Nicknames

I could spell my name since I was 2 or 3, but in first grade, as I was formally learning to spell, I was joyfully spelling my name outloud as I was walking up the driveway after school and made the connection between the first three letters of my name (k-a-t) and the spelling of my favorite pet (c-a-t). It was totally wild, and I have been Kat ever since.

That you can get Kat from Katherine is pretty obvious, but my mother still calls me Trink from time to time. My father went by his middle name with family and friends, but by his first name in business settings. And, I've never figured out how my father-in-law got the name that he did from his family. Presumably issues like this arise in geneaology searches - I don't get into that - but the nickname question came up during a recent conversation with a friend who's not sure of someone's name. I tried to find some sources for not-so-common nicknames for her, but even with 'advanced' techniques in various search engines, I came up short.

This is what I did come across.

• I love cruising through Popular Baby Names from the Social Security Administration. That's the tool I used to name my secondlife avatar. I'm a nerd. Sadly, no helpful nickname information.
  
• Behind the Name gives some brief information about the history of first names.
• Family History 101, and several other sites, provide lists of common nicknames...but not the two I was looking for!