List of British regional nicknames

In addition to formal demonyms, many nicknames are in common use for residents of the different countries, regions and places of the United Kingdom.
For example, residents of Liverpool, formally referred to as Liverpudlians, are also referred to by the nickname Scousers.
Some nicknames are a badge of pride; in other cases they may be regarded as offensive. Many of the names listed below are merely the nicknames of local football teams and are rarely, if ever, used in a non-football context.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

A - B

Aberdeen 
A Don, Sheep shagger (originally a football term it is now used to describe anyone from Aberdeen and surrounding area)
Arbroath 
Red Lichtie or Lichtie, Codheid
Barnsley 
Tykes,[1] Colliers (a former mining community), Dingles (by people from Sheffield)
Barrow in Furness 
Shipbuilder
Bedford 
Birmingham 
Brummie[2]
Birkenhead 
Black Country 
Yam Yam,[3] Ninehead
Blackburn 
The unchosen ones
Blackpool 
Sand grown 'un, Donkey Lasher
Bolton 
Trotter
Bramley (West Yorkshire) 
Villager
Brighton 
Jug (archaic),[4] Batty boys[5] (offensive term sometimes used by supporters of the local football team to refer to themselves, relates to the high proportion of homosexuals in the area)
Bristol 
Ciderhead
Britain 
Limeys in Canada and the United States,[6] Pommies in Australia and New Zealand.[7] Les Rosbifs in France [8] Tommy, or Island Monkey in Germany [9]
Burnley 
Dingles, a reference to Burnley's proximity to Yorkshire and the family from the TV soap opera Emmerdale (normally used by people from Blackburn, Preston and other parts of Lancashire)
Bury 
Shakers

C - D

Caithness 
Gallach[10]
Carlisle 
Carliol
Cardiganshire 
Cardi[11]
Chester 
Chesterfield 
Spireite
Colchester 
Colchie, Roman, Camuloonie, Steamie, Castler. Cross'n'Crowner (after Colchester's coat of arms).
Corby 
Plastic Jocks
Cornwall 
Kernowick, Merry-Jack, Mera-Jack, Uncle Jack or Cousin Jack (when abroad).
Coventry 
Godivas
Cranfield 
Fr.Damien, Gummy bear, Mountain Fakoor (Dummy version)
Crawley  
Insect[12]
Crewe 
Chip Eater
Darlington 
Quaker
Devon 
Janner
Doncaster 
Flatlander (especially by people from Sheffield), Knights
Dumfries 
Doonhamer
Duns 
Dinger
Durham 
Posh Geordie, Pitt Yakker (due to Durham's mining heritage)

E - G

Eastbourne 
Winnicks or Willicks (dialect name of a guillemot or wild person)[4]
Edinburgh 
Edinbourgeois, Edinbugger
England 
Sassenach (offensive, used by Scottish and Irish; Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic word "sasunnach", meaning "Saxon"), Red Coat, Inglish,[13] Nigel, Guffie (in Northeast Scotland), Sais, Englandshire (in Scotland), The Shire (in Scotland).
Essex 
Essex Calf (archaic), Eastie, Esser, wideboys, Saxon, slags, Scimitars (from the County Arms)
Fraserburgh 
Brocher[14]
Glasgow 
Keelie,[15][16] Weegie,[17]
Golder's Green, London
Yid
Goole 
Goolie
Grimsby 
Cod Head (after the fishing port in Grimsby), Grimmy
Gillingham
Chavs, Medwayers
Gosport 
Turk-towners
Great Yarmouth 
Yarcos, Scum

H - K

Halifax 
Hampshire 
Hampshire Hog, Bacon Face (reference to Hampshire as a pig-raising county in former times)
Hartlepool 
Monkey Hanger,[18] Poolie
Hawick 
Teri
Haydock 
Yicker
Highlands and Islands (of Scotland) 
Teuchter, used by other Scots and sometimes applied by Greater Glasgow natives to anyone speaking in a dialect other than Glaswegian
Hinckley  
Tin Hatter
Kent 
Yellow Tails (French nickname for people from Kent)
Kirkcaldy 
Langtonian
Ipswich 
Twelve Toes, Tractor Boys
Isle of Wight 
Caulkhead (named after the caulking of boats) Historically Corkhead - Caulkhead is an urban myth perpetrated after the Isle of Wight County Press received no replies to its inquiry on the origins of Corkhead in the 1970s
Heywood Greater Manchester 
Monkey town [19]

