moniker

or mon·ick·er

[mon-i-ker]

noun Slang.

a person's name, especially a nickname or alias.

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for monicker

Historical Examples of monicker

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

slang a person's name or nickname

Word Origin for moniker

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

see moniker.

moniker

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]