What's in a (nick)name?

My husband (a.ka. Alpha Geek/AG/Boy) has always been a nicknamer. Co-workers, classmates, gas station employees, random people he sees walking down the sidewalk, and our cars all have nicknames. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember the given names of some of my college friends because I can only remember his nicknames for them! When we were dating, he started calling me "Girl" and it has stuck through almost 7 years of marriage. The looks of horror we get from people who don't know us when he calls me "Girl" in public are pretty funny. They seem to equate what we see as a sweet term of endearment with "WOMAN, GET ME A BEER!" I generally call him "Boy" in return, though I do actually use his real name as well. When our son was born, AG quickly dubbed him "Goopy." Those of you who have children (or ever were one!) will understand why. Other nicknames for him currently include "Little Boy" and the lengthened "Goopster McCrankypants"

What amuses me is that Alpha Geek is very particular about nicknames. He refuses to call anyone by a "corruption" of their given name unless requested to do so. For example (hypothetically, of course) if your name was Caroline, he would never call you Carol or Linny, but sprain your ankle once, and you'd never shake the moniker "Gimpy"! When acquaintances or co-workers "corrupt" his given name, he doesn't answer until they say it correctly. One particularly stubborn guy (who knew this!) chased AG down the hall, calling him by a "corrupted" name 20 times. When the guy finally said AG's real name, AG stopped, turned around, and said, "Yes?" as though he had never heard the guy before. Fortunately, the guy learned from the experience and always addresses him by his real name now. If the guy made up some random name for him like "Mr. Nacho Cheese", however, he'd answer in a heartbeat!