50 Unusual Male Celebrity Nicknames And How They Came About

Nicknames: Pow Pow

Pow Pow was a nickname given to Jackie by his parents because he was born a rather hefty kid (weighted around 12.5 pounds). In Mandarin ‘Pow Pow’ stands for Canon.

Nicknames: Sticks, Guppy.

Jackman was nicknamed ‘Sticks’ in his school days as he had really skinny legs. As for Guppy, Jackman revealed in an interview that this is a nickname his wife gave him because of his unusual sleeping habits. He is a fidgety sleeper especially in airplanes and tends to move around a lot like a guppy (small fish) out of water.

Nickname: Zefron

Zefron is Zac’s childhood nickname which is a portmanteau of his first and second name.

Nicknames: Kip Chris, Kip, Hemsy, Hemmy

Kip and Hemsy were Chris’s childhood nicknames and ‘Hemmy’ was a nickname given to him by his Avengers costar Chris Evans. (source)

Nicknames: Opie, Trouble

Ryan was called “Opie” and “Trouble” in high school by his friends because they depicted his “good boy” and “bad boy” personalities. (source)

Nicknames: Rocky Maivia, The Rock, The Brahma Bull

For a long time, Dwayne was part of the World Wresting Federation (WWF) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and all his nicknames are ring names that he used in these tournaments.

Nicknames: Colonel Depp, Mr. Stench

Mr. Stench was an alias that Johnny Depp used while staying in hotels because he enjoyed how the hotel staff in various foreign countries would pronounce his name with their unique accents. It also apparently became his nickname. (source)

Nicknames: Buratto Pitto, Pitt-bull

The origins of these cool nicknames are not known but they sure fit Bard Pitt’s personality perfectly.

Nickname: Smolderholder

Smolderholder is a fan given nickname that fits Ian’s attractive personality perfectly.

Nicknames: Diggins Tay, Jack Abb

‘Jack Abb’, is a fan given nickname considering that Taylor played ‘Jacob’ in the Twilight movies and the fact that he has amazing abbs!

Nicknames: Orly, Orli OB

Orly is Orlando Bloom’s childhood nickname.

Nickname: Suburban

Country music singer Keith’s childhood nickname was ‘Suburban’ as he was the youngest of two siblings. (source)

Nicknames: Becks, DB7, Golden Balls

Golden Balls was a nickname given to him by David’s wife Victoria Beckham because of his cute personality and ability to turn things around. (source)

Nickname: Stinky

Wentworth got the nickname, ‘Stinky’, when he was studying at Princeton University, not because he actually stunk, but because of his sarcastic attitude towards his friends. (source)

Nickname: James Blonde

Daniel Craig who played James Bond in 5 movies has the nickname, ‘James Blonde’, because he was the Blondest Bond actor ever.

Nickname: Moose

Jared Padalecki (of the popular T.V. series Supernatural) was nicknamed, ‘Moose’, by his co-stars because he was so bulky and tall compared to everyone else on set. (source)

Nickname: Monk D, Marky Mark

Before coming an actor, Mark used to play in a rap group called ‘Marky Mark’ which is how he got this nickname. As for Monk D, its origins are unknown.

Nickname: Krazy Kellan

Kellan got nicknamed “Krazy Kellan” as a kid because of his mischievous nature. (source)

Nickname: National Jiju

Nick Jonas’s wife, Priyanka (who is of Indian origin) said in a video that the nickname for her husband in India is ‘National Jiju’. Jiju in Indian stands for ‘Brother in Law’. Now that is really cute! (source)

Nickname: Honey Boy

‘Honey Boy’ was Shia LaBeouf’s childhood nickname given by his father. Shia also starred in a movie of the same name which projects his painful childhood experiences and the complicated relationship he shared with his dad. Oddly, Shia plays his dad in the movie. Certainly a must watch.

Nickname: Monkey Boy

In an interview to ET Canada Chris (who plays Peter Quill/Star-Lord in the Avengers series) revealed that Monkey Boy was his childhood nickname given by his dad because he had a small head but long ears and teeth and was always bouncing and jumping around.

Nickname: Sharky

Adam Levine (the lead singer of Maroon 5) got the nickname ‘sharky’ because his friends always used to tell him that he looks like a shark. Adam also has a tattoo of a shark on his right arm. (source)

Nicknames: Harrah, Hazza, Haz

Harrah and Hazza are Harry’s childhood nicknames and his close friends call him by these names even today.

Nickname: Jackals

Jackles is Jenson’s childhood nickname. Jenson plays who plays Dean in the popular T.V. series – Supernatural.

Nicknames: Fat Cavill, Henners

Henry Cavill, the fit guy who plays Superman in the DC Extended Universe films was very overweight as a kid which is why he earned the nickname ‘Fat Cavill’ in Grade School. (source)

Nickname: Bradford Bad Boy

The popular singer Zayn Malik is originally from Bardford which earned him the nickname ‘Bardford Bad Boy’.

