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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Margaret nn Daisy?

46 replies

IsItUnusual · 25/04/2015 12:04

Note I am the happy aunt to be and not the mother (so you can all be brutally honest!). My sister had asked me to canvas opinions and the fastest/easiest way I know is mumsnet.

Anyway...

My lovely sister is having her first daughter and she has firmly settled on the name Daisy, but her DH is really worried that is sounds too cutesy and is only suitable for a little girl.

Our gran suggested Margaret as Daisy is apparently the official nickname for it.

Is this a thing any more? Is it too unusual?

Basically the child would be known as Daisy and use Daisy as her name but would have Margaret on the birth certificate and as an option for later in life.

What does everyone think?

OP posts:

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reuset · 25/04/2015 14:44

Historically it would have been more commonly used as a nick name for Daisy. I think nowadays a few people would struggle to make the connection.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't use it. And Margaret is a fine name, though I personally like Meg for short rather than Daisy.

IvoryMadonna · 25/04/2015 14:59

Margaret or Marguerite or Margarita is a fantastic gift of a name for a girl. There are so many pet names and short forms that something is sure to suit her.

squoosh · 25/04/2015 15:02

I certainly wouldn't consider Margaret a gift of a name.

reuset · 25/04/2015 15:03

In Little Women (etc) I think Margaret (the elder) was also sometimes Daisy, in addition to Meg, wasn't she. Though her daughter was mostly Daisy.

curlii103 · 25/04/2015 15:09

I'm known by middle name....it is generally just irritating!! I sincerely doubt after 18 years of daisy she rill change to Margaret but it will still be what she had to sign/ register anything official with...snd just to add my two pence since its not your child I think Margaret is awful!

Shesparkles · 25/04/2015 15:10

My late mum was a Margaret known as Daisy within the family so I totally recommend it!

Vivacia · 25/04/2015 15:17

I never knew that was why Daisy was a nickname for Margaret. I like names with lots of diminutives. I like Meg or Daisy from Margaret, Alex, Lexi or Xandra from Alexandra etc.

It can cause problems when the connection is less well-known and the ID looks completely unrelated to the name you are known by. Not often enough to stop my dislike of the practice though.

Harbourgirl · 25/04/2015 15:22

Yes, it is a standard nn.
I have a long classic name with various traditional nicknames and I have never had a problem. At school & now at work I was the long name, at home one nickname & now, socially, another. I've always liked having so many permutations so gave DD a similar name & she has never had a problem knowing she has two names.

looki · 25/04/2015 15:49

It is a well known nn but to be honest I think Daisy is a dreadful name. I'd use Maggie, Meg or Margot instead.

IvoryMadonna · 25/04/2015 16:23

I think Margo is really cool. I hate Meg and Peggy, but like Maggie. Don't care for Daisy. See how we all have different tastes. That's why a name like Margaret is a gift - she is bound to find a nn she likes.

If she didn't like Daisy, I don't see why she would have to wait 18 years to change it? I have a cousin named Michael who is known as Mike or Michael within the family, but always Micky or Mick to his friends. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.

squoosh · 25/04/2015 16:31

Yes we all have different tastes. As no matter how many possible nicknames it has I still wouldn't like Margaret as my official name and wouldn't regard it as a gift.

PuppyMonkey · 25/04/2015 16:32

Just use the name Daisy. If she wants to be called Margaret in later life (and God knows I don't see why she would) she can still call herself Margaret even if it's not on the birth certificate. It's a free country.

IAmAPaleontologist · 25/04/2015 16:37

My dd is 6 and she is a Margaret who 99.9% of the time is called Daisy. School call her daisy, she insists on Margaret at rugby for some reason. Dh calls her Daisy, I call her Daisy or Meg. When she introduces herself to people she always gives both names.

Allalonenow · 25/04/2015 16:41

I like Margaret, but I think the nn Daisy would work best with Marguerite as the full name, and I think Marguerite is a very pretty name.

burgatroyd · 25/04/2015 18:57

Margaret just sounds clunky!

Daisy is better!

Original poster

IsItUnusual · 25/04/2015 21:42

Thanks everyone, a really wide range of opinions. I will tell my sister that they were mainly bemused or positive, but also pass on some concerns you raised.

And I will also suggest Marguerite in place of Margaret.

OP posts:

IAmAPaleontologist · 25/04/2015 21:51

Thing is, yes a lot of people ar bemused if you say that Daisy is a shortening of Margaret but when you have a actual child you don't have to explain to everyone you meet. Dd is just called by whatever name she has introduced herself by.

Sophronia · 27/04/2015 13:45

I prefer Daisy as a nn for Margaret to Daisy as a stand-alone name.

123Jump · 27/04/2015 13:58

Margaret is lovely, and as another poster pointed out, in Little Women Margaret was known as Meg, but her nn was Daisy. When she had twins they were called Margaret and John ( her husband), and Laurie decided to call them Demi and Daisy as nn.
I love Margaret with nn Daisy, OP. I think most people would know Daisy as nn for Margaret.

aoife24 · 27/04/2015 22:27

Marguerite is a French name for a type of daisy, it's a well-established nn.

ems1910 · 27/04/2015 23:52

I never knew this!

I would just use Daisy though. my favourite ever patient in the home o work I was called Daisy. She would be about 107 now I believe. Lovely woman. I also have a 6 year old cousin called Daisy. It is beautiful.

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