Until the modern era, most boys in the hills were named for an older relative. The generations were differentiated by calling the elder “Big” and the younger “Little.” It almost always had nothing to do with size. Writers of feud books like to supersize everything in their stories; therefore, they take advantage of this custom to supersize the characters in their yarns. Ellison Hatfield is called “Big Ellison” in recent feud yarns. This appellation allows Dean King to write that Ellison, measured at five feet ten inches by the army, was “six feet six in his stocking feet.”
This story can be read in my book, “Lies, Damned Lies, and Feud Tales.” https://tinyurl.com/ycqlg3oy