[Ads-l] moneker, moniker (and many other spellings)

[Peter Reitan]

I have seen a number of "nomicker" in the early 1900s.
Not clear whether it's a typo or a misunderstanding influenced by "nom 
de . . ."

------ Original Message ------
From: "Stephen Goranson" <goranson at duke.edu>
To: ADS-L at listserv.uga.edu
Sent: 9/30/2020 6:44:37 AM
Subject: moneker, moniker (and many other spellings)

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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
>Subject:      moneker, moniker (and many other spellings)
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>
>Much info is available in OED, Green's Dictionary o' Slang, Partridge/Beale=
>  1984 174/2 and scattered articles and usages. I won't attempt a survey.
>
>Liberman's Bibliography lists C. H. Vellacott, "Thieves' Slang," Gentleman'=
>s Magazine 1896: 349 which offered: "'Moniker,' a common coster word for 'n=
>ame,' was originally monarch, that is king or No. 1, and thus with frank eg=
>otism 'I, myself.' The slang use of 'monarco' for 'I' in Italian Gergo supp=
>orts this apparently far-fetched derivation."
>
>Though others support monarch, I, rather, provisionally accept the "far-fet=
>ched" characterization. Because these (early) names are polar opposites of =
>royal Charles, George, James, and Elizabeth.
>Instead, they are nicknames, additional names, individual and intended as u=
>nique names. Nicknames, from an eke-name ("an ekename" became "a nickname")=
>. Hmm. Eke-name , as some have already noted, may seem related to the (freq=
>uently-used) spelling moneker. Unique name? One (individual) name? My (own,=
>  for my familiars) name?--not just a plain at-birth given name, as some use=
>  it today.
>
>One could cite many examples of monekers. One of the more elaborate lists i=
>s "'Monekers,' Names by which Noted Criminals are Known in their Profession=
>al Circles, In Other Words, a Rogues' Directory [etc.], St. Louis Globe-Dem=
>ocrat (Missouri), March 6, 1882 p. 10 [newspapers.com] lists and describes =
>107 (!) such named persons, and often their given name and specialty. E.g.,=
>  "'Tiger Jim,' is Chas. Montgomery, a burglar, who has the name tattoed on =
>his arm."
>
>Others also use the moneker spelling, such as "A Literary Bohemia", St. Jam=
>es Magazine [Proquest], April, 1868, 433, and "The Tramp; or Caste in the J=
>ungle," New Outlook, August 19, 1911, pages 871, 873, 874, 875 ("Susquehana=
>  Red"--again, hardly a royal name-- and so on).
>
>Stephen "moneker-speller' Goranson
>
>
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