Is it possible to make Gmail use the "Nickname" field as the first choice for autocompleting a contact when writing an email? And, if possible, also for ordering them in contacts?
I don't know what was intended with the "Nickname" entry, but while I put people's full name in the "Name" field (obviously), I use "Nickname" for what I usually call them. So for example, I might have "Michael" in the "Name" field, but "Mike" in the "Nickname" Field.
This also relates to friends of mine whose real names are in different languages with different characters and whatnot, but I think the point is made.
Can "Nickname" take priority, and if it is not found, then default to the "Name" field?
Best Answer
It doesn't seem (according to how Google has it) nickname has much use outside of the Contacts page. It's just an extra bit of fluff to the contact information currently. There have been many cases of users complaining of change from within the name field itself to a separate entity called nickname.
Your best option (while not great by any means) currently would be to add the nickname to the end of the name in Contacts.
e.g. John Doe (sandman) or John Doe "sandman" or John 'sandman' Doe
Of course you risk the user seeing this but if it's their known nickname I think it would not bother them.
You can also consider suggesting it as a feature
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=suggestions.cs