Bob's your uncle (but I thought his name was Robert)

 I recently became intrigued with names. My dad's brother was Robert Casey, but I always called him Uncle Bob. And I have a friend named James, but we all call him “Little Jimmy.” And everyone knows a Dick, but in all probability was christened Richard. Hi, I’m Travis, but call me Steve. (Just kidding)

The search led me to something interesting. Many of these nicknames originated in Medieval England. As history shows us, the popular names of the era were: Richard, William, John, and Henry—which must have made roll call sound less like attendance and more like someone testing the echo in a castle. Richard the first, Richard the second, Richard the third ….

With so many Richards, Williams, Johns, and Henrys around, it was difficult to know who you were talking about. It was like yelling “Mom” at a family reunion. So rhymes came into play. Richard was cool until you got to about Richard III, or Henry VIII, but who wants to be known as William XXVII?

To distinguish your brother Richard from your neighbor Richard or your adversary Richard, they dubbed one of them Rich (logical), then to a variant cousin, Rick. Eventually, the kings and knights went to identifying friends and foes with rhymes. Now there was a Hick and Dick. Dick stuck. Hick moved into the country without an education. Robert was initially rhyming with Hob and Dob (derived from Rob) until Bob finally stuck around and even gave us Bobby. So, William, Will, Bill, was not that far of a journey. So far, so good, right?

Then we get to conundrums like John to Jack. Why do we call John F. Kennedy Jack? They don’t rhyme! But we still go back to Medieval England. This has to do with a popular "pet" form of names where folks added "kin" as a suffix. William was Wilkin. Peter was Perkin. You can still see these nicknames today in surnames like Wilkinson and Perkins. John would have been changed to Jenkin. That could have easily been shortened to Jenk, which is a quick trip to Jack. Another theory points back to the Norman invasion and the arrival of the name Jacques, which is actually the French form of James, not John. But the cultural mingling of Jenk and Jacques could have been enough to produce Jack from John.

James to Jim? The path is roughly: James → Jamie/Jemmy → Jimmy → Jim. In English, people often made familiar “pet forms” by adding -y or -ie, so James became Jamie or Jimmy. King James’ heir became Prince Jamie, his son Little Jimmy- why not just call him Jim?

Hank? Can you rock? Can you rock to the rhythm that just don’t stop? (Sorry. That was rap from the Sugarhill Gang circa 1978.) But in Middle English, Henry was often pronounced closer to “Herry,” which sounded a lot like “Harry,” especially in everyday speech. The name came into England through the Normans from forms like Henri, and over time English speakers softened and shifted the sound. Medieval spelling was flexible, so the same person might appear under slightly different forms. English often turned formal names into familiar versions that sounded easier in speech. So, in short: Harry is what Henry sounded like once Medieval English got comfortable, loosened its belt, and stopped trying to sound formal.

Hank is more an Americanism that evolved as a nickname for Henry through a linguistic bridge via the Dutch name Hendrik and its diminutive Henk. When Dutch settlers brought these names to America, "Henk" sounded phonetically similar to "Hank" to English speakers, eventually replacing earlier medieval formalities.

Since I’m not writing a dissertation on name variations, I’ll cut it off now and hope I’ve shared some enlightenment. Mostly that Medieval history is more than dark age mysteries, but customs that have stood the test of time some 700 years later. Which proves that if you give English enough centuries, it will turn a perfectly good name into a nickname, a nickname into a riddle, and then act like you should have known all along.

But I would be remiss if I didn’t address the title of this article. “Bob’s your uncle” is a British term often used to indicate success, such as: “Add the flour, stir in the eggs, bake it for twenty minutes, and Bob’s your uncle—you’ve got muffins.” It originates in late-19th-century Britain and involves Robert “Bob” Gascoyne-Cecil, who was Prime Minister. In 1887, “Bob” appointed his nephew, Arthur Balfour, to the powerful post of Chief Secretary for Ireland. Critics believed Balfour got the job largely because “Bob” was his uncle—so the phrase supposedly came to mean that if Bob’s your uncle, success is conveniently arranged.

http://www.traviscasey.com/