diff --git a/specification/gedcom-3-structures-3-meaning.md b/specification/gedcom-3-structures-3-meaning.md
index eabd3c9..cea6449 100644
--- a/specification/gedcom-3-structures-3-meaning.md
+++ b/specification/gedcom-3-structures-3-meaning.md
@@ -960,7 +960,15 @@ See also `INDIVIDUAL_ATTRIBUTE_STRUCTURE`.
 
 #### `NICK` (Nickname) `g7:NICK`
 
-A descriptive or familiar name that is used instead of, or in addition to, one’s proper name.
+A descriptive or familiar name that is used instead of, or in addition to, one’s official or legal name.
+
+:::note
+The label "nickname" and description text of this structure were introduced with version 5.5 in 1996, but are understood differently by different users.
+Some use `NICK` only for names that would be inappropriate in formal settings.
+Some use it for pseudonyms regardless of where they are used.
+Some use it for any variant of a name that is not the one used on legal documents.
+Because all of these uses, and likely others as well, are common in existing data, no further clarification of the meaning of the `NICK` structure is possible without contradicting some existing data.
+:::
 
 #### `NMR` (Number of marriages) `g7:NMR`