A rose by any other name

Once someone asked me why I refer to the boys I date by nicknames, and I really couldn't give them a good reason. Since college, I've just always done it. It seems like a convenience thing, mostly. I move in lots of different circles, and to avoid confusion saying I went out with David C. (not to be confused with David R. who I'd dated a semester before), it was just easier to refer to them as "Evil David" (David R.) and "Brick-Stupid David" (David C.).
Lest anyone think I'm a big meanie, I'd like to point out that those two particular nicknames (which eventually became interchangeable, thus somewhat ruining my example) were assigned to these particular Davids by my good friend Sean. Sean is actually the inspiration for this musing, as Saturday brought me the happy opportunity to catch up with Sean on the phone. We spent a good ten minutes revisiting some of our favorite names not only for my old flames, but for his and our other friends' as well. Some of my particular favorites--
* The Dancing Sisters-- our friend Eddie was a musician and would play little shows from time to time. There were these two girls (who were in fact sisters) who'd do this Woodstock-inspired dancing at every concert (I should point out that they were good friends with a guy we affectionately referred to as "Dancing Joseph" who Sean claims he sees every time he closes his eyes). Eddie dated one of them, but neither Sean nor I can remember which one.
* Data. This one is particularly offensive, so watch out. Sean and Eddie and I had got on some kind of a Goonies kick because Sean was dressing up as Chunk for Halloween (a priceless costume, I assure you). Eddie ended up dressing up as Mikey, and I was supposed to get to be Andie. Somehow that year I ended up as Scarlett O'Hara and ruined the joke a bit, but we were really entrenched in this stage because Sean started dating this cute Asian girl. No idea what her real name was because she conveniently became "Data." Dating Data only lasted about a week for Sean, unfortunately.
* Another Eddie favorite (and someone Sean and I never got to meet) was a girl from Kentucky we started out calling "KFC" but she ended up as "The Colonel." Tell me you're not laughing at this, because I find it hysterical!
In my own day, I've gone out with "the guy with the cape," "The R.A.," "Big Red," "Conan O'Brien" (not the real one, of course, but a dead ringer), "The White Knight," two midgets (I never said this was going to be P.C.), a couple of gay guys and a Catholic priest (ok, ok, he was in the seminary). I've blissfully kissed "Chevron" and told me my friends all about "Hot Mike." Most recently I've fended off the Cowboy, and got a little bruised up by the football player who deserved the "brick-stupid" title more than any David I've ever seen. But Omni Pro Bono, right?
Today, Eddie is married to Andrea (oddly they have the same nickname, "E") and Sean is married to "Other Rachel." I'm still planning on farming out nicknames to at least 29 other fellas before I tie the knot, so I'll keep you posted. I'm still hoping "Cute-guy-who-makes-me-lose-my-train-of-thought" asks me out, but last night was was working it with "Hammerhead Shark."