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<p>I'm so glad you find it useful! It's honestly kind of my magnum opus as far as getting an idea, researching it, and actually presenting it in a format people seem to understand in a timely matter (that last one is my downfall as I am not good at finishing things).</p><p>I worked on the nickname followup for about four months after I did the Regency guide, but was (and still am) at a loss with how to both measure and present my findings. </p><p>The problem with nicknames is there is hardly any quantifiable data. </p><p>With the<a href="https://www.tumblr.com/yeoldenews/740809589968322560/a-guide-to-historically-accurate-regency-era-names"> first name survey</a> I used two pre-existing databases for my info - so my workload was pretty much just making a spreadsheet, eliminating any duplicate records, and counting how many times each name occurred.</p><p>I was also working in only one very specific area (7 parishes in London) so I didn't have to worry about regional variations.</p><p>Due to the strict formally of the Regency era, nicknames do no not often appear in legal records, and were usually only used privately among families and very close friends.</p><p>When they were used publicly it was often only with members of the 'lower' classes - and I don't mean that in the modern economic sense, but rather referring to people who were seen as 'lesser' in social status - this included children, unmarried women, servants (both free and enslaved) and the poor.</p><p>Nicknames do sometimes appear in vital (birth/marriage/death) records, but even then it's often impossible to tell what the nickname is actually short for - e.g. is Patty short for Martha or Patience? is this person listed as Eliza because it was their given name or was it short for Elizabeth?</p><p>Nicknames also vary heavily by region - to the point that some are specific to only a handful of counties. I considered focusing on only nicknames used in London, but honestly the regional variation is one of the most interesting features of nicknames to me.</p><p>All these facts mean that my research process was exceedingly more complicated than with the first name survey. </p><p>With a lack of quantifiable data I approached the project with three basic questions:</p><ol><li>Was this nickname in use during the Regency era?</li><li>Was it common?</li><li>Was it regional?</li></ol><p>I then had to determine this individually for <b>every single possible nickname</b> used with common Regency names. Do you know how many possible nicknames there are for Catherine? For <b>Elizabeth?</b> (Many. There are so, so many you guys.)</p><p>On top of having to research each nickname individually, I also didn't have a single source of information like in my previous project, and ended up using everything from period literature to newspapers to court testimony.</p><p>As I keep finding new sources, my info keeps changing and so far all my attempts to do a decent write-up have failed. But here's a bit of what I've found so far...</p><ul><li>Mary - Polly, Mally (northern England/Scotland), Molly (Lancashire), Pally (Yorkshire) </li><li>Elizabeth - Eliza, Bets(e)y, Betty, Lizzy, Bess - NOT Beth</li><li>Ann - Nancy, Nanny (northern England), Annie (Scotland)</li><li>Sarah - Sally</li><li>Jane - Jenny, Jessy/Jessie (Scotland)</li><li>Hannah - ??? but likely the same as Ann</li><li>Susannah - Susan, Sukey, Susy, Suckey (southern US)</li><li>Margaret - Peggy, (Maggy, Meggy, Moggy, Madge (Scotland))</li><li>Catherine - Kitty, Kate, Cat(e)y (US), Catty (Ireland), Katie (Scotland)</li><li>Martha - Patty, Matty (northern England/Scotland/Ireland/US), Patsy (southern US)</li><li>Eleanor - Nelly, Nell</li><li>Frances - Fanny, Franny</li><li>John - Jack(y), Johnny, Jock(ey) (Scotland)</li><li>William - Bill(y), Will(y)</li><li>Thomas - Tom(my)</li><li>James - Jem(my), Jamie (Scotland) - NOT Jim</li><li>George - Georgey, Geordie (Northern England/Scotland)</li><li>Joseph - Joe(y)</li><li>Richard - Dick(y)</li><li>Robert - Bob(by), Robb(y/ie) (Scotland), Robin</li><li>Charles - Charley, Charlie (Scotland)</li><li>Henry - Harry</li><li>Edward - Ned(dy), Ted(dy) (Ireland)</li></ul><h2>A general rule - Y not IE endings unless you are Scottish</h2><ul><li>Lizzy not Lizzie, Sophy not Sophie, Charley not Charlie</li><li>IE endings were still associated with French names</li></ul><p>As for last names - one of my personal favorite sources is cemeteries. <a href="https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery">Findagrave.com</a> lets you browse cemeteries by location, so if your story takes place in a certain area you can go through local cemeteries and see what common names in the area were. Or just choose a random location and see if anything strikes your fancy!</p>