President Bird Legs? It's Possible

Meet the presidential candidates by another name - Barry, Bird Legs, Coyote Bill.

Such are their childhood nicknames.

Several of the candidates go around today with names altered in their youth. Mitt Romney, for example, was named Willard Mitt Romney. In a twist from the usual nickname progression, Fred Thompson actually was named Freddie, and John Edwards was named Johnny.

Rudolph Giuliani is running under the less formal Rudy, the name by which his friends and close associates have known him for decades.

Behind those modest alterations are a few truly fanciful monikers. They emerged when AP asked them about their childhood nicknames in a series of questions about their personal side. Thompson's campaign, in response, indulged in a touch of whimsical wishful thinking.

The candidates by their full names, and their nicknames:

Democrats:

New York Sen. Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton: No nicknames that stuck

Former North Carolina Sen. Johnny Reid Edwards: John

Illinois Sen. Barack Hussein Obama Jr.: Barry

New Mexico Gov. William Blaine Richardson: Coyote Bill

Republicans:

Former New York Mayor Rudolph William Louis Giuliani: Rudy

Former Arkansas Gov. Michael Dale Huckabee: Mike and Huck

Arizona Sen. John Sidney McCain III: Johnny

Former Massachusetts Gov. Willard Mitt Romney: "In high school, my friends called me Bird Legs. And how did I get it? Take a guess."

Former Tennessee Sen. Freddie Dalton Thompson: Mr. President