When I was born I was a premie,small red and wrinkled so my maternal grandparents called me "chigger". If you are not from the south a chigger is a small red bug with a very irritating bite. When I was in school there always seemed to be a lot of Carols so I usually went by Ann. The very first time I met my new in-laws I was so nervous. We arrived at their farm and they came out to meet us and my husband introduced me as Carol. All of a sudden a huge black and tan coon hound (Queen Anne something) came running up. Dad said ANNE and I said yes sir, the next dog to greet me was a black cocker spaniel who wanted to jump up and greet me,Dad said CHIGGER and of course I said yes sir. I am so glad the third dog was named Bruce.
I had an Uncle Bubba,Aunt Boots,Aunt Chick,Aunt Dede,Aunt Yeddy and Uncle Sonny. I was probably almost school age before I knew their real names. Did anyone else have nicknames?