English, mainly Scottish: various correspondents know of many Scottish cases.
One example was the occasional column in the Aberdeen newspaper, The Press & Journal, retailing the exploits of "Dod & Bunty". However, there is agreement that it was probably originally a nickname and only became popular from the early 20th century as a baptismal name. [Note: Dod or Doddie is a Scottish nick-name for George.]
Bunty is of uncertain derivation, possibly from a pet-name for a lamb, from the old English "to bunt" i.e. "to butt gently". In Scotland it seems more likely to be from "buntin" or "buntie", pet-names for a short, plump person. A personal correspondent [AW] suggest that this derivation is popular in the Scottish counties of Lanarkshire and Aberdeenshire and MS2 reports a tradition of Janet being nicknamed Bunty through successive generations of her own family and many other local famiies in Lanarkshire.
Partridge's Dictionary of Slang suggests that Bunty was used around the early 20th century century in military slang as a nick-name for any short, stout serviceman. It was also used in the US with the same meaning. So far we have been unable to establish the source of the nick-name.
A correspondent from Australia [DT] has searched for Bunty in Western Australia and NSW. The only one found had Bunty as a middle name and was believed to be of Scottish origins. |
