Message: "Snicklefritz" - Behind the Name

Snicklefritz

by Tom (guest)

9/26/2009, 12:02 PM

Snicklefritz is a funny name. Schnickel is a funny (but real) name, and Fritz is a... name. Put them together and you have a Particularly Amusing Appellation. While there may very well be people named Snicklefritz, it is usually used as a joke name.

But it didn't start out that way; Snicklefritz was originally used in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, where Snicklefritz is an affectionate name for a mischievous or overly talkative child.

Snicklefritz has been used in this manner for generations, and the origin has been lost in the mists of time. It is apparently original to the Pennsylvania Dutch, with no direct German root. But these days it seeps into mainstream English in various (technically incorrect) contexts -- most often as a random silly name. Because so many people are called a Snicklefritz as a child, it is also a common nickname. Being rather cutesy, it is frequently used as a name for pets.

Snicklefritz is often written as 'Schnicklefritz'. There are, as you might expect, a large number of variations in the spelling of this word. Schnickelfritz was the name of a somewhat popular comedy band in the 1930s, which may be the origin of its comparative popularity. Even so, 'Snicklefritz' is overwhelmingly the most popular spelling.

#Snicklefritz

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- Marcie (guest)

9/18/2023, 4:13 AM

My grandma used it all the time. Her grandfather as a German Jew from Alsace Lorraine area prior to WWI. We had many Yiddish words in our family slang sadly since her death they have fallen away.

- elbowin +1

11/18/2022, 4:51 AM

It reminds of the regional German word schnäkelig¹ "dainty, fastidious, fussy (when eating)", and the region (Palatinate) fits to the origins of Pennsylvania Dutch. Of course, when your child is like that, you may have a lot of conflicts.

--elbowin

¹ Look here for a map of schnäkelig in the German speaking countries: https://www.atlas-alltagssprache.de/runde-3/f09b/

- Elizabeth Teschner (guest)

8/20/2023, 7:14 AM

My dad always called me this and his family had deep German roots in Cincinnati, Ohio.

- David Anderson (guest) +2

1/14/2021, 7:38 AM

My Grandfather used to call me Snicklefritz when I was maybe 4 about 1951. His Parents were from Hiede Germany and spoke low German.
When I asked him what it meant he said it was a mischievous little boy that his Grandpa had to spank him.

- Brian Willis (guest) +1

1/14/2022, 1:30 PM

As children, my wife and her sister were lovingly called Snicklefritz by their paternal Grandfather who had come directly from Germany. It is definitely not PA Dutch in origin.

- RK in Denver (guest)

11/18/2022, 12:32 AM

I am 61, and female. My mom, from western Kansas, called me ‘Snicklefritz’ *all the time* when I was little. I loved it. She never called my brother that, only me.

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