I always WONDERED how did Vinnie become Jimmy and why more People choose Vinny instead of IE at the end which k think loos so much better but enough about the spelling in Organized Crime as Well as Legitimate Working Families why does this Name Change happen or did Happen and what is the Point ? I’m Organozed crime I would think Vinnie was changed to Jimmy cause of Wiretaps they can easily Pick out a Vinnie then a Jimmy cause there’s more People with the name Jimmy in that Life and my other Hunch would be Parents did this to Americanized there kids and not be Stereotyped by people cause when Hear Vinnie people automatically know OH he’s Italian and comes from a Mov Family and it is such a Stronger Italian American name then Jimmy so tell me what you Guys think in all Retrospect !

The conversion of Italian first names (and sometimes surnames as well) has more to do with the early Italian immigrants trying to assimilate into American culture than anything else. So a "Vincenzo" was anglicized to Vincent, but since Vincent was still somewhat "Italian sounding," so a "Vinny" was often corrupted into "Jimmy" which became James, which was a very American sounding name. The same holds true for the vast majority of other Italian names; Salvatore, became Samuel; Calogero, became Charles; Ignazio, became Ignatius, Giuseppe, became Joseph, and so on.

Remember too that the types of American sounding names that Italians adopted, gave way to "city-styled" nicknames. Not nicknames typically given in rural areas, "middle" America or on the West Coast.

What I mean by that statement is that the nicknames given to a kid in a big east coast city like New York, or cities like Philadelphia, Boston, etc., weren't clipped or shortened. Examples;

Guglielmo, became William, nicknamed "Willie" or a "Billy" not a Will or Bill
Vito, became William also, nicknamed "Willy" or Billy"
Vincenzo, became Vincent, nicknamed either "Vinny" or "Jimmy" not Vin or Jim
Francesco, became Frank, the nickname was usually "Frankie" not Frank
Pietro, became Peter, but the nickname was "Petey" not Pete
Antonino, became Anthony, nicknames "Tony" or "Nino"
Paolo, became Paul, and nicknames "Paulie"
Alfredo, became Alfred, which became "Freddy" not Fred
Roberto, became Robert, nicknamed "Bobby" not Bob
Benedetto, became Benjamin, nicknamed "Benny" not Ben
Gaetano or Tommaso, became Thomas, nicknamed "Tommy" not Tom
Luigi, became Louis, but was always nicknamed "Louie"
etc., etc.

In New York, and in other east coast city neighborhoods, nicknames almost always had the "y" at the end, making it more melodious than the clipped shorter version of the same name. (for whatever reason, Its a big city thing...and often, an Italian thing.) They liked the more melodious "sing songy" flow of it I guess.

And to answer your other question, why do NY and Italian nicknames usually end in a "y" as opposed to an "ie" ......I really don't know. But I agree with you, 99% of them do.

When it comes to Organized Crime Though compared to
regular Italian families who go from Vincent to James is kinda Strange are they Embarrassed that
They are Italian and try to fit in Better with other Ethnicities ? And when it comes to Organized Crime Standards there a lot of Vincent’s that are Called Jimmy ? I
Don’t know if it’s to Fuck with the Feds for surveillance Purposes cause Vinnie I prefer the IE cause with a Y it looks Strange it’s not like Anthony or Freddy ETC but To me a Vincent is a Vinnie and I don’t understand Why Families would do that other what I
Just said and to me I find
More OC Guys use it Vinny instead of Vinnie the way I think looks better but to each it’s own I guess there’s only like 2 maybe 3 tops that spell it with IE and I’m making a Big Deal cause my Father and Grandfather spell it Vinnie and I don’t know it it’s how different southern Italians spell it cause it’s definitely not from northern Italian roots but being my fathers father was Neapolitan I would think more Neapolitans to Sicilians use IE but I could be wrong

Vinny, even in NY, is also often times spelled as Vinnie. But a Jimmy is always a Jimmy, not a Jimmie. Understand? The same goes for Charles, which can go both ways, Charley and Charlie.

Frank is always Frankie. Not Frankey or Franky. But, on the other hand, an Anthony is always spelled as Tony, not Tonnie. I know its a weird dynamic, but thats just what it is. LOL
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And what part of Italy or Sicily you may happen to come from has absolutely no bearing on the way you spell these converted, anglicized names.

I Perfer Anthony over Tony always thought it had More CLASS but I get it !