Is giving someone the nickname of ‘Bubba’ just a southern thing or do people up north do that too?

49 comments

1. [deleted]

2. Only Bubba I’ve ever heard of is in Forrest Gump

3. I have never heard anyone actually have a nickname of “Bubba”.

   I did however work at a place that jokingly called all our tradesmen “Bubbas”.

4. My nephew is nicknamed Bubba, he lives in the Northeast.

5. I live in Kentucky. The only time I hear “bubba” is when someone is using it as a baby talk synonym for “brother” when talking to children. “Emily, hold bubba’s hand,” etc.

   I’ve never met an adult Bubba, but I assume when it happens it’s a childhood nickname that stuck.

6. I know a Bubba born and raised in California. I think that was mostly his family’s nickname for him when he was younger.

7. If you didn’t know someone’s name and instead of saying “hey guy” you would use Bubba in its place. I don’t think I’ve known anyone who actually had that nickname, but literally anyone could be Bubba

8. Bubba is an extremely common nickname for littles boys right now in my experience.

   My son is nicknamed bubba because his older sister couldn’t say brother.

9. I’ve only heard bubba used like sissy – baby talk for brother or sister.

   Like someone telling their small child to hug their little bubba or sissy for a picture.

10. It’s a kids nickname for “brother” – I’m pretty sure across the US. Most of the time it doesn’t carry to adulthood

11. I know of no one named, or even nicknamed Bubba. Also, for those few actually called Bubba it is a nickname, not a given name. Of course in a nation of 330,000,00 there will always be an example of something, but it isn’t common.

12. I had a friend named bubba growing up in New England. He was the only person I’ve heard of that actually had that nickname.

13. Knew a Bubba down in Louisiana. I’m not sure what was on his birth certificate, but he was called Bubba as an adult, introduced himself as Bubba.

14. I grew up with a couple of Bubba’s. Very common just like Sissy

15. Only Bubba I know is Bubba Sawyer

16. Raised in the south. Only bubba I ever knew was my dog

17. I had an “Uncle Bubba.” It’s definitely a southern thing.

18. 🎶🎶Bubba shot the jukebox last night. Said it played a sad song, made him cry.🎶🎶

19. My uncle is nick-named “Bubba”. Its how everyone refers to him. He is from the South.

20. Bubba is not a compliment, even down here

21. There was a kid in my class named Jerry who was very overweight, unusual for the 70’s in Southern California, nicknamed Bubba. I’m pretty sure teachers called him Jerry but we all called him Bubba.

22. It’s not unheard of up here but definitely not as common as down South.

23. I know a Bubba. It’s not like I know a ton but they’re around.

24. Like others have said, it’s a term for brothers here, but also a term for male friends surprisingly. “Thanks bub” or “hey bubba” is extremely common where I’m from.

25. I live in Alabama. I shit you not…. I’ve known three bubbas. 2 of which had “BUBBA” spelled out in stickers on the back windshields of their trucks. I really do wish I was joking.

26. It’s not my kids nickname but for some reason it just comes out when I talk to my kids. Like “come here bubba or come here bub”.

27. We called one of my grandpas “Bubba” when we were kids

28. Didn’t know it was a nickname. I thought Bubba was a name. Like the character in Forrest Gump.

29. Bubba was my best good friend. And even I know that ain’t something you can find just around the corner. Bubba was going to be a shrimping boat captain, but instead, he died right there by that river in Vietnam.

30. I live in the north and I’ve seen and used the term bub and bubby more than bubba.

31. I live in Illinois and call my dog Bubs, he would be nicknamed Bubba but that’s what my boyfriend and his kiddos all call his son so I can’t use it for the dog too. 🤣❣️

32. I know a Bubba who is the complete opposite of what you’d think a Bubba would be. No one calls
    him by his real name. He is quite intelligent, very well educated, and from a wealthy family.

33. My dad wanted one of us to be named Bubba. Like he was dead set on it. The only reason he decided not to is because our last name starts with a B so it would sound like a stutter if we said our full name.

    He settled on naming our cat Bubba, thank god

34. Up north we say bubby

35. I would say Bubba is more of a country thing than just southern.

36. I’ve never met anyone with the nickname “Bubba”.

37. I call my son Bubba or Bub. We live way north, as north as you can get. Fairly common up here.

38. I know multiple Bubbas. Must be a southern thing.

39. I think it’s more used for siblings when they are young. I only know of one person who was called Bubba as an adult and that was my friends uncle but all of her aunts and uncles went by nicknames instead of their actual names.

40. I have two friends from different friend groups that are called Bubba. I live in Massachusetts

41. My cousin from PA called me bubba when I was a baby.
    Then I started calling him that cus I thought it was his name lol.

42. My granddad calls me bubba

43. I knew a kid who, when young, had the nickname “Bubba” in rural Minnesota. Neither of his parents were southern.

44. I call my boyfriend bub or bubba as a kind of a pet name

45. I have never met someone named or referred to as Bubba, outside of movies or cartoons. For reference, I grew up in WI and live in MN.

46. Lifelong Pennsylvanian here (Northerner): never, ever heard it outside of the movie Forrest Gump.

47. I call my dog Bubba if that counts

48. Not common in the Midwest anyway. If someone says “Bubba”, I either think of Bill Clinton or the character from “Forrest Gump”.

49. We call the dog Bubba as a nickname sometimes