Nickname: The Wall

Keanu Reeves earned this rather unusual nickname in high school because he excelled in ice hockey. As a goalie it was next to impossible to get the puck past him. He literally was like a wall guarding that goal post. (source)

Nickname: Hiddles

Tom Hiddleston is best known for playing the super villain Loki in the Marvel Movies. Hiddles which is not weird but rather a cute nickname was given to Tom by his high school friends.

Nickname: Cevans

Cevans is Captain America’s really cute and innocent childhood nickname.

Nickname: Sandman

Sandman is just a funny take on Adam’s last name. The origin’s of this nickname are unknown.

Nickname: Teddy

Ed Sheeran’s childhood nickname was Teddy as it rhymes with Eddy, which is long for Ed.

Nickname: Spark Plug

Elijah Wood of ‘Lord of the Rings’ fame was called ‘Spark Plug’ as a kid by his parents because he was highly energetic and was always jumping around.

Nickname: Chocolate Droppa

Chocolate Droppa is Kevin Hart’s rap name.

Nickname: Red Alert

Matt Damon earned the weird nickname ‘Red Alert’ from his wife (Luciana) because of his cautious and paranoid nature. Matt revealed in an interview that part of his cautious nature began after he had kids.

Nickname: Butterscotch Stallion

‘Butterscotch Stallion’ was a nickname given to Owen by a gossip column reader, the reason being that he was butterscotch hair and is manly like a stallion.

Nickname: Wilf

Wilf is Will Ferrell’s childhood nickname. The origin of this name is unknown.

Nickname: Bobby Milk

Robert De Niro earned this nickname as a child because of his pale complexion. Kid Monroe and Bobby D are some of his other nicknames.

Nickname: The Jewish Cowboy

James Caan best known for his role in ‘The Godfather (1972)’ got the nickname ‘The Jewish Cowboy’ as he was very athletic and active on the rodeo circuit.

Nickname: Fish

Laurence Fishburne best know for his role as Morpheus in the Matrix movies has a cute nickname ‘Fish’ from this last name. The origin of this name is unknown.

Nicknames: Hook

Dustin Hoffman earned the nickname ‘Hook’ following his appearance in the movie Hook (1991). It was Gene Hackman who first started calling Dustin by this name as a joke and it stuck. Till this day, all his friends call him by this name.

Nicknames: Cupid

Ben Kingsley earned the name ‘Cupid’ as a child because he was extremely cute and lovable.

Nicknames: Leaf

Joaquin Phoenix has always been a nature lover. While growing up, he started calling himself ‘Leaf’ as he was inspired spending time outdoors, raking leaves and also because all his siblings had nature-related names. His brother is named, River Phoenix and sisters, Rain Phoenix, Liberty Phoenix and Summer Phoenix.

Nicknames: Bruno

Bruno is Bruce Willis’s childhood nickname given to him by his friends because he was a popular kid with a good sense of humor. Bruce was also was elected Student Council President in high school.

Nicknames: Mr. July, Fresh Prince.

Hollywood gave Will Smith the nickname ‘Mr. July’ because of all the summer blockbusters that he starred in at the peak of his career. As for Fresh Prince, this nickname comes from the insanely popular sitcom – ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-air‘, where he played the lead role.

Nicknames: Mad Mel

Mel earned the name ‘Mad Mel’ thanks to his wild behavior both on and off set. Plus, many of his on screen characters had a bit of the crazy too, be it the crazy cop in ‘Lethal Weapon’ or the crazy cabdriver in ‘Conspiracy Theory’.

Nicknames: Paul Ham Glazer

Paul got this name because before he was an actor, he worked at the Holiday Ham Company glazing hams all day long. Because of this, he would smell of ham all day which earned him this nick from his friends. (source)

Nicknames: Big Ears, Nevil

Dev was called ‘Big Ears’ by his friends because growing up he had big ears in relation to his face. His mother used to call him Nevil.

Nicknames: Tony Flags

Antonio Banderas’s unusual nickname comes from the fact that in Spanish his last name ‘Banderas’ means flags.

Nicknames: 8 Pack Peggles

Tom Cruise gave Simon this weird nickname on the sets of ‘Mission Impossible 6’ because of his amazing 6 pack.

Nicknames: Hugh “Bubblegum” Dancy

Hugh was called Bubblegum Dancy in Grade School as he was a little smaller than the other kids and had a hard time roughing with the other boys.

Nicknames: Mr. Sunshine

This is the perfect nickname for Vince as he seems like the nicest guy, doesn’t he?

Nicknames: The Governator

Arnie was nicknamed ‘The Governator’ during his political career which is a portmanteau of “Governor”, and his all time popular movie, “Terminator”.