Two weeks ago, I caught up with a friend of mine who is an adult man with a very serious job as a corporate lawyer for a global bank, where he deals with millions of dollars each day, and when I saw him, the first thing I said was: “Banus! How are you?”

His actual name is Chris but unfortunately, on the first day of high school, he sat in a chair on the back of which someone had scrawled the nonsensical word “banus”, and the damage was done. Twenty-four years later, the nickname remains despite his constant requests for everyone to let it go and call him by his legal name. “Sure thing, Banus.”

Therein lies the beauty of the nickname, the best ones being thrust upon the owner through no fault of their own. One day your name is Chris, and the next you’ve been rebranded simply because you sat in a chair.

Nicknames are often a sign of affection and intimacy, or that you’re really tall.Credit: Michael Howard

No one does this better than sports teams. A group environment fuelled by ruthless ribbing proves the ideal nickname generator. Some are based purely on physical attributes, like how former NRL player Anthony Minichiello earned the nickname ‘The Count’ because he looks exactly like Count von Count from Sesame Street,........

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