Nickname in Spanish

[fleurlb]

I'm looking for a nickname in Spanish. The character is a tough, red-headed seventeen-year old jockey. I'm thinking something along the lines of Red or Scrappy, but need to have it be in Spanish. The nickname is given to her by a fellow jockey, who is from Mexico.

Anybody have any ideas? Thanks in advance for your help.

Comments

[corivax]

I have a suggestion for what not to use: don't use the obvious 'roja' or 'rojita' (red or little red) because applied to a person, they refer to reddish skin, not reddish hair. (Like the mascot on this brand of soda.)

Unfortunately, I don't have any advice on what to use, so I'm not very helpful. :)

[fleurlb]

Thanks for saving me from making mistake. This is exactly why I didn't want to just pick something out of an online English-Spanish dictionary!

[corivax]

Pretty darn smart of you! Wish I had a useful suggestion. :)

[adalanne]

Well, the best I could find is Recio, which is a nickname meaning "tough." Could feminize it to Recia?

But yeah, this is speaking purely from knowing-Spanish experience rather than being familiar with with culturally similar nicknames, so hopefully someone else can give you a better idea.

[fleurlb]

Thank you so much for coming up with at least something to work with. :)

[carolandtom]

I think he could call her "pelirroja". It makes a reference to her hair but at the same time it's an affectionate way to define/call her.

[fleurlb]

Thank you! I am going to add this one to the list.

[fleurlb]

Thank you - I didn't know Colo also meant red.

[luxshine]

We don't usually go to 'red' or 'redhaired' (Roja or Pelirroja), or at least, they're not very common as nicknames. I'm going to ask around my friends (Hockey Players, Soccer players) to see if they can help, but as general rule, we don't use hair-color as a base for a nickname. Does she has any other characteristic? Thin, fat, big, smallish?

(I'm from Mexico)

[fleurlb]

Thank you so much - I will be looking forward to what your sports-playing friends say.

Jessie is 17 and she's an apprentice jockey at a race track. She's very tough and fiesty, can stand up for herself, and doesn't let anyone push her around. She's also stubborn. She has a reputation as being a patient rider with a lot of nerves - she will sit back in a race and then move only when the time is right and will take risks, like trying to get through small gaps, that other riders probably wouldn't try.

Since she's a jockey, she's small as compared to regular people but is maybe a few inches taller than most of the other jockeys.

Is that enough detail?

[luxshine]

Ok, sorry for the delay, but my hockey playing friend had to go to ask the soccer team he's friends with.
The consensus was that, in spanish, they'll probably call her "Centella", which could translate as "Spark", for her tough attitude. Or, even if it's in english "Pixie" for her hair and short stature.
I also asked a redhaired friend of mine, who plays sports a lot, and she told me that her usual nickname is 'Pixie'.

[fleurlb]

Thank you so much for tracking down this answer for me. I like both of those, so it looks like I'm going to have a tough decision to make.

Thanks again!