwen Bergagnin also named the following.
- Mittie Moodoos, Corinne Parsons
- Rinkus, Raymond Grube
- Daffy Dill, Teresa Grube –
Because she look beautiful in yellow.
- Hen, Jenny Grube - After Henny Penny.
Turk, John Kilbourne – before
Turk started school he use to roam everywhere and his
mum said you are like a turkey. This has been shorten
to Turk over the years.
Stormy, Jonno Snell - Those close
to him call him 'Stormy'. This is after Tom's little
dog 'Stormy'. I think it was a wire haired terrier.
One day he was walking into restoration and Smudgie
and Toofy called out 'hetieh stormy, Tom's little dog'
from then on it stuck, especially to the old tennis
and squashies.
Graham Struthers - Struts, –
it comes from Graham’s surname Struthers which
has been shortened down to Struts.
- Curly – Warren Finch started to call Graham
curly because he has no hair.
Michael Graham - Mickos, - School
mates started to call Michael ‘Mickos’ short
for Michael.
- Bert – After Bert and Ernie
on Sesame Street which Michael loved to watch as a child.
The family called him Burt as he was skinny like Burt.
Dean Graham - Ernie – Same as
Michaels, Dean also loved watching Sesame Street and
the family called him Ernie and Michael, Bert.
- Puffa – When he was a child
he was put on asthma medication which made him blow
up like a puffa fish. The name has stuck.
- Greeny – as a baby he always
had a runny nose and the family called him greeny.
Dit, Chrystal Graham – As a
baby cousin Brigette couldn’t say Chrystal. It
used to come out as Dittel which has been shorten to
Dit.
Tuti, Lurline Graham – Lurline
was around the Leaques club having a few drinks and
the more she drank the more her eyes started to look
like an Aatuti fish. Over the years it has been shortened
to Tuti or Aunty Tuti.
George Graham - Bull, - When George
was playing football, Culla started to call him Bull
because he used to charge through the pack.
- Sharky - Because George could swim very well.
Mel, Melissa Yeats - Shortened from
Melissa.
Presley, David Graham – David
use to slick back his hair with hair oil to look like
Elvis Presley many years ago.
Pixie, Beth Saxby – Pixie doesn’t
know who gave her the nickname Pixie but she knows it
started when she was working for Norfolk Island Airlines
and all the staff called her Pixie, which is all most
people know her as.
Joseph Adams - Joss - Aunty Putty
and Steggles started to call Joseph ‘Jiggles’
after his name which then turned to ‘Joggles’
and finally ‘Joss’ which is how we all know
him now.
- Chood – When Joe used to work in customs he
would listen to the radio with ear phones on and the
customs boys started to call him Chood after Chood Buffett
who used to wear hearing aids.
Mike Perkins - Perko - Shortened from
his surname Perkins.
- Poppy – All of his grandkids call Mike, Poppy
which has now moved to extended family and now a lot
of locals call him poppy as well.
Garnet, John Adams – Garnet
was the youngest of his brothers and always wanted to
play with the older kids. When they told him that he
couldn’t play with them, he would start to cry
and his older brother Boyd said, “Yu sauhn semes’
garnet”.
Goof, Norm LeCren – When he
was young his mates would dare or double dare him to
do something silly, which he would always try, but it
would always turn into a disaster and his mates started
to call him Goofy after the cartoon character that always
got himself into trouble.
Moonie, Kevin Christian – Kevin
was moody as a child and his school mates started to
call him Moonie after a Norfolk saying “yu gat’
muun”.
Sarlu, Cheryl LeCren – When
a Japanese lady was on the Island, she couldn’t
pronounce Cheryl and it sounded like Sarlu which has
stuck since Cheryl was a school.
Bebs, David Sanders – Davids
younger brother Barry, started to call him Bebie boy
when he was just a baby and when over the years it has
been shortened to Bebs.
Willie, William Sanders – Short
for William. His dad was called William as well so the
family started to call him Willie.
Hook, Michael McCoy – When Michael
was on year ten school tour, he called Raymond Grube
a p---- c----- hook. And since then Raymond started
to call him Hook which is now how we know him.
