Pejorative Nickname Reference
Is there a single word or very short phrase to describe the act of contemptuously referring to someone by using a diminutive "nickname", with which that person is not normally associated?
For example, referring to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as Hank Longfellow? Or William Penn as Billy Penn?
Solution 1:
Epithet sort of works. It doesn't necessarily imply disparagement, but is often used in that sense:
a : a characterizing word or phrase accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a person or thing
b : a disparaging or abusive word or phrase