27 Mobsters With The Weirdest Mob Nicknames

While some mob nicknames are intimidating — The Executioner, The Snake, The Lord High Executioner — others are downright bizarre, giving us a glimpse into the humour and irony that sometimes permeates even the darkest corners of the underworld. From names inspired by physical traits to those hinting at peculiar habits, these monikers are as memorable as the mobsters themselves.

Joseph “Junior Lollipops” Carna

Joseph Carna was a Colombo capo who died of natural causes in 2012, aged 71 — at the time of his death he was serving a 6-month sentence for money laundering. His mob nickname was ‘Junior Lollipops’ — not the most intimidating, right? His father owned an eatery in the Brooklyn area called Lolly’s, and it was his father who gave Carna the nickname that stuck with him for life.

Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro

Ants are tiny little pests — so why did the Chicago Outfit’s most feared enforcer end up with this nickname? It wasn’t anything to do with his size, or the fact that Anthony shortens to Ant. In fact, Spilotro’s nickname was given to him by the media when FBI Special Agent William Roemer referred to Anthony as “that little pissant.” The media couldn’t print ‘pissant’ so shortened it to ‘ant’ — and it followed him to his grave. Spilotro was the Chicago Outfit’s man in Las Vegas during the mob’s control of the Strip in the 1970s and early 1980s. His violent and unpredictable behaviour eventually led to his own murder.

Tommy “Three Fingers Brown” Lucchese

Tommy Lucchese — also known as Gaetano Lucchese — was one of the founding members of the modern Mafia and ran the Lucchese family for decades. When he was 15 years old he was involved in an industrial accident at a machine shop, which resulted in his right thumb and forefinger being amputated. Years later, when he was arrested for the first time, a police officer during booking nicknamed him Three Finger Brown — after Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, a popular Major League Baseball pitcher of the time. The name never left him.

Dominick “Baldy Dom” Canterino

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Dominick was a capo in the Genovese Family, often pictured out and about with Vincent Gigante during his famous period of “mental instability.” We aren’t entirely sure how he got his nickname. The clue, however, lies on top of his head.

Louis “Louie HaHa” Attanasio Jr

Louis Attanasio is a capo in the Bonanno Family, reported to have been involved with the hit on former Galante bodyguard Cesare Bonventre. At first the nickname doesn’t seem that sinister — but it was given to him because he laughed whenever he was told about a mob killing. That unravels the unstable nature of this wiseguy rather quickly.

John “Johnny Sausage” Barbato

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Another capo in the Genovese Family — and not the most flattering of nicknames. What you probably didn’t know is that Barbato is a distant cousin to the Prime Minister of the Underworld, Frank Costello, and cousin to Willie Moretti. He was also the uncle to Nancy Sinatra. Despite all this, nobody knows exactly why he was called Johnny Sausage. Some things remain a mystery.

Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso

Out of all the nicknames on this list, this one carries the most gruesome meaning. Anthony Casso was former underboss and hitman for the Lucchese Family — labelled a homicidal maniac who killed possibly over 100 people. The nickname Gaspipe has several origin stories, but the most widely accepted is that he used a gas pipe in many of his hits. His father Michael was given the nickname “Leadpipe” for similar reasons. One thing is certain — Casso hated the name. Close friends could call him “Gas,” but nobody ever called him Gaspipe to his face.

Frank “Skids” Caruso

Frank Caruso operated within the Chicago Outfit during the 1950s era. Not much is known about Frank, or his unusual nickname of “Skids.” Was it to do with sliding a car? Or something else entirely? The origin remains unclear — one of the more genuinely mysterious entries on this list.

Anthony “Tony Ducks” Corallo

One of the more major mobsters on our list — Anthony Corallo was the Lucchese boss who had the construction and trucking industries in his back pocket for decades. So what is “Ducks” all about? The nickname was given to him because of his extraordinary ability to avoid — or “duck” — subpoenas and criminal convictions across a criminal career spanning seven decades. He was eventually convicted in the Commission Case of 1986 and died in prison in 2000.

