3 Short Forms of Victoria which aren’t Vicky or Tori

A young Queen Victoria, from general-anaesthesia.com

Whilst more popular in the States (#32 with 6174 births) than England (#118 with 489 births) after Victoria dropped out of the Top 100 in 2004, but the list of English hospitals and railway stations named Victoria goes on and on. You could be born at Blackpool Victoria, then get your car insurance from Liverpool Victoria and maybe catch a train to Manchester Victoria. Perhaps even a lunch break down at your loca pub, The Queen Victoria?

Needless to say, most would’ve been inspired by Queen Victoria, since she was still around during the time of the railway boom and indeed the industrial revolution.

1. Cora

The name was created by James Fenimore Cooper for his novel The Last of the Mohicans. It is believed he derived the name from the Greek name Korë, which means maiden. It was another name for name-nerds favourite Persephone.

Generally speaking, Cora may normally may be considered as a short form of Cordelia, Corinne or maybe even Courtney. However, in 2010 the name Cora at #438 with 96 births whilst Corinne is at #1904 with 14 births and Cordelia at #1030 with 33 births. On the other hand, the name Courtney is the only one I listed above which outranks Cora. It sits at #129 with 443 births, she fell out of the Top 100 in 2009 along with Abbie and Maryam, being replaced by Sara, Mya and Heidi.

2. Io

Our next name also has roots in Greek, this time being from it’s mythology. Io was a Greek Princess whom Zeus was besotted with; one of the many moons of Jupiter is named in her honour. The origins of the name are mostly unknown.

But the parents of England&Wales are not naming their child in her honour, but we are using the similar names Ione (with 7 births) and Iona (with 121 births, putting the name at #376). These names come from Greek and mean violet flower.

3. Kit

Originally I was pinning Ivy as the third name, but opted to go for something a bit more wildcard in keeping with fine tradition. Firstly, I thought of Vit as a nickname, especially if it were to be pronounced the French way – vee. Vit comes from the French verb vivre which means to live.

But then one pauses and realises it will rarely be pronounced the French way initially. A bit of letter switching later and we get to the nickname Kit, generally speaking the short form of either Christopher or Katherine. I could see Kit making for an unexpected nickname of Victoria. Only 5 Kits were born in 2010 as females, with the other 71 being male – that puts Kit at #495 for the lads.

So once more I turn to you, are other nicknames you wish to suggest?

Categories: Girl Names | 3 Comments

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3 thoughts on “3 Short Forms of Victoria which aren’t Vicky or Tori

  1. I must admit to being partial to Vita as a short form of Victoria, as in Vita Sackville-West.

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  2. I second Waltzing’s Vita – she got there before me!

    There were a fair number of Victorias when I was at school and uni. I knew one who went by Vi (pronounced ‘vee’), and I’ve also come across a Victoria who called herself Ria. Only a small step from that to Rio, which I think would work as well.

    I’ve also come across a Victoria using Tiggy.

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