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Oh, you all are so young!

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Why would Dick Cheney call himself Dick? Because for people of his generation and older, Dick is simply the normal pet form of Richard and no one immediately thinks of the negative slang meanings when they hear it. Anyone over the age of 50 grew up knowing many men named Richard who were called Dick in everyday life, and so it seems completely average.

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And before the 1960s, the sexual meaning of the word "dick" would have been so rare in "polite conversation" that anyone who complained about it in regards to the name Dick would have been accused of having an dirty sick mind. :) And that goes doubly for complaining about "Dick Van Dyke". I don't think I ever thought of that as being any sort of "bad" name until it was mentioned on this thread.

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John has about as many negative slang connotations as Dick does (toilet and prostitute's customer), but I don't see anyone saying it would be a cruel name to give a child. Is Dick Van Dyke really that much more suggestive than John Waters, John Hooker, or John Bowles? :)

I actually think of the Famous Five character first (Enid Blyton did those names really well.... Dick had an Aunt Fanny... lol), then this old guy that lived down the road from my friend and had lots of old junked cars, then the penis association. To me (don't knwo whether this is the rest of NZ too), 'dick' as an insult means someone stupid or inept or unaware, more than jerk or a-hole. Lol not that that matters! The point is, no I wouldn't use Dick; I don't like Richard in the first place, and the teasing the poor kid would get if I used it is enough to put me off without wondering whether i can get past the associations.

Not only is it the male body part, but its also used to describe a jerk (usually male, another word for a**hole so to speak). I have never met one in real life.

My uncle was named Richard nn Dick. He was always "Uncle Dick." I'm not positively sure, but I believe back when he was born in the late 1920 the word had not yet acquired its slang meaning. I honestly don't know if he ever suffered any embarassment over it because we weren't that close. But no, I think the slang meaning has rendered this nickname unuseable today. Most people would definitely make the association.

Nope...dick is too much engraved in everyone's mind as a term for genitalia to really take it serious on anyone under 55. Atleast in America, it would be equated to naming your child Penis or Cock except for the fact that Dick has history as a name. I just don't dig it.

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I do like the Dick and Jane stories though and I remember when I was little I thought nothing of his name and easily got past the genital thing.

I would not use it, but I far prefer this to any other Richard nickname (especially Richie, which I find abominable). I do actually rather like the sound. The association of penis and/or jerk is very strong, though, stronger than other names (Willie, Johnny...) that can mean penis. So, not very usable. But I do think that it's partially because it's associated with old men that it's out of style, and it may overcome its slang meanings and make a comeback when Bob does. We'll see.

Not only are the connotations too strong, this was my grandfather's name, who actually passed away yesterday morning. I really hate to say this so soon, especially since I never met him myself, but he was kind of a... you know.

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So yeah, I agree with you, it's kind of tough take it seriously. =/

It's a no-go. Just not a goodidea, and the word dick has meant "penis" for a very long time.

Honestly, I like the sound and I dig the old connotations--I see it and think "detective". If it wasn't slang for the ween (and more importantly to me, for what Wikipedia describes as "an abrasive and inconsiderate person"), I'd think it was pretty cool. Unfortunately, it is slang for those things, and so it's out. Woe.

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