Classic Chinese Nick Name for Kiddies

In the previous time in China, most parents, especially among villagers, called their kids with "silly" nick names which mostly took an animal name; "dog" (gou-狗) was the most often used as a nick name. For example: gou danr (狗蛋儿), gou shengr (狗胜儿), sha genr (傻根儿), er leng zi (二愣子), hu zi (虎子), etc.

The reason why parents called their kids with such an unusual (or I should say, inappropriate or weird) name was that parents believed if the name of their kids sounded too good to hear, then "the sky" above (referring to the God and Goddess, occupants of the sky) and "hell" down to the earth (referring to all evil spirit, the occupant of hell), both side want to take the spirit of this kid, thus the kid will die.

In contrast, if the nick name sounded not too good to hear, then neither the sky and hell want the spirit of the kid. Thus, the kid can live his/her life well, grow fast, safe and sound.