Most mobsters or gangsters have nicknames for example:

Johnny "the brain"Torrio or Carmine "the snake" Persico.

Can you provide the nicknames of any mobters and if you can, explain how they got to have those nicknames ?

Raffaele Cutolo aka The Professor because wear glasses and was very smart for a camorrista;
Pasquale Barra aka the Animal because when killed Turatello in 1981 stabbed him and bit his heart and his stomach;
Paolo DiLauro aka the milionaire because during a poker game accidently open a bag with so cash that the others said "Who we have Ciruzzo the milionaire";
Giovanni Brusca aka the scannacristiani aka the thepeopleslaughter because killed more 200 people or the verru aka the pork for his face;
Totò Riina aka Totò o curtu (small) because was at least 1.60 m;

Thanks Furio very interesting.

Would you know why they called Bernardo " u tratturi" Provenzano ?

Phil "Chicken Man" Testa got his name because he used to own a Poultry store.
Tony Ducks Corallo for ducking subpoenas.
Petey the Crumb Caprio because he liked crumb cakes as a kid

Tony Accardo had two, Joe Batters for using baseball bats on people and then the Press coined him the, Big Tuna, because he was photographed with a big tuna he caught in Florida.
Paul The Watier Ricca was a waiter/maitre D at Diamond Joe's Espposito's, restaurant.

It's hilarious how some got their nicknames.

Gaetano "three fingers" Lucchese. He had injured his hand in a machine shop accident.

According to the statements of snitch Antonino Calderone, Provenzano participated in the so-called "massacre of Viale Lazio" (December 10, 1969), during the conflict, Provenzano was injured to his hand but managed to shoot with his machine gun; Cavataio (the target of the massacre) was wounded and Provenzano stunned him with Beretta's kick, knocking him on gunshots.
After the massacre the nickname means also that Provenzano,trapped everything and where he passed "no longer grew the grass".

One of the nicknames of Matteo Messina Denaro the sicilian capo di tutti i capi is diabolik a famous italian comic character for be
uncatchable.

Furio, I really really enjoy reading about the NCO and Cutolo, those guys were insane! Especially Cutolo.

Was Torrio "The brain" also? I thought his nickname was "the fox", Arnold Rothstein was "The brain".

Dwalin we are both correct, he had two nicknames the brain & the fox.
I read this in the book "Cosa Nostra" an illustrated history of the mafia by Massimo Picozzi.

Arnold Rothstein was also nicknamed "the brain".

Ruggiero "Richie the Boot" Boiardo, Newark NJ Mafioso, got his name because he conducted his business out of a phone boot'.

The book "In the godfather garden" by Richard Linnett lists several theories:

Albert Anastasia was nicknamed the "Mad Hatter" and the "Lord High Executioner". The lord high execution was obvious but I was stunned by "the mad hatter. I found the definition in a book " The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mafia By Jerry Capeci.

Mad hatter suggested that he was crazy, like the character in Alice in wonderland. Mad hatter comes from the practice of using mercury in the making of hats.Constant contact with the substance damaged the brains of the workers.

That was a good one to know.

'Big Tuna' Tony Accardo, after he caught a 400-pound tuna off Florida in the early 1950's.

Quack Quack, because he didn't shut the fuck up.

I guess your talking about Angelo Ruggiero.

Not 4 nuthin'.. but.. this thread could go on 4 ever,they all had nicknames.

Sure did and so did every other male in the neighborhood .

What's up Serp..see Philip around lately?

Joe Massino had several nicknames:
-'Joe Wagons', as he started out as a lunch wagon operator under Rusty Rastelli
-'Big Joey' for his obesity
-'The Ear', as he wanted others to use their ears when referring to him, similar to how mobsters pointed to their chins in reference to Vinny Chin
-'The Last Don', as he was the last full-fledged mob boss on the streets whom the feds didn't pinch while the other bosses were in the can in the 1990s.

Yes your right but it's intriguing on how some got those nicknames.

Peter Gotti known as "one eyed Pete" because glaucoma left him with only one seeing eye.

http://blog.futbologia.org/2012/09/quella-volta-che-juary-incontro-don-raffaele-cutolo/

Antonio Sibilia, was the president of the Avellino soccer team. A 60-year-old, a successful builder, folklorist, as many of the top sports executives of the 1980s. Still in trouble when it comes to using the Italian language, but able to set up competitive teams.

One day, the October 31, 1980, Sibilia went to take Juary,the avellino bestplayer and brings him to Naples where he is celebrating the hearing of a trial that sees among the accused Raffaele Cutolo, the boss of the NCO, at that time the largest criminal organization in the area. Once in the classroom,
under the incredulous eyes of journalists, police and magistrates, Sibilia approaches the cage in which "o professor" is locked.
He greets him with three kisses on his cheeks, and exchanges with him a couple of friendly chats. Then he gives way to Juary, his pupil, who approaches the bars and gives Cutolo a package. Inside there is a 70 gram gold medal; on one face is depicted the head of a wolf, symbol of avellino society, and on the other there is a dedication:

"To Don Raffaele Cutolo, with esteem".

Before leaving the classroom, Sibilia finds time to explain the gesture to the press. "Nothing odd - says - Cutolo is a super fan of the Avellino; the gift of the medal is not my initiative, it is a decision taken by the board of directors.

The truth was that Luigi Necco a tv jornalist spoken of the ties between Cutolo and Sibilia that dreamed to become the NCO capo in the Avellino zone and went to Cutolo asking to fix Necco.
To answer Sibilia's request, however, is not Cutolo, who does not want to be exposed by hitting a journalist, but his lordly lieutenant, Enzo Casillo, anxious to gain visibility in the organization. Just over a year later, on November 29, 1981, Necco was shot three times in the legs at the exit of the restaurant where he went before each game. On his car is also found a note in neapolitan “Tu vuliv’ fa o criticone?”(did you want to make the critic?).

Here is another interesting one.

Francesco Coppola became to be known as "three fingers" as a result of an on the job accident . During a bank heist his hand got caught in a teller's window and rather than risk capture he took a knife out of his pocket and freed himself with a single clean cut.

Capone was called "Scarface" by the press, but not by anyone in his outfit who planned to see his next birthday. His close associates called him "Snorky," which was a contemporary term meaning "elegant." Murray "The Camel" Humphries, a Welshman in Capone's outfit, got that name because part of his last name is "hump."

Anthony "the Ant" Spilotro got that name from a cop who referred to him as a "pissant."

Abner "Longy" Zwillman, big-time NJ gangster, got that name because he attained his full height (6'2") when he was 13.

Carmine Galante was known as "Lilo" because he was always smoking a cigar. "Lilo" is Italian slang for cigar.

Some Gambinos referred to Aniello Dellacroce as "the Polack," but I never read an explanation. Perhaps someone here knows why?

Matty "The Horse" Ianniello got that moniker because. as a kid, he got into a fight with a much bigger guy during a baseball game and knocked him down.

The Detective who named the "ant" was Bill Roemer..not sure if I spelled name right,,anyways,he has written a few good books on the "Outfit"..died a few yrs. ago.

Bill Cutolo was also called "Billy Fingers" after losing a finger and mutilating the other while working in a butcher shop. Cutolo also had the nickname "Wild Bill" after beating a man with a baseball bat.