Plumber, Tony Grant – Tony used
to work as a plumber.
Lizard, Jonathon McCowan - When Jonathon
works he pokes his tongue in and out, just like a lizard.
Poo, Richard Chapman – His Mum
started to call him Poo because he loved Winnie the
Pooh. One day he was at Ruth McCoy’s flying model
airplanes and she called out to Richard “Poo come
in for lunch”. Shelly McCoy heard Richard being
called Poo and she ran with it.
Borry, William Borry Evans –
Borry is his middle name. He was named William Borry
after his uncle who died in a car accident before he
was born. His uncle’s name was Richard Borry and
his grandmother asked Borry’s dad to name his
first born after Richard Borry. Borry is now a family
name which has been passed down through the whole family.
Animal, Steve Richards – When
Steve worked for Borry’s he would always describe
his sex life in full details at work. One day Joy walked
past and heard him talking and said “You are nothing
else but an animal”.
B.W.C, Geoff Bennett – It stands
for Big White chief. This is what the Foodland’s
staff calls Geoff.
Cuddly, Dudley Hudson – Dudley
was named this just because it rhymes with his name.
Ipana, Charles Menghetti – Charles
got called this because he never got any baby teeth
so they called him Ipana after a brand of tooth paste.
Bishop, Darren Anderson – Darren
got called this because his dads nickname was Bishop
and Bish.
Bull – Buffy – Charge,
Ken Christian – These are all nicknames for Ken
because when he played the game Red Rover he would always
have his head down and arm up. Kissard calls him Buffy
and Moochie and Flip call him Charge.
Flip, Deny Adams – Barley named
deny Flip after his big ears.
Robbo, Glen Robinson - Called Robbo
after his surname Robinson.
Spindles, George Menghetti –
George was playing at Longridge house jumping over sticks
when Gordie called out “You look just like a spindle.”
Jap, Paul Menghetti – Uncle
Pots started to call Paul Jap when he was a little boy
because he thought Paul looked like a Japanese boy.
Yarm, William Menzies – Real
name is William but when his mum used to call him it
sounded like Will-Yarm so the kids started to call him
Yarm.
Rodney Menzies - Moose, - Rodney was
named moose, because when he played football he was
always big and thumped along like a moose.
- Cow – When Rodney was a child
he would always chase people to try and tackle them
so everyone started to call him cow.
Sharky, Clinton Sharkey – Clinton
was named Sharky after his surname while he was working
for Colleen McCullough.
Roony, Renee Cooper - Renee gets called
Roony by family and friends because she used to own
a motor cycle that made the sound, roony toony tin when
it was started up. This got shortened to Roony.
Blocka, Jacob Morgan – At 4
years of age, Jacob attended a prize giving day which
Wayne Pearce, a famous rugby player was on the Island.
Jacob was standing right next to Shane and Nicky Quintal
when Wayne came up to Jacob and said “I have a
mate just like you Blocka”. Wayne was talking
about another rugby player, Steve Roach.
Hub, Able Morgan – Roxanne Spreag
named Abel, because she couldn’t say Abel and
it sounded like Hubble. Over the years it has been shorten
to Hub.
Mo Joe, Brian Morgan – Shitty
started to call Brian Mo Joe, after the Austin Powers
movie.
Curly, Neil Morgan – Neil got
called Curly by Trent Christian because he has no hair.
Sparks, Joseph Christian – when
Joseph was 16 years old, he was working for the whaling
station separating the whale oil. One day he lit a smoke
and threw the match into the oil thinking it was out,
but the oil caught fire, so his work mates started to
call him Sparks.
Drake, Harry Buffett – Mr Grand
named Harry because he has a flat nose like a drake’s
beak.
Pickles, Daniel Griffiths –
Daniel was named Pickles from Tommy Pickles off the
Rug Rats because of his big blue eyes and one tooth
with a tuff of hair on top.
Slick, Norman Buffett – Norman
got named Slick at school because he could run very
fast as a child.
Turbo, Michael Griffiths – Wendy
Kennedy named Michael at day care because he was a turbo
charged kid who used to wear a wind jacket with the
word turbo on it.
