Snapchat, has today released new research into our unique Aussie nickname culture, uncovering our national obsession with nicknames and revealing five of the most popular nicknames in the country.
The research, conducted by Lonergan on behalf of Snap, found Australia’s most popular nicknames include:
● Baby
● Honey
● Babe
● Cutie
● Digger
Unsurprisingly, the research found that Aussies also love adding on ‘y’, ‘ie’ or ‘o’ to the end of names when giving friends and family nicknames with Allie, Milly and Jacko being some of our favourites. Additionally, some more surprising nicknames found their way into our most popular, including Sausage, Bear, Wigglebum, Sweetie, and Shorty, showing that terms of endearment are truly unique. Snapchat, which helps capture the spontaneity and fun of real life conversations with close friends and family, is a place where nicknames can truly come to life.
In this study new insights were unearthed into the role of nicknames in Australia’s cultural DNA, showing that each person will have three nicknames on average during their lifetime and nearly half of Aussies (43 per cent) say that others tend to know them by their nickname over their real name.
In celebration of the nicknames given to us by our nearest and dearest, Snapchat has launched new Augmented Reality (AR) Lenses to immortalise them. As well as these Lenses bringing to life some of the most popular affectionate nicknames across the country, Aussies can also customise a Snapchat Lens with their very own unique nickname. From the weird and wacky to the oddball, romantic and downright hilarious, the new custom nickname AR experience has been purpose built by Snapchat to bring users closer to their inner circle and enable the fun and joy of sharing nicknames.
Nickname vs. real name: The research has shown that nearly half of Aussies (43 per cent) say others tend to know them by their nickname over their real name, and taking this one step further two thirds of people (67 per cent) say while they don’t divulge their nickname, they naturally get called one by others. It also seems that nickname use has seeped into every part of our lives, with half of people (50 per cent) going by a nickname around their family, and the incidence increasing even more (60 per cent) when people are with friends. Interestingly, women are much more likely to be called by a nickname around family than men (61 per cent vs. 38 per cent).
The nickname versus real name debate continues at a generational level, with millennials being most likely to usually introduce themselves by their nickname instead of their real name (34 per cent; compared to Gen Z 26 per cent, Gen X 24 per cent, Baby Boomers 20 per cent). The younger generations are also more likely to be known by their nickname than their real name (Gen Z 53 per cent, Millennials 50 per cent, compared to Gen X 39 per cent, Baby Boomers 38 per cent).
Nickname etiquette is real! The research has shown that at least 17.7 million Aussies over 16 years old have had a nickname before, and more than 4 out of 5 people (82 per cent) believe nicknames are a unique part of being Australian, proving nicknames really are a deep part of our culture.
The research has also uncovered interesting insights into how familiarity with someone can impact our nickname use; as a community we seem to use nicknames to demonstrate the connection with those we care about and the validity of our relationship. The majority of us (65 per cent) say we feel closer to one another when we use nicknames. But, while Aussies are a friendly bunch, most of us (90 per cent) still don’t believe it is acceptable to start calling someone by their nickname the first time that you meet, with nearly four in five people (79 per cent) saying that you should wait at least a week before you start using someone’s nickname.
We love to ‘Aussie-fy’ our names: Almost a third of respondents say they love to call others by a nickname based on their first name (32 per cent) or by giving them a nickname ending in ‘ie’ or ‘y’ (31 per cent), with names like Cutie, Ally, Ashy, and Milly coming out in the top names of this type. Likewise, many of us (17 per cent) love using nicknames ending in ‘o’, with names like Johnno, Jacko and Tomo coming out on top and proving we really do love to add an Aussie twang to everything.
When taking a peek at a national level, it seems that as a country we’re pretty proud of our nicknames, with three quarters of people (76 per cent) saying they like their nickname, although a small minority of people (3 per cent) do report either disliking or hating their nickname. Aussie’s love cute nicknames: The data also shows that some of us are more lovingly-inclined than others, with a quarter of Aussies (24 per cent) saying they enjoy calling people nicknames based on terms of endearment or cute pet names.
Affectionately classified nicknames made up half of the dominant nickname types in Australia, with Baby, Honey, Cutie, Bear, Shorty, Sweetie, Sausage, Darling, Sweetpea and Wigglebum all coming in within the top 20 of this category. Nicknaming trends shift over time and between genders: The new research has uncovered that the positive sentiment towards nicknames may be symptomatic of a social shift between generations and genders. Millennials have emerged as the most likely to have successfully given themselves a nickname (25 per cent), demonstrating a change from their predecessors Gen X (16 per cent) and Baby Boomers (13 per cent), whilst we can see an interesting shift backwards again for Gen Z (17 per cent).
Interestingly too, men are more likely to become fast friends and jump to nickname stage after only a week (43 per cent), while women tend to take a little longer until nicknaming others, with only a small group (29 per cent) starting that within the first week. Cheekiness prevails: Australians are a cheeky bunch and that is no more clear than with our nicknames.
In true Aussie style , nearly one in ten (9 per cent) of us with nicknames are sporting a nickname that is rude or that others might find offensive. Millennials have come out on top of the rudeness scale, with close to a sixth (14 per cent) saying that their nickname is rude, with Gen Z trailing closely behind with 12 per cent of them sporting rude nicknames.
The ACT has also come out as the most likely to have a rude nickname (16 per cent), tailed by the Northern Territory and Queensland (12 per cent respectively).
Tony Keusgen, managing director of Snap Inc. Australia and New Zealand, said, “Snapchat is all about having fun and connecting with your friends and family, and so often it’s those closest to us who coin our nicknames.
We wanted to take a playful look at the way Australians use nicknames and those that are most ubiquitous to all Aussies, as well as create a fun way to share even more of the real you with your favourite people on Snapchat.” The Snapchat nickname Lenses will be available on Snapchat in Australia from 21 June 2023. Search for “AU’s Top Nicknames” and “My Nickname AU” to find the Lenses.
