The Walking Dead: Nicknames through the seasons

On The Walking Dead a few characters have nicknames and a few characters have given out nicknames. Let’s look at some of these nicknames throughout the seasons.

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

(Romeo and Juliet ~William Shakespeare)

Does a name and a nickname make a difference? When do we use nicknames? Who uses them? Are they positive or negative? Obviously, they are both. Sometimes people call us by nicknames if they don’t know our name. Hey, sport. How are you doing, buddy? Sometimes close friends or family use diminutives of our name as terms of endearment. Hershel called Beth, Bethy.

Sometimes we don’t even remember where or when we got our nickname, but it stuck. My name is Susie, which apparently shortens to Suz, which rhymes with Choose, which stuck at some point and my mom and brothers and now niece and nephews call me Choose.

We don’t always get to pick the nickname we like. There’s an entire Seinfeld episode where George Costanza tries to orchestrate a scenario where he can get his co-workers to nickname him T-bone. It’s George Costanza, so you can guess the final result.

Calling someone by a nickname can be a special thing because it separates you from the rest of the world that calls you by your given name. Your name is a big part of your identity. So having someone change it can be a big deal. It can be very endearing.

Or it can be insulting. Have you ever had someone automatically shorten your name when you just met? Sometimes it feels like they don’t know you well enough to be altering your name. Same thing if they call you honey or sweetie, if they don’t know you yet.

Merle was one of the biggest nicknamers on The Walking Dead. That’s interesting because he didn’t really get to know people well so giving them nicknames was a way of distancing himself from who they were as people. He gave racist, sexist and just plain impersonal nicknames like taco vender, Mr, Yo, Officer Friendly, Nubian Queen, Little Bo Peep, rug muncher, blondie, and brownie.

Daryl gave Judith her nIckname, Little Asskicker. This was a term of endearment and actually gave her an identity before she had a name. Rick calls her Judy now sometimes. Daryl called Lori Olive Oyl though when he was irritated with her, referring to her being skinny like the character on Popeye.

Jesus got his nickname from his friends before we met him, so did T-Dog. Jesus’ name came from his appearance. T-dog’s came from a shortened version of Theodore Douglas. The Governor claims the people gave him that name. I like Andrea’s remark that Buzz is a nickname, Governor is a title.

The zombies aren’t people anymore and don’t have individual identities so it’s fitting that they have the most nicknames of any on the show. Not only by the characters on the show, but by us as the audience and the Talking Dead crew as we describe certain distinct walkers such as the napalm walkers, the water walkers, the RV walker, the tree intestines walker, or the Cherokee rose walker.

Next: The role of alcohol over the seasons

We call the walkers, biters, geeks, roamers, skin eaters, creepers, rotters, and more. They are leaners, groaners, shufflers, eaters, reachers, grabbers, stumblers, and moaners!

We even give the show a nickname of sorts when we write it down. We use the acronym TWD. What do you think about the use of nicknames on The Walking Dead? Did I miss any big examples? Pookie?

Home/Opinion