AboutKevin Johnson Expertise I lived in Germany my whole life. Since I have strong ties to the United States and an active interest in American life, I know the fine differences between the two nations.
Question How do you make a name-based nickname (like Caitlyn => Katie or Andrew => Andy) in German? I've been looking for a formula because I need to apply it to a non-German name. -_- Thank you~
Answer Hello Miranda,
I do not think there is a "formula" to creating name-based nicknames in German. It depends on the name itself. Perhaps if you told me the name you are trying to modify, I could give you my intuition.
An non-general "formula" could be: Use a short form of the name and add an -i
Stefanie -> Steffi
But this is not generally applicable.
A few examples of different name-based nicknames:
Christian -> Chris, Kris, Krissi, Kricki
Andreas (Andrew) -> Andi
Dietrich, Dieter -> Didi
Matthias (Matthew) -> Matthi, Matze
Friedrich (Frederick) -> Fritz (possible diminuitive: Fritzchen)
Hans -> Hansi (possible diminuitive: Hänschen, pronounced HENCE-ken, not HEN-shen!)
Maximilian -> Max (possible diminuitive: Mäxchen)
The diminuitive -chen is only used for some names, and it is outdated and not used in everyday conversations, just in jokes and sayings, e.g "Was Hänschen nicht lernt, lernt Hans nimmermehr" - What little Hans doesn't learn, the older Hans will never learn, i.e. you can't teach old dogs new tricks)
The last example highlights another trend I can make out: If the given name is a popular double name, then the nickname will be the combination of the first syllables or lettter pairs:
Lise-Lotte -> Lilo
Hans-Peter -> Hape
Hans-Otto -> Hanno
Hans-Joachim -> Hajo
