Bucky being called James

[Winghead77]

I was thinking about this while watching The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Is Natasha the only one (in the comics) that had referred to him by his real name? Was it ever explained why she refused to call him Bucky?

[Digifiend]

I think it's more a case of only those who are close to him get to call him by his real first name. Wolverine (also really called James, but instead usually addressed as Logan) is the same.

[responsarbre]

This is more of a specific character trait of Natasha's, actually. She's a formal, classy kind of person who tends not to use nicknames. She traditionally does the same for Daredevil (calling him Matthew) and a few others. A lot of writers tend to forget this quirk but it was consistent under Brubaker when she and Bucky were a thing.

[Grapeweasel]

I would think calling him Bucky in Russia would interfere with his programming.

[Sutekh]

I found him being called either James or Bucky to be off-putting, since I usually heard only Cap call him Bucky and only Zemo call him James...

[K7P5V]

This is more of a specific character trait of Natasha's, actually. She's a formal, classy kind of person who tends not to use nicknames. She traditionally does the same for Daredevil (calling him Matthew) and a few others. A lot of writers tend to forget this quirk but it was consistent under Brubaker when she and Bucky were a thing.

Yeah, I truly miss Brubaker's Winter Soldier

[Lunawolf]

They only knew each other by first name during their time in the Red Room. Wouldn't make sense if she started calling him by his nickname, especially with the romantic history they have.

[Frontier]

They only knew each other by first name during their time in the Red Room. Wouldn't make sense if she started calling him by his nickname, especially with the romantic history they have.

Yeah, and her calling him "Bucky" was a clear signifier she didn't have her memories of their relationship...but that's become kind of spotty ever since she supposedly got her memories and still calls him Bucky.