L

Lancashire 
Yonner (specifically south-eastern Lancashire)
Leeds 
Loiner,.[20]
Leicester 
Rat-eye (from the Roman name for the city: Ratae), Chisits (from the pronunciation of "how much is it," which sounds like "I'm a chisit"); Foxes, Bin Dippers (named after Foxes)
Leicestershire 
Beanbelly (from the eating of broad beans)[21]
Leigh 
Lobbygobbler, Leyther
Lincolnshire 
Yellow belly (after a species of frog common in the Lincolnshire and East Anglian Fens)[22]
Linlithgow 
Black Bitch, from the burgh coat of arms
Littlehampton 
LA, from the local accent being unable to pronounce the h in hampton
Liverpool 
Scouse or Scouser,[23] Mickey Mouse[24]
Plastic Scouser: a person who purports to be from Liverpool, but is not.[25]
Woolyback, or Wool: anyone not from Liverpool, but in particular refers to people living in the surrounding towns such as Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Warrington, Widnes, Wigan and St Helens.[26][27]
Llanelli 
Turk
London 
Del Boy, Shandy, Cockney (East End)
Luton 
Hatter

M - N

Macclesfield 
Manchester 
Manc
Mansfield 
Scabs, The Stags
Malmesbury 
Jackdaw
Middlesbrough 
Smoggie,[28] an abbreviation of Smog Monster[29]
Milton Keynes 
Cattle, Plastic Cow-Jockey, Thief (reference to the transfer of Wimbledon football club to Milton Keynes).
Montrose 
Gable-endies
Nantwich 
Dabber
Neath 
Abbey-Jack, blacks, black-jacks.
Newcastle upon Tyne 
Geordie, Magpie, Mag
Northern England 
Northern Monkey
North Wales 
Gog[30]
Norwich
Canaries, Country Bumpkin, Norfolk Dumpling,
Nottingham
Bogger
Nuneaton
Codder, Treacletowner

O - R

Oldham 
Yonner (from Oldham pronunciation of 'yonder' as in 'up yonner') Roughyed
Paisley 
Buddie,[31]
Peterhead 
Bluemogganer, Blue-Tooner
Plymouth 
Janner. Originally a person who spoke with a Devon accent,[32][33] now simply any West Countryman.[32] In naval slang, this is specifically a person from Plymouth.[33]
Portsmouth 
Pompey, Pomponian, Plastic Cockney/Skate, Pompeyite
Redcar 
Codhead
Rotherham 
Chuckle
Royston, Hertfordshire 
Crows
Rye 
Mudlarks[34]

S

Scotland 
Scottie, Jocks[35] Mac, Sweaties (offensive), Scotch (sometimes considered offensive)
Scunthorpe 
Selkirk 
Souter
Shavington 
Tramp
Sheffield 
Dee daa, Bittersteel, Steelmekker.
South Shields  
Sand dancer
Southampton 
Mush, Scummer[36][37]
Southern England 
Southern Fairy, Shandy Drinkers,
Southport 
Sandgrounder
Stevenage
Chav
Stoke-on-Trent 
Potter, Clay Head, Stokie, Jug Head
Stockport 
Strood 
Long tails, Stroodle
Sunderland 
Mackem[38]
Sutherland 
Cattach
Swansea 
Jack, Swansea Jack
Swindon 
Moonraker

T - V

Tarbert, Loch Fyne 
Dooker (named after guillemot and razorbill, sea-birds once a popular food among Tarbert natives)
Teesside 
Smoggie, 'Borough Boys (after Middlesbrough)
Telford 
Telf, Chav

W

Wales 
Taff (sometimes considered offensive),[39] Taffy[40] Trog, Sheep-shagger (considered offensive)
Wallingford 
Wally
Walsall 
Saddler
Warrington 
Wire, Wirepuller (after the local wire industry),
Watford 
Vegetable, YellowBellies
Welshpool 
Souped
Westhoughton
Keawyeds (Cowheads, after local legend)
West Riding of Yorkshire 
Wessie (in other parts of Yorkshire)
Weymouth and Portland 
Kimberlin (Portland name for a person from Weymouth)
Whitehaven 
Marra, Jam Eater
Widnes 
Chemic, Woolyback, or Wool: anyone not from Liverpool, but in particular refers to people living in the surrounding towns such as Birkenhead, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Warrington, Widnes, Wigan and St Helens
Wigan 
Wiganer, Pie-eater, Purrer,[41]
Wiltshire 
Moonraker
Winchester 
Winsford 
Plastic Scouser
Wirral 
Worthing 
Pork-bolters[34]
Workington 
Jam Eater
Wrexham 
Goat, Wrexscum, Scum

