nick names

[johnno]

How did scots get the name jocks, the welsh taffy, the irish paddy, english tommy, and how come the brits ended up being called pommy by the australians ?

[geofbob]

Taffy and Paddy are simply variations on the common Welsh and Irish names, respectively, David and Patrick. "Tommy Atkins" as a term for the average English soldier appears to have originated some time in the late 17th or early 18th centures, and was subsequently shortened to Tommy. (See an Imperial War Museum article at http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/books/bookfaq5.h
tm .) The only explanation I have found for Pom or Pommy is that it is a crude rhyming slang link between the words "immigrant" (presumably relation to post-WWII immigration from the UK) and "pomengranate"

[Quizmonster]

Jock is simply the Scottish form of the name 'Jack' (a diminutive from John) and came to be applied to all Scotsmen from the 18th century onwards.

Taffy is how the English misheard the common Welsh name 'Dafydd', as 'taffy' is more or less how the name is pronounced. (It has nothing whatever to do with the river Taff!) Paddy is an abbreviated form of Patrick or Padraig in Ireland.

Tommy was applied only to soldiers rather than Englishmen. In the army, examples of various documents that soldiers had to fill in were put on display in company offices. In each case, where the name had to be inserted, the example showed: "Tommy Atkins".

Pommy for British immigrants originated in the shout of 'Pomegranate' which local children called out to make fun of the new arrivals. A pomegranate is a fruit with bright red flesh which they thought was similar to the newly-sunburnt arrivals. (It had nothing to do with prisoners and the notion that it stands for 'Prisoner of Mother England' is nonsense.)

[Quizmonster]

Clearly, Geofbob, I'm pursuing you all around AnswerBank this morning typing simultaneously! If I make my answer a bit shorter next time maybe my one will appear first.