His name is William F Roemer jr., good author.

I got four books he wrote: Accardo the genuine godfather,Man against the Mob,The Enforcer- Spilotro, War of the Godfathers.

Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato, was particularly fond of a pair of custom-made red leather cowboy boots, which may have been the source of his nickname.

Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano,he was born with blond hair, but by his forties it had turned a gunmetal white-silver color. To hide the color, he dyed it black, earning him the nickname "Sonny Black".

He also dressed like a cowboy sometimes.

Sammy "the bull" Gravano. Wikipedia:

At an early age, Gravano found a few people that had stolen his bicycle and went to fight the thieves. Made men who were watching from a cafe saw him take on a few people at once, and they gave Gravano back his bike. As he was leaving, one of the Mafia made men remarked on how little Sammy fought "like a bull", and hence his nickname "The Bull"

I've always wondered if the person was actually addressed by their mob ' moniker', to their face.

" Hey Gaspipe, can we chat"

"What's up,(Sonny) Red"
Etc..



Didn't Fat Tony Salerno complain that some youngster called him Fat Tony to his face. Lol

I guess it all depends if they viewed their nickname favorable or not.Imagine if one didn't like it and their nickname surfaces in a taped conversation by law enforcement....LOL

Gaspipe, nobody ever addressed him as such, not in his face.

Why did they call him gaspipe ?

His pop's nickname he says in the book. His pop used a gas pipe to fight other guys and held into it like to strengthen the punch, the grip.

In his biography of Capone, John Kobler notes that the nicknames(at least in that era) were made up by newspaper reporters to titillate their readers. As he put it, mobsters didn't go around greeting each other with, "Yo,Three Fingers..." or "Wassup, Clutching Hand..." I think today, fellow mobsters make up the nicknames, but they use them among themselves, not face to face with the nickname holders.

How true, if they would call themselves those nicknames in public it would look somewhat like a scene taken from the movie "analyse this",
when Chazz Palminteri got up at the meeting introducing himself as Joey Boom Bats and so on....lol.

https://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&s....92.jWCH-IHsZpc

Richard "the Iceman" Kuklinski, he had a habit of freezing the bodies of people he killed to prevent law enforcement doctors from calculating the time of death.

Jackie "the nose" D'Amico nicknamed on account he had his nose fixed.

Two nice ones from Europe.
Francesco Schiavone is nicknamed Sandokan for a slight resemblance to actor Kabir Bedi, who played the pirate.
Matteo Messina Denaro, nicknamed Diabolik, the main character of the Italian comics. A thief and anti-hero.

Willie "Two-Knife" Altieri,Mob boss Yale used Altieri on many occasions to commit murders. In 1919, Yale sent Altierri to silence an informer within the gang. Altierri stabbed the informer in the torso with both knives, then broke off blades in the victim's body. Altierri later presented the handles to Yale, who mounted them on a plaque and hung it up in his office.Wikipedia

before he fixed his nose

Vincent “Vinny Gorgeous” Basciano loved the bella vita. Earning his nickname because he owned beauty salon “Hello Gorgeous”

i dont know if Massino started doing the ear thing himself and making it a mandate. i think they started pulling on ear lobe or pulling their ears to refer to him, because he was notorious for "having his ear to the street" - always finding out about every penny his soldiers made and every move they made...a micromanager. i get the feeling that he wasnt well liked, before he ratted. he seemed greedy as fuck. no made guy could borrow any money from anyone else in the tamily except from him...still kept a personal, active loanshark book when he was boss

Richard Cantarella got the name "Shellackhead" for using pomade his hair.
Pomade is a greasy, waxy, or a water-based substance that is used to style hair. Pomade gives the user's hair a shiny, slick appearance, and does not dry it out.

Venero "Benny eggs" Mangano,his nickname “Benny Eggs” came from his mom running an egg farm.

Anthony Brancato & Anthony Trombino were nicknamed:
"the two Tonys",they racked up an great number of arrests before making a fatal error. They stole from the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vagas betting operations. Jack Dragna put a contract on them and both bodies were found in a car.

Mr.Dominick Cirillo -- known as "Quiet Dom" -- has vaulted to the summit of organized crime in America after studiously maintaining a low profile for four decades in the mob.
For decades, Dominick V. Cirillo has thrived on obscurity, shunning the trappings of wealth and influence. He lives in an attached house in the Bronx, drives himself around town in modest cars and has told neighbors that he turned to construction work after flopping as a professional boxer.
New York Times.

Joseph Carna:
His mob nickname was "Junior Lollipops", not the most intimidating for a mobster.
His father owned an eatery in the Brooklyn area called Lolly’s, and it was in fact his father that gave Carna the nickname that stuck with him, Junior Lollipops.

George DeCicco was the brother of Frank (the mobster who would die from a car bomb aimed to killed John Gotti).

Does anybody know why he was nicknamed "butterass" ?

Ciment, george was franks uncle, george was not butterass, joe was georgie's brother..hope that helps

Thanks Bronx.

It looks like he went also by a nickname Big Georgie.
Other internet sites had him down as butterass or butter but can't find why he was called that.

Hello Ciment,that was joe's aka, butterass..or just butter..also never big georgie, how the press got that is strange..just georgie..

I agree Georgie makes more sense.

Genna brothers known as the "terrible Gennas" were six Sicilian brothers who devvied up territory in Chigago during the 1920's.
Angelo was the cruelest who was nicknamed "bloody Angelo.

Pasquale (Pat the Cat) Spirito was an associate of made man Joseph (Joey Chang) Ciangalini who introduced Spirito into the life of organized crime. Pat earned the nickname amongst his fellow associates as 'The Cat' because of con artist charm and demeanour.Wikipedia

Tony "the ant" Spiloto(played by Joe Pesci in the casino movie),a hometown pal Rosenthal, whose small size belied his stature as one of the most violent and dangerous Mob enforcers in history.
The Mafia and the machine book.

Frank "Lefty Rosenthal: Rosenthal’s nickname came from the fact he was left-handed. Some romantically claim he got the nickname when, in 1961, he appeared before a Senate hearing on organized crime and invoked the Fifth Amendment 37 times, keeping his left hand in the air while doing so.