Juanie

When I was a kid, it seemed like all the other kids I knew had an "ie" or "y" at the end of their names. For instance: Johnny, Jeanie, Charlie, Gwennie, Debbie, Billy, Sandy, Tommy, and Patty. If parents didn't put an "ie" or "y" on the end, they frequently came up with nic-names like: Skip or Junior. Why was that?
Then we grew up and so did our names. Charlie became Chuck. Debbie became Debra. Jimmy is James. Gwennie is Gwendolyn. Billy is William. Patty is Patricia. Skip is Clarence and Junior is Fred.
After all these years, I'm still not comfortable with the grownup names. On the rare opportunities when I see them again, I still call them by their kid names. I can't help it. In my mind, it's who they are.
I wonder if the same holds true for kids around the world. Was Slobodan Milosovic once called Slobie or Danny or Skip? Was Juan Valdez once Juanie? "How I love ya, how I love ya, my dear old Juanie".