Why do they call Crockett "Sonny"?


codemaster94

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This question has bugged me for years. I've never met anyone nicknamed Sonny or even named Sonny from birth, for that matter. Was there a particular reason besides that he was a beach bum to call him Sonny?

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i guess you aren't anglo-saxon. Sonny is common name in America. i never live for a long period in the US, but i heard that name a lot in movies. in a Bronx tale movie, Chazz Palminterri name is Sonny

Edited by jpm1
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You sometimes hear old people say "Hey sonny" to kids(as in son), so guess it's just an expression that turned into a nickname. Santino in the Godfather is called Sonny too.

If I have a baby one day, it might be too hard to resist putting Sonny or James "Sonny" on the birth certificate.:D

 

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My grandmother used to call my dad Sonny. So did all 3 of his sisters.  I call my grandson Bud, short for buddy. It's just a nickname.

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My first thought was that his middle name just became his nickname. Which he also used undercover. And I believe/recall Anthony Yerkovich gave him the same name "Sonny Crockett" as some character in Hill Street Blues. 

 

Edited by summer84
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9 hours ago, Vincent Hanna said:

You sometimes hear old people say "Hey sonny" to kids(as in son), so guess it's just an expression that turned into a nickname. Santino in the Godfather is called Sonny too.

If I have a baby one day, it might be too hard to resist putting Sonny or James "Sonny" on the birth certificate.:D

 

Yeah, I remember once thinking the same thing, well to actually use his first name. :) Thought about both. James is a pretty cool name. 

Edited by summer84
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Lots of mafia people named Sonny.

Sonny Black

Sonny Red

Sonny (insert another color)

then you have Sonny Liston  and of course James "Sonny" Crockett.

:)

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If I remember right Tubbs calls recalls Crockett's playing days in Leon's apartment in Brothers keeper and refers to him as James Sonny Crockett funky honky. So the nickname, if it is a nickname dates to at least back to Crockett's playing day's.

While on the phone with Caroline from the phone booth in Brothers Keeper she refers to him as Sonny not James or Jim or Jimmy. Wives in serious conversations rarely use childhood nicknames.

My guess is that it is more than likely it's his middle name and as a young man, he wanted people to call him by his middle name rather than James or Jim or Jimmy...

 

 

 

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I’ve always believed the writer(s?) chose that name (at least partly) because it’s conveniently homophonic with “Sunny”. 

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2 minutes ago, Dadrian said:

I’ve always believed the writer(s?) chose that name (at least partly) because it’s conveniently homophonic with “Sunny”. 

..and they chose the name Crockett because Anthony Yerkovich was a big wrestling fan and named him after Jim Crockett.

 

(I made that up)

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18 minutes ago, Vincent Hanna said:

..and they chose the name Crockett because Anthony Yerkovich was a big wrestling fan and named him after Jim Crockett.

 

(I made that up)

Seriously, I’ve always assumed “Crockett” was because of the southern folk hero “Davy Crockett”—a good, wholesome protagonist. :thumbsup:

Edited by Dadrian
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1 hour ago, king77 said:

If I remember right Tubbs calls recalls Crockett's playing days in Leon's apartment in Brothers keeper and refers to him as James Sonny Crockett funky honky. So the nickname, if it is a nickname dates to at least back to Crockett's playing day's.

While on the phone with Caroline from the phone booth in Brothers Keeper she refers to him as Sonny not James or Jim or Jimmy. Wives in serious conversations rarely use childhood nicknames.

My guess is that it is more than likely it's his middle name and as a young man, he wanted people to call him by his middle name rather than James or Jim or Jimmy...

 

Well said and I do agree. And Sonny is a fairly popular name in the south where presumably he hails from 

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1 hour ago, Dadrian said:

Seriously, I’ve always assumed “Crockett” was because of the southern folk hero “Davy Crockett”—a good, wholesome protagonist. :thumbsup:

Ah..That makes more sense :p

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4 hours ago, Sonny-Burnett said:

Well said and I do agree. And Sonny is a fairly popular name in the south where presumably he hails from 

Where he "hails from" :D That's hilarious. But thanks guys for all of your answers.

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10 hours ago, Dadrian said:

Seriously, I’ve always assumed “Crockett” was because of the southern folk hero “Davy Crockett”—a good, wholesome protagonist. :thumbsup:

I always believed the same!

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His full name is James Sonny Crockett. Some people prefer being called by their middle names. Plus, Sonny is a badass name. 

And his cover is Sonny Burnett because everybody calls him Sonny. The first rule of undercover is that you always use the name people call you by, in case you get recognised in the street.

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  • 8 months later...

Sonny loves the warm "sunny" climate of Florida and the south in general.  Plus in the OCB family dynamic (which Mann is big on btw) Crockett is the foremost "son" to Lou/Castillo's "father".  Also Crockett is a true "son" of Miami itself.  Of all the cast he is the most homegrown there and the most out of place away from it.

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  • 4 months later...

Sonny is also a traditional nickname for the first-born son in many families. It's seen as having conservative overtones as well as hinting at more rural origins.

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