While I was at college in Chicago, I saw a news report that Joey "The Tuna" [Stereotypically Italian name that I forget] was found dead in the trunk of a car. With all appropriate respect for the poor man's family, that story entertained me for weeks.
If only he had been fitted with a pair of concrete shoes. "The Tuna sleeps with the fishes!"
And who can forget Vincent "The Chin" Gigante?
Every time someone talks about nicknames, I can't help but remember that Bush is famous/infamous as the guy who gives people nicknames. Bush, Nicknames, Mafia... I love playing these associative word games.