All you name experts - help needed with the name we really like please.

Molly Elizabeth would have been our girls name if DS wasn't a boy....which he was .

I love Molly - it's timeless I reckon - very english but not old fashioned.

tuppence the key thing to remember when you're choosing is just go with the one you like and don't ask close family/friends - as soon as you announce it, everybody will think how much it suits her whereas you run the risk of people telling you they don't like it.

Everybody's different and has their own connotations linked with names - doesn't mean they aren't nice names; just not for them.

There's a definite trend for diminutives ending in ie/y eg Evie, Daisy, Milly, Lilly, Maisie etc I don't think Molly is particularly common/ popular. I do think it fits with current trends. It's a fine name if you don't mind this/if that's what you want. Molly isn't as sugary/cutesy as some, which is a good thing. (Particularly when 40). If you want to avoid the trend you could give her something like Margaret or Elizabeth known as Molly. I don't think Molly has any associations with a particular background. Good luck.

Molly is the 42nd most popular girls name of 2010. Sound-a-like Holly ranks 25th and Hollie 82nd. Polly's way down there at no. 300. Molly went down 2 places from 2009 to 2010 and, in total, 22 from 2000 to 2010. It's decreasing in popularity. It doesn't scream 2012 to me. It's been consistently popular as an independent name for a while now and has been used as a pet form of Mary for longer. I don't think it will date badly. However, I think it's quite easy to lump it in with some of the other 'cutesy' names popular at the moment like Evie, Lily, Daisy, Maisie, Tilly, etc. It's got a bit more of a pedigree than those in that it's not a new fad to name your daughter Molly.

If you like it, use it.

It's not one I'd choose as a given name as I can't imagine a grown woman called Molly. I think it's very sweet on a little girl. Maybe you'd use Moll as a nickname as an adult to make it sound a bit more grown up if it were your name.

In short, I like it but I don't think it's for me as I don't think it ages as well as some other names (e.g. I can imagine a baby Catherine and an adult Catherine, a baby Laura and an adult Laura, a baby Caroline and an adult Caroline, and so on).

honestly? it's one of those cutesy diminutive names that's all over the place right now.

i would go with Margaret or Mary and use Molly as a nickname tbh. i always cringe when people give children nicknames as given names. it sounds... weirdly uneducated (to be completely blunt)

My mums name is Molly, she is 55 and it still suits her!

I agree with chocolatecoffin

I rather like it. I know 4 of primary age.

It does sound a bit nn to me, but I also think that the automatic link to Mary (or in the other direction, Polly) has been eroded.

The current main association will be Mrs Weasley.

It is too cutesy for me personally, but obviously many disagree given the many little Lilys, Evies, Archies and Alfies out there. If you love it, then chose it. You are never going to please everyone (and neither should you ).

It's a nickname for Mary, a bit insubstantial in its own right. It's faddy middle class.

Oikopolis I don't think there's anything 'uneducated' about giving your child a name you like.

OP Molly is a perfectly nice name for an adult or baby and everyone should be able to spell it - an underrated advantage.

no one is expert all subjective!
but I dont like Molly,too twee and dolly. IMO not classic at all. it's a pretty and ditzy name for wee girl

i didn't say a person who named their child something they liked was uneducated... i said i think a nickname-as-a-name sounds "uneducated". the implication being that this is my subjective opinion i'm offering. which the OP asked for...

i think the reason i feel that way is because i know about the history/etymology of many names, so when someone use a nn as a name, i think to myself "how can they not know that's a nickname?" iyswim.

I'd say though oikopolis that surely Molly is more of a proper name than say something like Apple or River??

Many people use diminutives or shortenings as full names (Ella/Jo/Max/Alex/Theo) and they are seen as lovely names in their own right.

The OP should just use Molly if that what she likes.

Apple and River are more dire than Molly IMO, we certainly agree on that!!

it's a matter of personal taste though, i would never ever name a child Ella, Jo, Max, Alex or Theo. to me those are not for birth certificates and i quietly go to myself when they are.

obviously i'm just some random pedant so no-one has to listen to me, but that's what i think. it's all subjective but that's what the OP was after... subjective opinions.

I like Molly, it is a nn to me though and I would use Mary as the proper name. My dd is Margaret and 99% of the time called Daisy.

I'm a secondary teacher and I teach a couple of Molly's. They are lovely girls and the name really suits them. I don't think it's a cutsie name and I think that expression will have passed in a year or two any way. My DD is Polly and when I chose it I thought it would suit her as a little girl but also as an adult as I know of older Polly's and it doesn't seem like they have a cutsie name! I think you shouldn't worry too much - if you like the name and it's certainly not offensive in any way go for it! Everyone has different taste - which is good IMO!

I'd rather be called River than Molly.

My Jack Russell is called Molly

Our Jack Russell is now 14 years old ad we called her Molly because my DM's name is Polly and we like the sound of it but didn't want to give the dog the same name as Mum so just changed the P to a M.