John “Jackie Nose” D’Amico

John D’Amico was a former street boss of the Gambino Family — the highest position in the organisation after official boss Peter Gotti went behind bars. So how did he get the nickname Jackie Nose? Mob informant Michael DiLeonardo told courts during testimony that D’Amico had since had his nose fixed through rhinoplasty — because beforehand he had a notably large and distorted nose. D’Amico clearly didn’t like the name.

George “Butterass” DeCicco

George DeCicco was the brother of Frank DeCicco — the Gambino underboss who died in a car bomb attack in 1986, in a hit aimed at John Gotti. George himself became a Gambino capo. A murder attempt was made on his son Robert in 2007 when he was shot four times in the torso, head and arms. George died at 85 from natural causes. His nickname — Butterass — remains one of the most unexplained in mob history. George wasn’t a large man, which makes it all the more puzzling. Answers on a postcard.

Peter “Horseface” Licavoli

Pete Licavoli was an underboss and Prohibition hitman for the Detroit syndicate. His most famous hit was on Henry Tupancy in 1930, during tensions between the mob headed by Chester LaMare, the Rivergang which Licavoli controlled, and Angelo Meli’s crew. Licavoli was sent to Michigan State Prison for the Tupancy murder and died aged 53 from a heart attack in April 1953, having served 23 years of a life term. His nickname is shrouded in mystery — though the clue may lie in the nickname itself.

Philip “Rusty” Rastelli

Philip Rastelli was the former boss of the Bonanno crime family who spent most of his career behind bars — managing only two years as a free man across his reign. His wife Connie was shot in 1962 after she went to the FBI and told them her husband was a drug trafficker, which itself stemmed from her discovering his affair, shooting him twice out of five rounds fired, and then turning informant in fury. The nickname Rusty? Was it because he was always behind rusty prison bars — or because he was a fitness fanatic who regularly performed 1,500 sit-ups per day to shake off the rust? Most people think the latter.

Angelo “Quack Quack” Ruggiero

Ruggiero was a close friend of John Gotti and a capo in the Gambino Family — but his nickname came from two very distinct sources. First, he was a notorious talker who constantly got caught saying more than he should. Second, he had a painful inflammatory disorder of the feet that gave him a pronounced duck-like waddle. Put the two together and Quack Quack becomes almost inevitable. He died of lung cancer in 1989.

Philip “Chicken Man” Testa

A song was written by Bruce Springsteen called ‘Atlantic City’ which references Testa’s death: “Well they blew up the Chicken Man in Philly last night, now they blew up his house too.” Phil Testa took over the Philadelphia Family from the murdered Angelo Bruno in 1981, and his own death by nail bomb in 1982 triggered the four-year Philadelphia Mob War that killed 30 mobsters. His nickname came from his father’s work in the poultry business — and from Testa’s own pockmarked face.

Pete “The Crumb” Caprio

Pete Caprio became a made man in the Philadelphia family in 1982 just after Nicky Scarfo took over from Philip Testa. He was a feared and respected capo and hitman who ultimately turned government informant and entered the Witness Protection Programme. His nickname — The Crumb — is remarkably mundane in origin: he reportedly kept a disgusting house and always made a mess.

Jackie “The Kid” Giacolone

Jackie Giacolone is the reputed boss of the Detroit Syndicate since the 2014 death of Giacomo Tocco. He is the son of Vito Giacalone and nephew of Anthony Giacalone. Despite being mob boss, Jackie has kept himself virtually invisible. His nickname — The Kid — was given to him as a youngster by his uncle because Jackie loved western movies, particularly those featuring Billy the Kid. He hates the moniker to this day.

Venero “Benny Eggs” Mangano

Venero Mangano was the underboss of the Genovese Family, released from prison in 2006 after a 15-year spell for extortion. He is related to the former Gambino boss Vincent Mangano and his brother Philip, both presumed murdered by Albert Anastasia. His nickname Benny Eggs wasn’t given to him by the press or law enforcement — it came from his mother, who ran an egg farm.

Jake “Greasy Thumb” Guzik

Jake Guzik was a major part of the Chicago Outfit during its early years — the financial mastermind and trusted legal fixer who mixed with all the big names of the era. He allegedly saved Al Capone’s life in the 1920s after overhearing a murder plot against him and informing the boss. His nickname Greasy Thumb was not about food — it was because he was the Outfit’s primary political briber, constantly greasing the palms of policemen and politicians with mob money. A political greaser in the truest sense.

