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Talking about names

Episode 260522 / 22 May 2026

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Introduction

Phil and Georgie have a real conversation in easy English about names – the words we use to identify ourselves and our pets. Learn to talk about who you were named after, whether your name is common or unusual, and find out Georgie's funny nickname!

Vocabulary

nickname
informal name used by family and friends

name (someone)
give someone a name

named after (someone)
given the same name as someone else, because of them

common
shared by many other people

unusual
not shared by many other people 

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Transcript

Phil
Hello and welcome to Real Easy English. We're back with another conversation in easy English to help you learn. I'm Phil.
 
Georgie
And I'm Georgie. You can find a video version of this podcast with subtitles so you can read along. It's all on our website. That's bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Phil
Hi. How are you, Georgie?
 
Georgie
I'm very well thank you, Phil. How are you?
 
Phil
I'm good. I'm very good. Today we're going to talk all about names. We're going to talk about our names and where they come from.
 
Georgie
Ooh, it's an interesting topic. Phil, what's the story behind your name? Were you named after anyone or anything?
 
Phil
I don't know if I'm honest. I don't know why I have my name.
 
Georgie
OK. Yeah, I wish I had a better story for my name, but my parents had friends that had a dog called Georgia, and they liked that name. And so they decided to call me Georgia, which might be the first time people are hearing that my name – my real name – is Georgia, not Georgie.
 
Phil
Ah.

Georgie
So, I guess I was named after a dog! So, your name is Philip, but lots of people call you Phil, which is a nickname. So, a nickname is an informal name given to you by friends and family, which is often a shortened version, like Phil.
 
Phil
Yes. Yeah, often it's a shortened name. In my case, that's the only one that's ever stuck, that people have ever called me. But you can also sometimes have, like, a jokey, fun name that might not be anything to do with your real name, but your friends call you that. Lots of people have them at school or in your family. Do you have any nicknames, Georgie?
 
Georgie
Yes, I have a nickname that my dad calls me, which is Billy, short for Silly Billy because I do lots of stupid things.
 
Phil
I'm getting the feeling... Do you like that nickname or...?
 
Georgie
I think it's quite... it's quite funny. It's quite sweet. I don't mind it that much. As long as it's only my dad that calls me Billy, it's OK. Do you like your name?
 
Phil
I've never thought about it a lot, so I think I do. It's... it's not an unusual name. It might be... I don't know, it might be difficult to have an unusual name, but I don't think it's too common either. It's not like everyone has it, so...
 
Georgie
Yeah.
 
Phil
I think that's perfect for a name. I like that.
 
Georgie
So Phil, have you ever had to name something, like a child or a pet? And was it difficult?
 
Phil
I had to name two people – two children. For my daughter, my wife was very keen on the name that we gave my daughter, so she... so that was easy for me. That's fine. For my son, I really wanted a name that worked in English and in Spanish and wasn't too different. And there's not actually that many boys' names that work easily in both languages, or that I could think of.
 
Georgie
Yeah, because your wife is from Argentina, so you needed a name that worked in both.
 
Phil
OK. Georgie, have you ever had to name something like a pet or someone?
 
Georgie
Well, actually, my parents are getting a dog in a few... in a couple of weeks, and we're thinking about names right now, so it's quite a relevant question. It is difficult, isn't it? Because you have to think of a name that you're going to like for a long time, that you're not going to get bored of because you use it so much.
 
Phil
Yeah. I guess with dogs' names, you don't want to have something that's too common, because when you call your dog, the whole park will come running to you!
 
Georgie
Yeah, exactly. We're trying to think of something a little bit more unusual and fun.
 
Phil
OK. Let's recap the vocabulary we heard during the conversation, starting with nickname, which is an informal name used by family and friends.
 
Georgie
We can use name as a verb, which means to give someone a name. For example, my parents named me Georgie.
 
Phil
If you're named after something or someone, you're given the same name as them because of them. For example, Georgie was named after a dog called Georgia.
 
Georgie
I was! Your name might be common, which means lots of people have the same name.
 
Phil
Or your name might be unusual, and that means that not many people have the same name. That's it for this episode of Real Easy English. Test what you've learned with the worksheet on our website. And that's bbclearningenglish.com.
 
Georgie
We'll be back next week with more easy English. Goodbye for now.
 
Phil
Bye!

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