Prior to reading Nappy Brown's Wikipedia page, I was curious about the origin of his nickname "Nappy".

Among African Americans, "nappy" is usually a somewhat mildly negative descriptor for the "texture" of hair that most people of Black African descent have. A much more negative descriptor is "kinky", and nowadays the more politically correct phrase to describe "Black" hair prior to chemical treatment or hot comb treatment is "tightly curled".

However, I rejected this origin of Nappy Brown's nickname because I didn't think that African Americans in his age group would call attention to their natural hair texture [though in the post 1960s afro wearing, corn roll wearing, dreadlock wearing days] some African Americans might choose such a nickname].

I then wondered if the nickname "Nappy" could be a folk etymology version of the word "natty", meaning "smartly dressed, dapper". The photograph of Nappy Brown found in the first hyperlink to this thread certainly shows Nappy Brown as a man who is dressed in the hight of fashion.

Btw, the great Reggae singer/composer Bob Marley's song "Natty Dread" uses this definition of the word "natty". See my post in this Mudcat thread for more information about the etymology ofthe word "natty" thread.cfm?threadid=100728&messages=26#2023797   

But it turns out that the nickname "Nappy" was quite easy to explain-In this case, "Nappy" was just another example of a diminutive being made by adding a "y" or an "ie" to a personal name-in this case "Napoleon". That oughta teach me to first check basic facts and not jump to conclusions. That said, I bet that while there may be a few African American males nowadays who have the given name "Napoleon", very few of them willingly call themselves "Nappy".

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Let me say again "Big up to Nappy Brown", and no disrespect intended by this comment.