Bubba
In American usage, bubba is a relationship nickname formed from brother and given to boys, especially eldest male siblings, to indicate their role in a family. For some boys and men, bubba is used so pervasively that it replaces the given name. The nickname may also be used outside the family by friends as a term of endearment.
Because of its association with the southern part of the United States, bubba is also often used outside the South as a pejorative to mean a person of low economic status and limited education. Bubba may also be taken to mean one who is a "good ol' boy." In the US Army and Marines, bubba can mean a lay soldier, similar to grunt but with connotations of endearment instead of derision (e.g., "Can you make that device easier to work with, 'cus every bubba is gonna have to use it.").
At times it may be used as a term of endearment (or in an insulting sense) for a person, especially a man, who is overweight or has a large body frame. In popular culture and prison slang, it is often joked that new male prisoners will be obliged to share a cell with a large, physically powerful inmate called Bubba who will become forcibly sexually intimate with them.[1][2]
The word exists in other languages and carries similar meanings. Bubba is common in Australia and New Zealand as a noun or pronoun to refer affectionately to a baby.
People and characters named or nicknamed "Bubba"
People
- Former President of the United States Bill Clinton.
- Seattle Mariners outfielder Bubba Crosby.
- Tommy "Bubba" Facenda, rockabilly singer/dancer, Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps
- Bubba Dickerson, PGA Tour golfer.
- Bubba Franks, National Football League player for The New York Jets.
- Professional wrestler Mark LoMonaco wrestled under the ring name Bubba Ray Dudley.
- Bubba Paris, former National Football League player.
- Professional Motocross rider James Stewart Jr..
- Southern rapper Bubba Sparxxx.
- Bubba Shobert, former motorcycle racer
- Bubba Smith former National Football League player.
- Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, Radio talk show host.
- Bubba Trammell, former Major League Baseball player.
- Bubba Wells, former National Basketball Association player.
- Bubba Watson, PGA Tour golfer.
- Bubba Phillips, former Major League Baseball Player
- Charles "Bubba" Chaney, Louisiana politician
Animals
- Bubba the Grouper (d. 2006), a Queensland grouper who resided at the Shedd Aquarium, noted for being the first known fish to undergo chemotherapy.
Fictional characters
Television and movies
- Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue in the 1994 film Forrest Gump
- Bubba the Caveduck from The Walt Disney Company's series DuckTales
- Bubba Ho-tep, a name given to a reanimated Egyptian mummy by Elvis Presley in Joe R. Lansdale's novella and film of the same name
- Bubba Zanetti, in the 1979 film Mad Max
- Bubba Higgins, in the situation comedy Mama's Family
- Bubba Bexley, a recurring character in the situation comedy Sanford and Son
- Bubba Bixby, a character from the 2007 television film , Shredderman Rules, a film based on the books
- Plumber Bubba, a fictional comedian based on Larry the Cable Guy and idolized by Rusty and Early Cuyler on the Adult Swim animated series Squidbillies
- Bubba Skinner, a leading character from the television series In the Heat of the Night
- Bubba J, a puppet of ventriloquist Jeff Dunham
- Bubba the Chimp, a character on Quigley's Village
- Bubba Bo Bob Brain, Brain's fictitious country music star persona from a Pinky and the Brain segment on the U.S. cartoon series Animaniacs
- Leatherface, or Bubba Sawyer, from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Bubba Ray Dudley, an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment.
Books
Games
Music
Products
See also
References