Harry “The Hunchback” Riccobene

Harry Riccobene was a high-ranking member of the Philadelphia family who had been made as far back as 1927. He witnessed many friends and family members murdered during the bloody Nicky Scarfo reign and eventually decided to go up against Scarfo after the unsanctioned hit on Angelo Bruno and the nail bomb killing of Philip Testa. His nickname The Hunchback — or Harry the Hump — is straightforward: he suffered from a birth defect that gave him a pronounced spinal curvature. He survived numerous assassination attempts during the Philadelphia Mob War, which in itself is one of the more remarkable stories in American Mafia history.

John “No Nose” DiFronzo

John DiFronzo earned the nickname No Nose in the most straightforward way possible — he sliced off a piece of his own nose while escaping through a window during a burglary, catching it on broken glass as he dropped to the ground. He subsequently rose to become a senior figure in the Chicago Outfit, eventually running the organisation as acting boss from the 1990s until his death in 2012 from Alzheimer’s disease. One of the more senior mob bosses in recent American history, remembered primarily for the accident that gave him his name.

Francis “Cadillac Frank” Salemme

Francis Salemme earned the nickname Cadillac Frank from his time working at an auto body shop in Boston, where he specialised in repairing Cadillacs — specifically ones that a contact at a dealership would scratch and key coming off the truck, allowing Salemme to fix and resell them below market price. He went on to become boss of the New England Patriarca crime family. The irony of the nickname: Salemme reportedly hated Cadillacs and drove BMWs. He was convicted of murder in 2018 at the age of 84.

Joseph “Joey the Clown” Lombardo

Joseph Lombardo earned the nickname Joey the Clown after a series of genuinely bizarre courtroom appearances — on one occasion hiding his face from press photographers behind a mask cut from a newspaper, on another claiming a piece of his jewellery contained a “canarly stone,” explaining “you ‘canarly’ see it.” He was a high-ranking consigliere in the Chicago Outfit who went on the run for years before being captured in 2006 and convicted at the Family Secrets trial of two murders. The clown persona turned out to be a better survival strategy than most people realised — it kept people underestimating him for decades.

Albert “Tick-Tock” Tannenbaum

Albert Tannenbaum earned the nickname Tick-Tock from Jacob Shapiro, who gave it to him because of his ceaseless, clockwork-like nervous banter — he talked constantly, like a watch that couldn’t stop ticking. He was a hitman for Murder Incorporated in the 1930s and later became a government witness, providing testimony that helped convict several Murder Inc members. His nickname captures something essential about the organisation — even its killers were given names that reduced them to personality quirks.

Ciro “The Artichoke King” Terranova

Ciro Terranova earned the nickname The Artichoke King through a remarkably effective monopoly scheme — he cornered the artichoke market by purchasing the entire California artichoke crop and then reselling it in New York at a 30 to 40 percent markup, with the threat of violence ensuring no competitor could undercut him. He was the underboss of the Morello family in Harlem in the early 20th century and one of the most powerful Italian-American crime figures of his era. His artichoke racket was so notorious that New York City’s mayor eventually banned the sale and display of artichokes in the city — one of the stranger footnotes in mob history.

Richard “Shellackhead” Cantarella

Richard Cantarella earned the nickname Shellackhead because of his jet-black hair, which he kept permanently and immaculately slicked back with pomade — a look so consistent it became his defining feature. He was a capo in the Bonanno crime family who eventually turned government witness in the early 2000s, providing testimony against family boss Joseph Massino. The nickname followed him into the witness box.

Sam “Teets” Battaglia

Sam Battaglia earned the nickname Teets from a single outburst in the back room of the Casa Madrid restaurant in Chicago. A fellow Chicago Outfit member questioned his methods, and Battaglia reportedly screamed back: “Shaddup, or I’ll bust ya in da teets!” — meaning teeth, in his thick Chicago accent. The name stuck immediately. He was a formidable loan shark and enforcer for the Outfit who had joined Al Capone’s crew at 16, and died in prison in 1973 having never shaken the nickname from that one moment of fury.

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