A familiar or humorous name given to a person instead of their real name.
From Middle English 'ekename,' where 'eke' meant additional. It literally meant 'additional name.' The 'n' from 'an eke' merged into 'a nickname' over centuries of language change.
The word 'nickname' itself started with bad grammar—'an ekename' eventually became 'a nickname' because people misparsed the word boundary, proving that even major words can originate from speech errors.
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