New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesRe: How do you get Dick from Richard?
in reply to a message by MasterCiaraXo
Richard -> Ricke, Rik, Rycke, etc.
I've seen the change from Rick to Dick, Hick, etc. explained as:
a) "the inability of the English to cope with the velar Norman R" --Hanks and Hodges
b) "rhyming nickname" --Withycombe
I've seen the change from Rick to Dick, Hick, etc. explained as:
a) "the inability of the English to cope with the velar Norman R" --Hanks and Hodges
b) "rhyming nickname" --Withycombe
2
Replies
Dick is a rhyming nickname for Richard. It was not the only one used in medieval times -- Hick was also used in medieval England, and so the surnames Hicks, Hickson, and Higgins go back to an ancestor in medieval England named Richard just as Dix, Dixon, Dickens, etc. do.
1