Buffalo, Norris Buffett – Norris
was named Buffalo by Brian Hall because when they played
football at school Norris used to charge when he had
the ball.
Cubby, Brian Hall – Brian got
called this at school because he used to always suck
his thumb.
Alan Summerscales - Snowy, –
When Alan was born he had brilliant white hair so the
family started to call him snowy.
- Gottie – Because just like
Grant they used to own Goats when they were children
but both names are spelt different.
Gotty, Grant Summerscales - Because
Grants family used to own goats when they were children.
Chilla, Charles George Buffett –
Chilla is short for Charles. Chilla tells people he
has a royal ring to his name.
Slug, Keith Snell – Keith got
named this because he had one of the first slug guns
on the island.
Pinky, Paul Finch – Pinky’s
mum thinks Paul got this name because when he was in
the Navy they use to wear flat top hats and the first
time out at sea he came home with a very burnt and red
nose.
Puc, Peter Christian Bailey –
When Peter was going to school he and his brothers and
sister started to call each other fun names. Peter was
Puc and it stuck.
Rat Guard, Steve Borg – Steve
got called this by Bucket and Zub because when he first
started to date Rachael Nebauer he was always around
at her house which has a lot of palm trees on the property,
and to protect the seeds from the rats the trees all
have a guard around them.
Dickie, Riki Cooper – Riki got
called Dickie by Sasha.
Sea Weed, Khan Forsyth – Khan
got called this by his school mates because he was always
in the water swimming. Over the years it has been shorten
to Weed.
Skully, Jason Evans – When Jason
was at school he was always skinny like a skeleton so
they called him skully.
Grub, Brendon Christian – Brendon’s
uncle started to call him Grub because as a baby he
used to eat dirt.
Poppa, Justin Reynolds – Grub
named Justin Poppa because of his poppa lips.
Plute, Eustace Snell – We heard
that Eustace got his name because he climbed a large
Pinetree and pee’d off it, so they called him
Pluto after the dog.
It a dot, Les Quintal Snr –
the late Les Quintal got this name because he only had
two teeth and they reckoned he could only eat dirt (Dot
is dirt in Norfolk).
Pumpkin, Peter Knapton – Named
after Peter from the nursery rhyme Peter Peter Pumpkin
Eater.
Tardy, Glen Evans – Glen was
named Tardy because he was always late for school.
Rat, Martin Sheridan – Martin
was named Rat from his dad because he was a rat bag
of a child.
Aunty Putty, Pat Connolly –
One of Steggles nieces named her Putty because she couldn’t
say Pat. Now all Norfolk Islanders know her as Aunty
Putty.
Pedro, Peter Nicolai – named
after the song about Pedro fishing all the time.
Stiddi, GrahamWeslake - I was in 2nd
Grade with crabby Miss Bataille as my teacher. I could
never do any thing right and one day after receiving
the feather duster to my back side, I was crying in
my seat across the ailse from Tooffey Christian. He
kept staring at me which made me cry more. He then said
in a loud enough voice, for all around to hear, hang
you're UGLY, you look just like a Stiddi. And the name
stuck. So Stiddi it is and many thanks to Tooffey.
Chop Chop, Max Hobbins – Max
used to work for Government House. His first duty was
to chop the wood for the open fire place and the kitchen
stove. As this was max’s job the other staff started
to call him chop chop.
Shoulders, David Rodgers – David
got this name when he was playing football because he
had no shoulders.
Broken Nose, Max Hobbins – Ken
Salt started to call Max, broken nose. Max doesn’t
know why but when Max first joined Lions and got his
badge Ken had written Max Hobbins and Broken Nose underneath.
Tagett, Elizabeth Adams- When Elizabeth
was a young child she used to be very frightened of
a lady called Mrs Tagett so the kids at school started
to call her Tagett.
Snitch, Steve Adams – Steve
was a very good marble player and could snitch the marbles,
so the kids called him snitch.
Jelly, Henry Adams – Henry got
the name because he was quite dark and people thought
he was as dark as Porpay Jelly.
