W shortened pronunciations, as many speakers find the phrase "double-u double-u double-u" inconveniently long. In other Germanic languages, including German (but not Dutch, in which it is pronounced wé), its name is similar to that of English V . In many languages, its name literally means "double v": Portuguese "duplo vê", Spanish "doble ve" (though it can be spelled "uve doble"), French "double vé", Icelandic "tvöfalt vaff", Czech "dvojité vé", Finnish "kaksois-vee", etc. Former U.S. president George W. Bush was given the nickname "Dubya" after the colloquial pronunciation of his middle initial in Texas, where he spent much of his childhood.
Nickname first name. In some circumstances, the giving of a nickname had a special status in Viking society in that it created a relationship between the name maker and the recipient of the nickname, to the extent that the creation of a nickname also often entailed a formal ceremony and an exchange of gifts known in Old Norse as "nafnfestr" ('fastening a name'). Slaves have often used nicknames, so that the master who heard about someone doing something could not identify the slave. In capoeira, a Brazilian martial art, the slaves had nicknames to protect them from being caught, as practising