# Prison nicknames

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Prison nicknames," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/prison-nicknames/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*The naming convention John Kiriakou describes at FCI Loretto — where nearly every Black and Hispanic prisoner went by a nickname, most white prisoners did not, and the nickname rather than the legal name was what a man gave when signing up for the basketball tournament.*

- **Who used them:** Almost all Black prisoners and all Hispanic prisoners
- **Who mostly did not:** Most of the white prisoners
- **Source of the name:** Usually self-chosen or from childhood
- **Used for:** Basketball tournament sign-ups, in place of a real name

**Prison nicknames** at [FCI Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fci-loretto) followed a pattern that [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) describes as close to universal along racial lines. Everybody in the prison went by a nickname, he says, except that most of the white prisoners did not — while all the Hispanic prisoners did, and absolutely all the Black prisoners did.[1]

The names usually came from one of two places: a man chose his own, or he carried one from childhood.[1]

## Formal use

Kiriakou notes that the nickname was not purely social. When the prison ran pickup basketball tournaments, the sign-up asked for a man's name, his prisoner identification number, his cell — and his nickname. The nickname was what got used; the real name was not.[1][2]

## Watch Out

Kiriakou's illustration is a cellmate he describes as the only man in the room who meant him harm: a scrawny prisoner from Virginia Beach, Virginia, who was not connected to a gang.[3][1]

The man's nickname was Watch Out. Kiriakou says he was such an asshole that Kiriakou would never use it, and called him Look Up instead. When the man finally demanded to know why Kiriakou could not get his nickname right, Kiriakou asked who had given him that stupid nickname in the first place — Watch Out, Look Up, what was the difference. The man backed off.[2]

Kiriakou describes the retaliation that followed as babyish and petty: the man stole his glasses one night while he was sleeping, and had simply put them under the locker, where Kiriakou found them in about five seconds.[2][4]

The episode ends with Kiriakou's [transfer out of the cell](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/prison-cell-transfers) at the six-month mark, which he describes as a real process with no guarantee of success.[4]

## See also

- [FCI Loretto](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/fci-loretto)
- [Prison Cell Transfers](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/prison-cell-transfers)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)
- [Prison racial segregation](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/prison-racial-segregation)

## Sources

1. S2E3 Circle Of Friends (2026-06-01), at 23:25. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a1cae87f7ef77595849152c/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-01-dead-drop-s2e3-circle-of-friends/
2. S2E3 Circle Of Friends (2026-06-01), at 23:56. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a1cae87f7ef77595849152c/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-01-dead-drop-s2e3-circle-of-friends/
3. S2E3 Circle Of Friends (2026-06-01), at 22:49. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a1cae87f7ef77595849152c/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-01-dead-drop-s2e3-circle-of-friends/
4. S2E3 Circle Of Friends (2026-06-01), at 24:31. Recording: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68e695c6d798804c9e4bbd13/e/6a1cae87f7ef77595849152c/media.mp3 · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-06-01-dead-drop-s2e3-circle-of-friends/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/prison-nicknames/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt