Nicknames

[Mystic Cat32]

I was curious if the practice of giving out nicknames to brothers or sisters in your GLOs was common practice by National stipulations or part of everyone's own decision to even do it if you wish. When a person is initiated into a certain secret society, they are given a new name, similar to the practice of the Illuminati. I was just curious. Mystic Cat32

[MoonStar17]

Hi!
Here at our chapter it is more of a tradition to give a nickname than anything else...
all of the org's on campus give nicknames and i guess we just did it too...
but as far as nationals go it is not nationally recognized and i dont think many of the chapters do it at all...
to us its just something to signify being inntiated..its not anything that big at all..just something silly we do..when you are innitiated your big gives you your first stitch on letters and your nickname...we dont use them for anything else..its just a cute lil thing...some big's will get creative in how they "present" the nickname...like one girl in my pledge class was nicknamed gator aide b/c when we had gone to gator growl a sisters car broke down and she volunteered to drive the people that came in her car all the way back to miami and then come back for them.... so her big sister gave her a gator aid bottle but put a label on it and changed the spelling and made it cute

thats about the extent of our nickname giving

[Mystic Cat32]

Thanks MoonStar17...We also give out names but it's more of a cool bonding thing with us...Nationals has nothing to do with it. I can't help but wonder how the origins of it to Greeks as a whole evolved. My guess is through the same traditions that started all fraternities such as Masonry. I know that in the Order of Skull and Bones, a secret society based out of Yale, name giving is an integral part of becoming a bonesman, as is in the Illuminati. Their origins supposedly spawned off of Masonry and the Illuminati.

[MoonStar17]

Hi again!
Thats really neat about the bonding thing.. our nicknames are really special to us too..but its not so much thought about after that..but alot of girls get shirts and stuff made with their nicknames...i guess it depends how much they like theirs..i wont even begin to explain mine..its really weird! oh well..
i am not sure about masonry...my big brother (greek kind) is a mason but he wont tell me anything! lol...
but i have heard rumors and i emphazize (i cant spell) rumors that some sororitys on campus make getting your nickname a intergral part of getting innitiated...
not sure if they just started that here... or if it is also nationwide...
oh well!
whats your nickname?? any story to it?

[Kevin]

I have two.. It's not part of our initiation, it's just something that happens. Not all of us even have nicknames. First one I recieved was taint. I recieved it somewhere between 3am and 4am driving through Arkansas on the way to our national event, the College of Chapters. We were kind of in a delirious state and somehow the word taint came up and we just sat there and laughed our asses off for a good 2-3 hours. I never thought that I'd get a nickname out of it though

The other one I have is mother. I think it came up during an EC meeting. Maybe it's because I always know what's best .

LHT
Kevin

[shadokat]

We get nicknames from our big sisters the night we get in. It's hysterical, and every sister of our chapter has one.

ktsnake, did that taint reference come from Opie & Anthony?

[Mystic Cat32]

ktsnake,
Our nicknames occur just like in your chapter. It's just something that happens through the fraternal experience. I also have two. The first is the G rated version that is printed on my shirt and the second is the common one that everyone calls me. I had the option of putting the common one on the shirt but since I'm involved in to many high visibility activities throughout the school, I didn't want people to think anything negative about me. The G rated version is "Fly Boy" because I love flying and I'm in the Air National Guard(weekend FlyBoy). The common name that everyone calls me is "Perv". It came to me because the brothers know of my extremely large Playboy collection that was handed down to me by a brother that went alumni a few years back. That brother knew that I already had a vintage collection, from 1936~, and he wanted to better increase the collection by giving me the stash that was handed down to him by another brother. Fraternally, Mystic Cat32

[Kevin]

ktsnake, did that taint reference come from Opie & Anthony?

Nah, I think we were discussing whether it's taint or grundle.

You discuss strange things driving through Arkansas at 4AM.

What's Opie and Anthony?

LHT
Kevin

[Senusret I]

Maybe nicknaming in fraternal organizations symbolizes being born anew in the light of the organization. . .when a child is born, many cultures have some sort of naming ceremony. Perhaps in some rites of passage, you also earn another name to symbolize that you are an adult.

If our organizations are supposed to symbolize a modern rite of passage, maybe this is where the tradition came from.

Many APO chapters have a nicknaming tradition, but just as many do not, I think.

[Delta_theta]

We give our candidates "pledge" names, but talk to them afterword to make sure they don't have a problem with any of them. If they do, we change it. the pledge names are somethign that only the house knows what they are, and some of them are traditions, and passed down, with numbers added on the end. Changed from time to time.

The night that they get theirs, they learn what all of our pledge names are.

M.

[shadokat]

Opie and Anthony is a radio show, much like Howard Stern. VERY FUNNY, sometimes hideous, but always entertaining. I see you're in Oklahoma, so the closest station to you is the one in Dallas, which I don't know if you get it or not.

[KappaTarzan]

My nickname is Tarzan.. its pretty funny learnign how people got them. My big is Darwin, and my Room mate is Woodzy.. they are definitely a big part of our initation here, they are on the back of our first sets of letters.

[sweetie adpi]

our chapter is eta beta (HB) so we give out HB names... some can get racy not everyone has one, they just kinda come about... and anyone can give you one... ex. one of our sisters had to miss formal cause she was really sick so she is now, of course, Hospital Bed... think of all the fun words that begin with H and B... it can get pretty creative! and on that note, i think i'll with hold my own... sorry!

[lilsnakeyk]

We give out nicknames at family initiation, and bigs get to name their littles. I am a member of I.A.N. family (I could tell you what that means, but then I would have to kill you). I can tell you that it is related to squirrels and nuts (Get those dirty thoughts out of your head). So, everybody has a nickname that has "nut" somewhere in it.

My line in the family:

Ali: Angel Nut
Kristin: Honey Nut
Elizabeth (My big): MAC Nut
Andria (ME!!!): Bungle Nut
Rachel: (one of my littles): Gucci Nut
Megan: (my other little): Nutmeg

[MoonStar17]

Originally posted by Delta_theta
We give our candidates "pledge" names, but talk to them afterword to make sure they don't have a problem with any of them. If they do, we change it. the pledge names are somethign that only the house knows what they are, and some of them are traditions, and passed down, with numbers added on the end. Changed from time to time.

The night that they get theirs, they learn what all of our pledge names are.

M.

I think that is a super cute idea!!! It is definitly something that is full of tradtition...I LIKE IT!

As far as our nicknames go..alot of them are super silly, and super funny...alot of times the older you are the more you accumulate...I think the funniest is sitting around listening to the story of how you got your nickname LOL