42 Fascinating Nicknames & Stories Behind Them

When filming the movie "Space Jam", Warner Brothers built an indoor gym nicknamed the "Jordan Dome". Michael Jordan used it to get back into playing shape for his return by playing pickup games against other NBA players and celebrities.

27. To protect themselves from police and male vigilantes during protests, groups of suffragettes began practicing ju-jitsu and armed themselves with clubs hidden in their dresses. They were nicknamed "Amazons" by the press.

28. Singer Drake's nickname among his fans in China is "gōng yā", which literally translates to “male duck”, while Kanye West’s nickname in China is “kǎn yé”, which in Beijing dialect means “someone who brags a lot with no actions to follow it up.”

29. Lyndon B. Johnson was known for wandering the White House turning off lights in rooms he thought were empty, sometimes to the surprise of people working in those rooms. This earned him the nickname “Light Bulb Johnson.”

30. Theodore Roosevelt openly despised the nickname "Teddy", and was quick to correct anyone who called him it. He preferred those working closely with him to refer to him as Colonel or Theodore.

The city of Vernon, Florida has been nicknamed "nub city" because so many residents have intentionally amputated limbs, disguising the injury as an accident, as a means of insurance fraud. One man had more than 25 open insurance policies and collected over $1,000,000 after amputating his left foot.

32. The Blue Hole is a 120-meter-deep sinkhole, five miles north of Dahab, Egypt. It has been nicknamed “divers’ cemetery” as nearly 200 divers have died here in recent years. Many of those who died were attempting to swim under the arch. This challenge is to scuba divers what Kilimanjaro is to hikers.

33. There is a species of bacteria so resistant to radiation that scientists have nicknamed it "Conan the Bacterium."

34. The band Weezer got its name because their frontman Rivers Cuomo had this nickname due to his asthma, and the band thought it would make a great name when they formed in 1992.

35. Shaquille O'Neal gave fellow NBA superstar Paul Pierce his nickname "The Truth" by stating to a reporter after a game against Pierce, "Take this down. My name is Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce is the motherf*cking truth. Quote me on that and don't take nothing out."

The late King Olav V of Norway used public transport. He was nicknamed Folkekonge, "The people's king."

37. There was a Polish King nicknamed “the Strong” because he could break horseshoes with his bare hands and loved fox tossing, a sport where you throw foxes with a sling. One event had 1235 foxes, hares, badgers, and wildcats. He had several mistresses and fathered as many as 382 children.

38. The city of Novosibirsk was nicknamed "the Chicago of Siberia" due to its very rapid growth as an industrial center located relatively far away from the core of its country's population.

39. Tiger Woods' real name is actually Eldrick Tont Woods. “Tiger” was a nickname given by his father in honor of a fellow soldier and friend with the same nickname.

40. When Japan invaded the Philippines during World War 2, they issued their own Peso. This money was nicknamed “Mickey Mouse money” by the locals due to the low monetary value and a play money look. It was later turned against the Japanese by the US as propaganda leaflets.

The largest concentration of Indian restaurants outside the Indian Subcontinent is in Manchester, England on Wilmslow Road which is nicknamed “Curry Mile.”

42. The only known albino gorilla was found in Spanish Guinea and was later moved to Barcelona zoo. He was named "Snowflake" and supplied the nickname for Ronald Koeman when he was a Barcelona player.