'nickname' originates from Middle English, specifically the word 'ekename', where 'eke' meant 'also' or 'addition'.

'ekename' transformed into 'nekename' due to a misdivision of 'an ekename' as 'a nekename', and eventually became the modern English word 'nickname'.

Initially, it meant 'an additional name', but over time it evolved into its current meaning of 'a familiar or humorous name given to a person or thing'.