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moniker

or mon·ick·er

[mon-i-ker]
noun Slang.
  1. a person's name, especially a nickname or alias.
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Origin of moniker

1850–55; probably < Shelta mŭnnik name (alleged to be a permutation and extension of Irish ainm name); final -er may represent -er1 or, as a spelling of ə, simply release of the k
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for monicker

Historical Examples

  • But Monicker goes to these dances and he says they're right nice.

    Cheerful--By Request

    Edna Ferber

  • Don't sound reasonable, I admit, with a monicker like that, but I let the old boy spin along.

    Torchy and Vee

    Sewell Ford

British Dictionary definitions for monicker

moniker

monicker

noun
  1. slang a person's name or nickname
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Word Origin

C19: from Shelta munnik, altered from Irish ainm name
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for monicker

n.

see moniker.

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moniker

n.

1849, said to be originally a hobo term (but attested in London underclass from 1851), of uncertain origin; perhaps from monk (monks and nuns take new names with their vows, and early 19c. British tramps referred to themselves as "in the monkery"). Its origins seem always to have been obscure:

Sir H. Rawlinson can decipher cuneiform, but can he tell us why "moniker"--the word has a certain Coptic or Egyptian twang--means a name painted on a trunk? ["The Saturday Review," Dec. 19, 1857]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper