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Dick (nickname)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dick is a nickname most often for Richard, which likely originated in the Middle Ages as rhyming slang for "Rick", as did William → Will → Bill and Robert → Rob → Bob. The association with "penis" is more recent, arising from Dick becoming a cliché name for any man, as in Tom, Dick and Harry.[1] The use of the nickname Dick has declined drastically in recent decades due to the association of Dick with a penis; by 1969, Dick had fallen outside of the top 1,000 most common names for newborn baby boys in the US. By 2014, there were fewer than five babies born in the United States with the name Dick on a birth certificate. [2]

Notable people named Dick include:

A

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  • Dick Advocaat (born 1947), Dutch football manager and former player
  • Dick Ambrose (born 1953), American football linebacker in the National Football League
  • Dick Anthony (1939–2022), American forensic psychologist
  • Dick Armey (born 1940), American politician
  • Frederick Ashworth (1912–2005), United States Navy vice admiral, weaponeer of the bomber that dropped the second atomic bomb on Japan
  • Dick Assman (1934–2016), Canadian gas station worker
  • Dick Attlesey (1929–1984), American hurdler
  • Richard Audet (1922–1945), Canadian World War II fighter ace
  • Dick Ault (1925–2007), American hurdler

B

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  • Dick Barber (1910–1983), American long jumper
  • Dick Bavetta (born 1939), American National Basketball Association referee
  • Dick Benschop (born 1957), Dutch politician and corporate executive
  • Dick Berlijn (born 1950), retired Royal Netherlands Air Force four-star general and former Chief of Defence of the Netherlands
  • Richard Halsey Best (1910–2001), United States Navy pilot credited with sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi
  • Dick Blair (1937–2013), Australian boxer, pastor, and community leader
  • Dick Blumenthal, (born 1946), American politician
  • Richard Bong (1920–1945), top American flying ace of World War II
  • Dick Butkus (1942–2023), American football player, sports commentator, and actor

C

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D

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E

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F

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G

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H

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I

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  • Dick Ives (1926–1997), American basketball player

J

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K

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L

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M

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P

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  • Dick Pole (born 1950), American baseball player and coach
  • Dick Pound (born 1942), Canadian swimming champion and first president of the World Anti-Doping Agency
  • Dick Powell (1904–1963), American actor and musician

R

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S

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T

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  • Dick Tayler (born 1948), New Zealand long-distance runner
  • Dick Teague (1923–1991), American industrial designer
  • Dick Thornburgh (1932–2024), American politician, Governor of Pennsylvania, and United States Attorney General
  • Dick Trickle (1941–2013), American race car driver
  • Dick Turpin (1705–1739), English highwayman executed for horse theft

V

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W

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Y

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Fictional characters

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Tony Merevick (September 8, 2016). "How Did 'Dick' Become Short for 'Richard'?". Thrillist. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  2. ^ McDermott, John (June 20, 2017). "Where Did All the Dicks Go?".