I got that nickname
Back in the late 1960's ...
I had bought an "AM Radio" transmitter and set it up to broadcast to the neighbors in a half-mile radius,
(yes, completely illegal) and had an interest in radio electronics. I used to go to one of our local TV/Radio shops and ask the owner if he "had any radio junk" he was going to throw out.
After a number of times of going in, he decided to nickname me "Marconi". The name stuck because I have a friend who's sister worked the sales counter at that shop. She didn't know me by my real name but she remembered "Marconi" so she would call me that, and it migrated to my friend and eventually the folks in my High School Electronics class.
BTW, the guy who gave me that name was Mario Farina. He was a wealthy Italian guy who inherited a huge shoe-making business back in the early 1960's and was feeling the pain of manufacture outsourcing. Like everything else, shoes and clothing was migrating off-shore and his local business suffered. I remember him fondly but especially remember his wife who had a huge heart. They were both life changers.
When I got out of High School, I was hired full time by one of his local competitors.
He eventually tried to hire me, but he wouldn't pay more than my current employer.
That's the story behind the nickname.