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ArchivesDickon/Diccon
Does anyone have information on the English male name Dickon/Diccon? I'm mostly familiar with it from the character (Dickon) in "The Secret Garden", but I'm reading "Robin Hood" and there is a Diccon in there as well.
Meaning? Origin?
Thanks,
Cait
Meaning? Origin?
Thanks,
Cait
1
Replies
My grandfather (1890-1985) gave himself the nickname of Diccon because he disliked his given name. He said it meant “little devil” although that didn’t describe him at all. He was an English professor at a university his whole career.
Of course his last name was Dickinson so that, no doubt, played into the choosing of Diccon. But everyone knew him as Diccon, whether distinguished scholar or next door neighbor.
Of course his last name was Dickinson so that, no doubt, played into the choosing of Diccon. But everyone knew him as Diccon, whether distinguished scholar or next door neighbor.
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our son Is called Diccon .
Old English for Richard.
Richard III called Diccon.
Old English for Richard.
Richard III called Diccon.
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NOT Old English for Richard, as Richard is a characteristically Norman name. Only two actual individuals from the Old English period are recorded as Ricardus (the Latinized form) or Richard (the later Anglo-Norman form), neither the contemporary Old English form they would have been known as at the time. Dick is said to be derived from the Middle English pronunciation of the Norman name (D for Norman trilled R, and ck for Norman/southern ch — compare Kelsey in Lincs. with the more Normanized Chelsea).
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Partially correct as it is not Old English but rather Celtic for "Hard Ruler". Richard is the early Germanic with the same meaning. Consequently, when the Normans brought the name over after conquering the English, many of the Celtic speaking subjects used their word for the Normans with that name.
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For lots of nicknames, first a name gets shortened, like Elizabeth to Liz, and then it gets lengthened again to Lizzy.
Dickon/Diccon is a lengthened form of Dick, the nickname for Richard, and was also used of, though probably not by, King Richard III. I knew a man whose full given name was Dickon; never knew why, though. Perhaps his parents just liked it, or perhaps there were abundant Richards in the family and they wanted to keep the tradition but with their own slant on it.
Dickon/Diccon is a lengthened form of Dick, the nickname for Richard, and was also used of, though probably not by, King Richard III. I knew a man whose full given name was Dickon; never knew why, though. Perhaps his parents just liked it, or perhaps there were abundant Richards in the family and they wanted to keep the tradition but with their own slant on it.
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thanks
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