Hypocorism

A familiar or affectionate form of a name or word, often shortened or altered. Examples include “Liz” for “Elizabeth” and “doggie” for “dog.”

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Diminutive: A word form expressing smallness, affection, or familiarity, often created with a suffix. Many hypocorisms use diminutive endings to signal affection or intimacy.
Apocope: The loss of one or more sounds at the end of a word. Some hypocorisms are formed by dropping the source name’s final syllable.
Terms of endearment: Words or expressions used to convey affection toward another person. Hypocorisms often function as affectionate forms of address.
Pet name: An affectionate name used for someone in a close personal relationship. A pet name can be invented independently, whereas a hypocorism often reshapes an existing name.
Clipping: A word-formation process that shortens a word without changing its basic meaning or grammatical category. Many familiar name forms arise by removing syllables, as in “Alex” from “Alexander.”
Apheresis: The loss of one or more sounds at the beginning of a word. Forms such as “Nita” from “Juanita” illustrate initial-sound loss.
Nickname: An informal name used instead of, or alongside, a person’s given name. A nickname may be descriptive or humorous, while a hypocorism is specifically a familiar name form.
Alias: An alternative name used instead of a person’s usual or legal name. An alias can conceal identity or mark a persona; a hypocorism usually signals familiarity.
Reduplication: A morphological process that repeats all or part of a word or stem. Repeated syllables create forms such as “Didi” and “Jojo.”
Assimilation (linguistics): A sound change in which one speech sound becomes more like a nearby sound. Assimilation can make a shortened name easier to pronounce.