Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

I have it on some reasonable authority that these -z or -zza nicknames common in England and Australia are particular to names in which the first syllable ends in -r.

I know an Australian Terry whose nickname is Tez. So his name conforms to the -r rule, as do the ones mentioned above, Darren and Marianne.

Other names that enjoy such shortening are:
Gary, "Gaz" "Gazza"
Mary, "Maz"

If you are looking for the history of this, I have no idea at this time.

[edited: added the following]
Initial evidence points to an origin of this shortening in the "Oxford -er." It seems that at Oxford University in the late 1800s, it became fashionable to shorten words to their first syllable and add -er or -ers: a rugby player was called a "rugger"; a football (soccer) player was called a "footer." In fact, the word soccer itself (1895) is an example of the Oxford -er as applied to Assoc, a clipping of Association Football.

This practice is said to have been extended to widely, including names. However, in non-rhotic English, it morphed when applied to syllables that end in pronounced -r-, such as Terry, Darren, Marianne. Once clipped, the r would not be pronounced. In addition, the non-rhotic ending gave preference to the -ers form of the suffix. The addition of -ers, where again the r would not be pronounced, left only the sound of a final -z. This -z became the eventual spelling of the rarely written form of the nickname.

I haven't verified this evidence, but it gives you a place to begin your investigation, if you wish to follow up.

Bob - I think the difference is that this is a couple of suffixes that fit onto so many names. William to Bill et al is a whole different ball of wax.

Glenn - I believe your answer is the likely answer. It still doesn't help me with the "al" ending. That's still a mystery.

Thank you to all for your help.