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Original poster

Thoughts on Maggie

76 replies

No3sept14 · 02/09/2014 10:59

Hi,
I have an Oliver and an Elsie and am due any day with another girlie.

Our names list was:
Martha
Mathilda
Maggie
Beatrice

I have always loved Maggie but it seems to get a really strong reaction (not a good one either!) and loads of people absolutely hate it.

What's the general consensus on Maggie?

Whilst I like the other names I find Bea a bit predictable, Martha a little hard and I love Matilda but can't stand the nn Tilly and have no control over what they will end up being called at school.

To be fair Elsie got a massive marmite reaction when she was born so I'm not adverse to a marmite name but is Maggie a hard name?

Thanks in advance!!!

OP posts:
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NadiaWadia · 02/09/2014 17:28

Don't want to upset you, OP, and obviously you are seeing something in Maggie that I don't, but I honestly think you'll find a lot of people will think the same as me. If you just name her Maggie you are giving her no options. It's the 'ag' sound that's so harsh, I think. If you hate Margaret, then Magdalena is very nice (the 'ag' sound in this is softened by the 'lena' ending), and I think there's also Magali.

NadiaWadia · 02/09/2014 17:31

Then you can use Maggie day to day if you are set on it, and who knows, maybe your daughter will love it, but if she doesn't then she could always use her full name or another nickname, maybe using Maggie in the family.

squoosh · 02/09/2014 17:31

And likewise a lot of people will think Maggie is just lovely. Honestly, it's hardly a name that will make people clutch their faces in horror. It's just Maggie.

squoosh · 02/09/2014 17:32

You think people who dislike Maggie will have a more favourable reaction to Magli? Really?

NadiaWadia · 02/09/2014 17:36

Its MagAli, pronounced Mag-a-LEE. French. But I think Magdalena or Marguerite, Margarita are a bit nicer.

BunnyLebowski · 02/09/2014 17:36

PMSL at Magali Grin Grin

squoosh · 02/09/2014 17:39

Margarita is a pizza to me.

Magdalena is too religious.

Marguerite sounds like a Basildon night club singer from 1976.

And as for Mag-a-LEE.............

Bowlersarm · 02/09/2014 17:41

To be honest Nadia I think Maggie is a lot lot nicer than your suggestions.

merrymouse · 02/09/2014 17:41

I think it is a lovely name.

I wouldn't worry about Thatcher. I know some people have strong feelings about her now, particularly as she died last year, but I think that will quickly fade.

NadiaWadia · 02/09/2014 17:48

I just don't find it an attractive name. Sorry! Of course it's none of my business, but you did ask! And I was just trying to show what people may be thinking when they 'go quiet' when you mention the name. Your choice, of course.

merrymouse · 02/09/2014 17:49

Re: Elsie, there is a generation of people who will associate the name with Elsie Tanner from Coronation Street even though she left about 30 years ago - however, your daughter will probably be at school with people called 'old people's names' like Edith and Agatha and Agnes.

Probably in a few years there will be Hildas and Ethels.

I think the only risk re: Maggie is that some people might assume she is called Margaret and you don't like that name.

TipseyTorvey · 02/09/2014 17:52

Sorry but I really don't like it but it does seem totally Marmite. I think it just sounds a bit unattractive and harsh but others may differ.

Andcake · 02/09/2014 18:01

I don't mind it but makes me think of thatcher which in my mind us a bad thing

tartiflette · 02/09/2014 18:09

I have a 4 year old Maggie and have never regretted it for a moment. Get lots of positive reactions.

We did call her Margaret officially. I think there are other lovely nicknames from it (Meg, Greta) which she can choose from later if she wants. I think Margaret seems naff to some now but in 20 years when the older generation of them is not around any more it will have lost those connotations and might seem classic and elegant .

tartiflette · 02/09/2014 18:12

However we were in the garden the other day and I shouted 'Maggie Maggie Maggie!' as she did something dangerous, I forget what... the shout immediately came back from our neighbour, through the hedge, 'OUT OUT OUT!'. He didn't miss a beat Grin

PenguinsIsSleepDeprived · 02/09/2014 18:13

I like it. But then I also don't get the obsession on here with names not sounding 'harsh' and suggesting frillier versions. I am not a fan of soft, frilly sounding names and I think that they will date badly. All those -ella ending on names and names without any strong consonant sounds at all.

I don't like Maggie Bea though I'm afraid. Maggie Beatrice is nice. But Maggie Bea sounds like a Pixar character.

squoosh · 02/09/2014 18:15

That's hilarious tarti Grin

Bowlersarm · 02/09/2014 18:15

Peggy?

Due a revival I reckon.

Tipsykisses · 02/09/2014 18:18

Not sure as I had a friend called Margaret & it always got shortened to Mags which she hated !

I do like Beatrice though & it goes well with Oliver & Elsie .

tartiflette · 02/09/2014 18:20

Peggy! That was the other one! Love it.

Agree, Mags is not good. Had to put my foot down with FIL about that one...

Squoosh - it really was!

Original poster
No3sept14 · 02/09/2014 19:12

Nadia...I really don't mind you having an opinion at all and am not offended in the slightest. Equally I find Margarita too pizza like, Magdalena on a blond haired blue eyes child with no ounce of the exotic in her would be weird and I actually like Magali on a French person but Magali with an Irish surname will horrify people more than Maggie I suspect. I don't particularly care about a Maggie Thatcher association as kids have such a crappy education these days that they probably won't even know who she is. (Joking!).

Okay then...

Opinions on middle name now...

Maggie Beatrice
Maggie Matilda
Maggie Grace
Maggie Elizabeth

Round 2...ding ding!!

OP posts:
catsofa · 02/09/2014 19:24

Should that be "Ding dong (the Witch is Dead"?)

Sorry Maggie = Thatcher to me, and for those who do have this association it's a very very strong one and usually horrible, she was one of the most hated women in Britain. If a child in my child's nursery were called Maggie I would assume her parents were massive Tories and avoid them like the plague.

At least while you're in labour we can all chant "Maggie Maggie Maggie, out out out!" again, it'll be dead nostalgic...

PenguinsIsSleepDeprived · 02/09/2014 19:25

I like Maggie Beatrice or Maggie Elizabeth. Not keen on the MM alliteration and Maggie Grace just doesn't sound right to my ear with all those G sounds.

PenguinsIsSleepDeprived · 02/09/2014 19:26

Catsofa - Really? Why? Margaret Thatcher was one of a lot of women of that name of her generation. Loads of people would have a granny, etc with that name. I understand names like Adolf and Myra being linked to one owner, but I've never understood Margaret when names like Joseph, Fred, etc also belonged to hated figures and don't get the same treatment.

ACM88 · 02/09/2014 19:29

Love maggie, love margot, love Elsie. We have very similar tastes!!

I also love (if you are interested Wink)

Belle
Edith
Olive
Hazel
April