What do the American nicknames 'Dutch' and 'T-Bone' mean?
Does the nickname Dutch have any significance? I know it was Reagan's, and I'm sure I've come across it in other books/films.
Also T-Bone, as in T-Bone Walker, T-Bone Burnett: what does that mean? (I realise T-bone is a steak, but why would people be named after a meat cut, and why this one?)
Dutch, not an uncommon nickname, seems to be used for a variety of reasons. It could be because a person is connected to Holland, or because a person is of German descent. Here, "Dutch" is from "Deutsch," the German-language word for "German." Other reasons are more idiosyncratic. Here are some examples:
Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States As a boy, Reagan's father nicknamed his son "Dutch", due to his "fat little Dutchman"-like appearance, and his "Dutchboy" haircut; the nickname stuck with him throughout his youth.
Dutch Schultz, notorious gangster His old associates dubbed him "Dutch" Schultz in honor of a deceased strong-arm thug who was notorious for dirty fighting at the turn of the century.
Dutch Ruppersberger, U.S. congressman Dutch is legally part of his name: Charles Albert Dutch Ruppersberger III, but it wasn't always. When Rep. Charles Albert Ruppersberger III (D-Md.) first ran for Congress in 2002, he decided that his 13-letter last name was too long to put on a bumper sticker.
Besides, he says, he needed something catchier, something that would stick in people’s heads. So he opted for his lifelong nickname: Dutch. But there was one hitch: It wasn’t his real name, so he couldn’t put "Dutch" on the ballot.
"When you market yourself, you have to make sure that you have the same name on the ballot, so I needed ‘Dutch’ on the ballot," he said in an interview. "So what I did is I legally -- I’m a lawyer -- I legally added Dutch to my name. So I would go by C -- period -- A -- period -- Dutch, and all of the bumper stickers would say, ‘Go Dutch.’ So legally I added Dutch to my name."
But why did he choose "Dutch"? The Maryland Democrat’s nickname has been --Dutch-- since the moment of his birth.
--When I was born ... the doctor came out and said to my father, ‘You have a big blond Dutchman,’ -- he said. --So they started calling me ‘Dutch,’ and when my mother and he would write letters, he’d ask, ‘How’s the Dutchman doing?’ I’ve been called Dutch all of my life.--
Dutch Fehring, Stanford's winningest baseball coach. It was during his freshman year in high school that he earned the nickname --Dutch,-- because he was of German descent. After Fehring returned a kickoff 60 yards for a touchdown, a local sportswriter tabbed him --The Flying Dutchman-- and the nickname stuck.
Arnold Schwarznegger's character's (nick)name in the film "Predator" was "Dutch". I once read a review which claimed this was a way to explain his accent away.
As for T-Bone Walker, Wikipedia tells me
Aaron Thibeaux Walker[4] .... In 1929, Walker made his recording debut with a single for Columbia, "Wichita Falls Blues"/"Trinity River Blues," billed as Oak Cliff T-Bone.[1] Oak Cliff was the community he lived in at the time and T-Bone a corruption of his middle name.
We have answers for T-Bone Walker, but not for T Bone Burnett. An article by the Newark Star Ledger (posted on his own site) says:
Christened Joseph Henry Burnett, T Bone came by his nickname "honestly," around the age of 5, he says. The fact that he shared a moniker with famous Texas guitarist T-Bone Walker caused some wincing when he first started to perform, but he stuck with it.
So his name doesn't begin with a T and he didn't copy it from Walker, he just picked it somehow.
Some other T-Bones:
T-Bone Slim (1890-1942), pen name for American poet, songwriter, and labour activist Matti Valentine Huhta: Apparently Slim was a common name for hoboes, perhaps because they tended to be skinny from lack of food. And maybe the T-Bone was for ironic contrast, and for the T sound from the end of Matti. His "Lumberjack's Prayer" begins: "I pray dear Lord for Jesus' sake, / Give us this day a T-Bone Steak".
T-Bone (rapper), a Christian rapper: "His name came from being called 'Bones' as a youngster because he was very skinny. The 'T' was "added to give the name a little slang edge, hence the name 'T-Bone' was born.""
And these three all have names beginning with T:
- Tony "T-Bone" Bellamy, lead guitarist, pianist and vocalist of the 1970s band Redbone.
- Tom "T-Bone" Wolk, an American bassist: "guitarist G.E. Smith ... gave him the nickname T-Bone — for blues guitarist T-Bone Walker — after Wolk played his bass behind his head during a solo".
- Tom "T-Bone" Stankus, an American musician.
I have no doubt that "T-Bone" comes from the steak. I think that a cut of steak is something considered fairly rugged and manly, so for this reason it might be attractive as a nickname. Of course that is just speculation. Also, I notice (from Wikipedia) that T-Bone Walker got his nickname because his middle name starts with a T. I suspect that a name like T-Bone could easily arise from this sort of connection.