Pumpa, William Adams – Bill
inherited this name from his dad who got called Pumpa
because one of his mates had a big crop of beans and
Bill’s dad went around and told everyone that
his mate had a ‘pumpa’ crop of beans, he
meant bumper crop of beans, so everyone started to call
him Pumpa.
Gumboots, Garry Holland - One day
Garry and Basil were concreting a drive way. When they
finished work they went to the South Pac, still wearing
their gumboots. As the night drew on and the beers kept
flowing, Garry started to dance on the dance floor with
his gumboots still on. Chubby started to call him gumboots
which soon caught on around the Island.
Onion, Arthur Evans – Arthur
inherited Onion from his dad. When he started school
the kids started to call him Onion which made Arthur
very upset. He went home and told his dad that the kids
were calling him Onion. Arthur did not find out that
his dad was also called Onion as a kid until he had
left school
Onion, Owen Evans – Owen was
the only one in his class that didn’t have a nickname,
so his friends got together and said you need a nickname,
how about Onion which Owen agreed to and it started
from there.
Mophead, Corinne Parsons – Corinne’s
sister Jenny named her because of her curly hair.
Billytin, Teresa Grube – Mum
and dad used to tell the children that there was a troll
that lived under broken bridge in JE Road so that the
children wouldn’t go over the bridge onto the
road.
Plun, Ken Nobbs – when Ken was
a child he had freckles and the kids started to call
him plun, which in Norfolk means Banana’s, because
Kens freckles were as black as a over ripe plun.
Short, Les Nobbs – Les didn’t
start to grow until he was around 12 so as a child he
was always very short. Billy Adams started to call him
Short. A name he is still known by on Norfolk.
Lick, Alex Nobbs – In Norfolk
the pronunciation of Alex comes out like Al-Lick, so
over the years people started to call him Lick.
Lights, Greg Hicks – Culla and
Greg were in Hong Kong at a bar having a few drinks.
After a while, Greg was so drunk he fell onto the floor,
so Culla started to call him lights because his lights
went out.
Culla, Elton Graham – Culla’s
mum named him because she said Elton was her pretty
boy who was very colourful.
Peacock, the late, Andrew Evans –
Andrew used to always groom himself like a peacock,
even to the point of ironing his shoes laces and the
brim of his hat. Over the years it became Peke.
Glover, Steve Mathews – Steve
used to play Left wing in league for the Cascade team
on Norfolk Island, and his league mates started to call
him Glover after Neville Glover who played left wing
for Parramatta.
Trigger, Paul Evans – Boo Prentice
and Ruggy, named Paul Trigger because he was a very
good shot with a gun when they asked him to go and shoot
wild chooks for them.
Fanny, John Christian – Pots
Buffett was giving Johns dad a hard time about his wife
having a natural birth to a 8 pound baby, and Kissard
heard him and started to call him Fanny.
Drill, Billy Nobbs – When Billy
was young he spent a lot of time with a lot of girls.
His friends started to say he was drilling them, so
his name became Drill.
Storky, Les Steven - Barley called Les ‘Storky’
when he was about 13 years of age, because he was tall
and skinny like a stork.
Cookie, Steven Gardiner – Snapper
named Steven ‘Cookie’ in 1981, because he
is a chef by trade.
Snapper, Shane Blanch – Shane
got this name because he was a little wipper snapper
as a child.
Black Poodle, Judy Schmitz - got this
name at school because of her curly hair.
Pooh Bear, Richard Chapman - Gets
Pooh, because he loved reading all of the ‘Winnie
the Pooh’ stories as a kid. Berry, his Mum, called
him Pooh Bear.
Little Pooh, John Chapman - is now
known here as "Little Pooh", funny that as
he is now nearly 6ft tall!
The White Ninja, Landon Grey - While
working with Mal Tarrant, Landon gained his nickname,
‘the white ninja’, because he used to execute
a few karate moves at work in his white painting outfit.
Dussa, Micky Sanderson – Dussa
has told many people that he got the name after a family
horse because of similar physical attributes.
