Active discussions

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

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

Original poster

Margaret...

144 replies

Sybiltrelawney · 30/08/2018 01:00

Expecting dd3 and starting to think about names. Dds 1 and 2 are Susanna (Susie) and Eleanor.

I love the name Margaret - it was the name of a lovely elderly Welsh lady who lived next door to my family when I was growing up. She was pretty much a surrogate grandparent, and I would love to give a child of mine her name.

I realise that it's not a popular name, and that many people will think it's dated/ugly, but to me it's classic and beautiful. I also love the nickname Maggie.

I actually wanted to call dd1 or dd2 Margaret, but chickened out both times - I'm worried I'll regret it if I don't use it this time round, given that this is definitely our final dc!

However, I don't want to saddle a child with a name that will lead to teasing or that she will dislike. And I know she'll almost certainly be the only Margaret in a class full of Lily's, Eva's, Ava's, Evie's etc.

I'm therefore wondering if it would be better as a middle name?

Other names we like are:
Beatrice
Josephine (Josie)
Tabitha
Eugenie

If we go with Margaret as a first name, then the middle name would probably be either Eugenie or Josephine.

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
Sauvignonblanket · 31/08/2018 15:12

I like Margaret - and so many choices for nicknames, of which Daisy is my favourite.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 31/08/2018 15:15

With luck she'll be in a class of people who learn not to be judgemental about other people's names which are, after all, not the child's fault.

She might not be though. Agree with Tatiana with why give a child a name like that anyway? I don't know any little Margarets. I know a few called Maggie although I don't like that either.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 31/08/2018 15:16

I didn't know Daisy was a nn for Margaret. It's nothing like it!

StarkintheSouth · 31/08/2018 15:17

Love it. My DD middle name after my late and much loved Grandmother. Maggie is such a sweet nickname too. Do it!

HPLikecraft · 31/08/2018 15:26

Or she could be in a class of Indigo’s, Autuns’s, Ava’s, Scarlett’s, Daisy’s, Rivers and Suvannahs. Then she will look really dowdy

Seriously? Those names are so common and try hard. A Margaret will seem classy amongst them. Besides which her peers with have no such "dowdy" associations with her name: it will just as new to them as any other.

Jackietheduck · 31/08/2018 15:27

Why give a child a name like that anyway

The natural response to the above question is to ask why give a child a name like Scarlett, Suvannagh, indigo????

Maybe it is just as simple as people who like Scarlett. Suvannagh and Indigo will not like names on the opposite end eg Anne, Margaret, Eleanor and Beatrice and the same can be said for those of us who prefer the latter names. They are completely different names/types of name but cannot be classed as dowdy unless you mean dowdy in comparison to the former list which would be perfectly fine and even preferable to me.

hannah1992 · 31/08/2018 15:31

One of my good friends is called margaret. Everyone calls her Maggie though. We are in our 20's and nobody ever picked on her for her name at all.

I hear some odd and weird names from my dd1 school and they never seem to get picked on for it either

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 31/08/2018 15:33

Eleanor and Beatrice for example are classic names but are more popular due to the fact they are much nicer than Margaret and Anne, the fact there are very few little Margaret's and Anne's knocking about is proof imo.

kaytee87 · 31/08/2018 15:34

Margaret will be very popular in 10 years time so you'll be ahead of the trend.

Margaret to me is a slightly old lady name (love Maggie as nn though) but that's because I associate it with my grandmother. People will associate it with your daughter after a couple of weeks and you have a lovely story behind the name.

kaytee87 · 31/08/2018 15:36

Aw wee Peg as a nn for her as a baby is very sweet.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 31/08/2018 15:37

I don't think Margaret will be popular for new babies, ever. It would have already been popular and it hasn't.

In 10 years time names like Debbie, Julie, Lisa will be up and coming. Margaret will die off.

kaytee87 · 31/08/2018 15:37

Or she could be in a class of Indigo’s, Autuns’s, Ava’s, Scarlett’s, Daisy’s, Rivers and Suvannahs. Then she will look really dowd

God, I'd rather be dowdy than have any of those names! Daisy is a nn for Margaret anyway Hmm

tonto2012 · 31/08/2018 15:37

I'm a Margaret (always been called Maggie though) and I never got teased at all for it - I'm in my 20s now and mostly just go by Mags.
Go for it if you love it - I quite liked being the only one at school called Maggie & not having to use my last initial to show who I was!

kaytee87 · 31/08/2018 15:38

@GreatDuckCookery names tend to come back in fashion the generation after the ones that are called it 'die off'

HPLikecraft · 31/08/2018 15:39

I don't think Margaret will be popular for new babies, ever. It would have already been popular and it hasn't

Jackietheduck · 31/08/2018 15:40

Swings and roundabouts.....Anne is a particularly beautiful name in all its variations. I suppose it comes down to what you are familiar with. I know two little Maggie’s. I do not know any Scarlets or Indigos and if I’m being honest I never even knew there was a girl’s name Suvannagh until I read this thread.

HPLikecraft · 31/08/2018 15:41

Oops, sorry, posted too soon.

Off course it has been popular: that's why there are so many of them, even if most are older Confused.

It's been around for hundreds of years!

PawneeParksDept · 31/08/2018 15:53

Also confused by the it was never popular comment. In Tudor times it was almost compulsory to be called :

Elizabeth
Anne
Jane
Mary
Margaret
or
Cecily

It also must have been very in vogue in the 40s/50s as there's tons of Margaret's aged 60+

TigerDrankAllTheWaterInTheTap · 31/08/2018 16:03

Are there any babies unfortunate enough to be called Suvannagh or was that a misspelling of Savannah? Savannah is a name that I expect to date very badly indeed.

Daisy is a nn for Margaret because of the flower known as marguerite, which is a cultivated garden version of the daisy. Pearl is also a nn for Margaret because that's what the Greek version of the name meant.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 31/08/2018 16:03

The trend for old lady and classic names has probably peaked. Margaret didn't make it did it?

PolkerrisBeach · 31/08/2018 16:04

Great name which will do for any era of her life. And she doesn't have to be Maggie. She could be Meg, Maggie, Peggy, Mags...

kaytee87 · 31/08/2018 16:06

@GreatDuckCookery names continually come back into fashion. It's a biblical name and has been an English name since the 11th century. I don't think it's on its way out.

Names like savanna etc are the names that won't be getting used in 100 years time, not Margaret.

HPLikecraft · 31/08/2018 16:07

The trend for old lady and classic names has probably peaked. Margaret didn't make it did it?

Old ladies were once young, no such thing as an old lady name. Names come and go in and out of fashion, they don't have to do it in a group!

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 31/08/2018 16:12

We will see but I won't hold my breath Grin

Jackietheduck · 31/08/2018 16:24

A sign of a classic name is that it is continuously in use throughout the generations. It generally does not fall into the top names lists as it has always been around and always will be around. A sign of a fad name is that it is rarely used but suddenly jumps in popularity for a short number of years in a particular generation.

Margaret fits into the first category. Scarlett, Mabel etc into the second category.