Would you give an ewt an ickname?

[sl8]

From https://www.arcjournals.org/pdfs/ijsell/ijsell_6.pdf [PDF]
English Language: Growth of Vocabulary

[...]

viii) Met analysis.

It means re-analysis and this process is close to telescoping. In this case, the consonant at the end of the word gets attached to the vowel at the beginning of the next word. So, by re-analysis, a new combination is formed.

Example: The word nickname it was originally ick name, ick is an old word meaning also. Therefore an ickname meant an also name, that is a name given to a person in addition to his real name. In course of time, the final n of an got attached to the vowel of the following word.
Example:

A nickname was evolved from an ickname.
A newt was evolved from an ewt.
Tawdry was evolved from saint Audry.

Sometimes, this process works in the reverse. That is, the article a takes as n from the noun that follows. Thus we have an orange from a norange.

an umpire from a numpire
an apron from a napron
an augur from a nauger
an adder from a nadder.

[...]

to the QI panel show

On edit:
Those that spend time in Eastern U.S. woodlands are probably familiar with the red eft, the juvenile form of the eastern newt. They're brightly colored and hard to miss. Apparently, "eft" and "newt (ewt)" come from the same Middle English root.



Red Eft seen on a moss-covered rock near a creek in Crossville, Tennessee
Wikipedia Commons