Puds, Allen Buffett - This is the
story of three frogs who stood at the Pearly Gate…
Saint Peter asked frog number one (who was a male) “Why
are you here?” – the frog replied “I
have been playing in puddles”. He then asked frog
number two (who was a male) the same question. The frog
replied “I have been playing in puddles”.
He then asked frog number three (who was a female) and
she replied “My name is Puddles!” Puds could
not immediately understand the joke, and from that day,
he was called ‘Puddles”. Puds can thank
‘Blimp’ for the title.
Diddles, David Evans - He was first
called ‘Pickles’ but his younger brother
mispronounced it as ‘Diddles’, and that
nickname stuck
Rich's Dad's side were all over 6ft and his Dad, Henry
Francis, was called Tot because he was just under 6ft.
Later he grew the potatoes on the Island and he was
then Tatie Tot.
Tatie, Christian - Gaelene, they aren't here now, in
Brisbane somewhere, but Tatie Christian, when he married
Lorraine, to some of us she was called Sweet Tatie and
then when they had their first boy, he was Chips! Do
you remember? I loved that!
Miss Bucket, Beverley Simpson- Marie
Beadman named Beverley Miss Bucket because a few years
ago Marie Beadman was always in the kitchen when the
Uniting Church held different functions and this one
time Marie had brought a bucket to put the scrape into.
Beverley asked if she could have the scrapes for her
chooks which Marie replied yes but I will need the bucket
back. Two years later on Christmas eve Marie found a
rather large parcel on her door step with a 10c stamp.
As she opened it up she found her bucket with 4 old
stale scones which were rock hard. The next working
day after Christmas Marie turned up at Beverley work
and stood in the door and heaved the scones to the counter
and said the Beverley, “if you are going to give
me scones at least put butter on it” Since this
day Beverley has been known as Miss Bucket.
Miss Bucket, Jeanette Buffett –
When Eamonn Kennerley was 5 years old he use to live
in the house next door to Jeannette Buffett and her
boys. Every time that they would drive away from there
house Eamonn would call out “Bye Buckets”
The names has stuck and now Jeanette is known as Miss
Bucket to all her friends.
George Douran, Carolyn Douran- As a tiny baby Carolyn was quite chubby and, as the family knew a George who was plump, they jokingly called her Geoge and the name stuck.
Sputt, Malcolm Douran - Malcolm is known as 'Sputt' for the sputnik satellites launched the year he was born.
Cat, Richard Douran - Richard and Ngaire Douran owned the takeaway shop "The black Cat" for years. People started to Call Richard 'Cat' and it has stuck.
Sunny, Dolores Davies - Natasha Arnold seems to think Dolores got this name from her siser Jean Sims.
Boyie or Fullu, Chris Pedel- Jan Coop, Millie Walden and Sa call Chris`Boyie' and Chris also got called Fullu at school. Fullu is a norfolk word meaning Fella.
Junny, Glen Pedel, Glen got the nickname after a dark skinned man who lived on Norfolk who's name was Johnny but they use to call him Junny. As Glen was also quite darked skinned they started to call him after Junny.
Narna, Robert Burns, Robert use to be good friends with Glen and was also quite dark skinned so he got the name Narna after his uncle who was also quite dark skinned.
Hihi or Jethro, Jess Pedel, Jess got the nickname Hihi because he go's black when he is in the sun and the nickname Jethro is just a pet name for Jess from his friends.
Honey, Marguerite McCoy, Honey got her nickname when she was growing up in Vanuatu. The locals called her 'Honey' due to the crop of golden curls that adorned her head.
Pops, Gary Robertson, Gary was always the oldest member in any Squash teams that went to tournaments in the South Pacific representing Norfolk Island, so Gary Raper started to call him Pops and Smudgie Cooper carried the name on. Gary is known by the name pops all over the south Pacific.
Tinkerbell, Alison Christian, Gary Robertson started to call Alison tinkerbell when she was working for him at Photo press. The name came about as her mothers nickname was 'The old witch on the broom stick' so Gary decided that her daughter should be called Tinkerbell. Rubber duckie also called Alison Tinkerbell but noone has any idea why. |