Y - Z

York 
Yorkie
Yorkshire 
Tyke

See also

Citations

  1. "tyke", (Partridge, Dalzell & Victor 2007, pp. 674)
  2. "Brummie", (Partridge, Dalzell & Victor 2007, pp. 95)
  3. "Wolverhampton researches Black Country dialect". The Guardian. 2003-01-27. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  4. 1 2 Wales, Tony (2000). Sussex as She Wus Spoke, a Guide to the Sussex Dialect. Seaford: SB Publications. ISBN 978-1-85770-209-5.
  5. http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10329097.Brighton_and_Hove_Albion_fans_name_and_shame_homophobic_rivals/
  6. "limey", (Partridge, Dalzell & Victor 2007, pp. 401)
  7. "pommy", (Partridge, Dalzell & Victor 2007, pp. 506507)
  8. "Why do the French call the British 'the roast beefs'?". BBC News Online. 3 April 2003. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  9. "Few laughs for 'humorous' Kraut". BBC News Online. 24 October 2001. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  10. Transactions of the Gaelic Society. Gaelic Society of Inverness. p. 97. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  11. "Cardi", (Partridge, Dalzell & Victor 2007, pp. 119)
  12. "MOST Crawley residents have probably, at some time, referred to the town by its well-known nickname – Creepy Crawley". This Is Sussex. 20 October 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  13. "Sassenach", (Robinson 1985, pp. 581)
  14. Room, Adrian (2003). Placenames of the world: origins and meanings of the names for over 5000 natural features, countries, capitals, territories, cities, and historic sites. McFarland. p. 426. ISBN 978-0-7864-1814-5.
  15. Brewer, E. Cobham. "Nicknames". Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. Retrieved 29 September 2010 via Bartleby.com.
  16. "keelie", (Robinson 1985, pp. 335)
  17. Castillo, Michelle (20 August 2009). "Off the Brochure Travel Guide: Glasgow, Scotland". Peter Greenberg Travel Detective. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  18. "The Hartlepool Monkey, Who hung the monkey?". This is Hartlepool. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  19. Dawson, Chris. "Why 'Monkey Town'?". Ten Thousand Years in Monkey Town.
  20. "Loiner", (Partridge, Dalzell & Victor 2007, pp. 406)
  21. Evans, Arthur Benoni (1881). Evans, Sebastian, ed. Leicestershire Words, Phrases, and Proverbs (enlarged ed.). London: N. Trübner for English Dialect Society. p. 101.
  22. Brewer, E. Cobham. "Yellow-belly". Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. Retrieved 30 September 2010 via Bartleby.com.
  23. Fazakerley, p. 24
  24. "Mickey Mouse" - rhyming slang for "Scouse", (Partridge, Dalzell & Victor 2007, pp. 429)
  25. "Plastic Scouser". Allwords.com.
  26. "Woolyback". Slang.org.uk.
  27. "Woolyback". Allwords.com.
  28. Harley, Shaun (16 July 2007). "I was made in Middlesbrough". BBC News Online. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  29. Milward, Richard (28 January 2010). "Tonight I'm a rock'n'roll scribe: Attack of the slightly slurring smog monster". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  30. "gog", (Partridge, Dalzell & Victor 2007, pp. 295)
  31. "Paisley Buddies". Paisley Scotland. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  32. 1 2 "janner", (Partridge, Dalzell & Victor 2007, pp. 363)
  33. 1 2 Tawney, Cyril (1987). "Glossary". Grey funnel lines: traditional song & verse of the Royal Navy, 19001970. Taylor & Francis. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-7102-1270-2.
  34. 1 2 Arscott, David (2006). Wunt Be Druv - A Salute to the Sussex Dialect. Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-006-0.
  35. "jock", (Partridge, Dalzell & Victor 2007, pp. 369)
  36. Williamson, Laura (13 February 2010). "Saints and winners: Why old rivals Southampton and Portsmouth are such bitter enemies". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  37. Mitchell, Kevin (22 January 2005). "Scummers v Skates". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
  38. "Quiz: How Much of a Mackem are YOU?". Sunderland Echo. 4 January 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  39. "taff", (Partridge, Dalzell & Victor 2007, pp. 369)
  40. Cf. the nursery rhyme "Taffy was a Welshman / Taffy was a thief / Taffy came to my house / To steal a piece of beef."
  41. Dialect term for "kicker"

References

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