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Original poster

Tell me your thoughts on Margaret

170 replies

Lauraloop1516 · 18/02/2021 16:22

So I am just off the phone with my grandma, who is in a care home and I obviously have been unable to see for a long time. Her dementia has really advanced and it was heartbreaking to have to natter away nonsense to fill the silence (she struggles to speak).

Anyway, I'm 13 weeks pregnant and we don't know the sex yet. I came off the phone and felt it would be perfect to call a girl 'Margaret' nn 'Maggie' after my granny. I'm not sure she'll get to meet them (we live a few hours away and obviously no one knows what restrictions will be like later in the year) and it would at least be a small way to remember her everyday.

So... what do you think? I had always thought it was an old lady name - EVERY old lady seems to be called Margaret - yet I'm suddenly overcome by this feeling. Do you know many little Margarets? Is it going to spike in popularity or do you think it will remain niche?

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bluechameleon · 19/02/2021 19:11

Love it

AnneWeber · 19/02/2021 19:13

I like it.

Porridgeoat · 19/02/2021 19:15

Like Margo

AnneWeber · 19/02/2021 19:20

I wonder what the approximate number of years is before names come back round again. 80? 100?

BunnyRuddington · 19/02/2021 19:27

Use it if you love it. I work with a Margaret and she's liked and respected by everyone. She's Marg for short.

KarensChoppyBob · 19/02/2021 19:49

I think it would depend on the notoriety of the name. Can't see "Adolf" becoming popular anytime soon for example.

BunnyRuddington · 19/02/2021 19:55

How did I not make the Thatcher connection?

How about Margot or Marguerite instead?

unmarkedbythat · 19/02/2021 19:56

It's one of the few names I really dislike. I'm not sure why, really. And yes, associated so much for me with Thatcher and the Queen's sister, neither of whom are women I want to dwell on.
Maggie is nice though. I think of the Rod Stewart song, but it's sweet.

blueteddy11 · 19/02/2021 19:59

No

moonpig23 · 19/02/2021 20:01

I know a Maggie-May she is only 5. I think it is cruel.

bridgetreilly · 19/02/2021 20:05

I think it is cruel.

Don't be silly.

MajesticWhine · 19/02/2021 20:07

I like it. It's classic and there are plenty of good nicknames too.

caoraich · 19/02/2021 20:09

I know a toddler maggie and a baby meg (her mum got the idea from the recent little women adaptation!) Both have Margaret on their BC.
I think it's a good name, go for it!

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 19/02/2021 20:21

@katy1213

Lots of frumpy Margarets when I was at school. It was old-fashioned even then. I think they excelled at shorthand-typing, married early and settled for a life of Findus Crispy Pancakes served on the dot of 5.30pm. Or became Prime Minister.
What a bitchy post.

Margaret has been a classic name for centuries. I'm nearly 60 and I don't associate it with Thatcher, in spite of living through her time in power and loathing her. Plenty of other well-known Margarets about. I'd go for it, OP!

ladygindiva · 19/02/2021 20:32

My auntie Margaret ( known as Meg) was beautiful, glamorous, a talented painter and pianist and golfer, and by all accounts unconventional, kind and very loved.

HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee · 19/02/2021 20:41

Margaret It’s a granny name.

Katjolo · 19/02/2021 20:42

Love it!

Crosstrainer · 19/02/2021 20:47

@HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee

Margaret It’s a granny name.
It is now. But if you’re my age, then Lily, Ruby and Ava are Granny names. That’s why I’m sure it’s due for a comeback - these things always seem to go in cycles. My granddaughter (if I have one) will no doubt be called Beverley or something like that.
iamme21 · 19/02/2021 20:48

It’s my mums name and my middle name- I hate it!

HeelsHandbagPerfumeCoffee · 19/02/2021 20:49

I don’t dislike it,it’s just in my extended family it’s a granny,mammy name

SirSamuelVimes · 19/02/2021 21:41

Exactly - the next generation of Granny names are the ones to watch over the next five years. My MIL is a Dorothy, which she hates, and which when I first met her fifteen years ago I thought was awful & old fashioned and dull. Now I am seeing little Dorothys popping up here and there and thinking it's a sweet name!

It's just changing fashions.

MCim · 19/02/2021 21:54

My name is Margaret and I have pretty much exclusively been called by my full name at school and work (with the exception of some family that call me Maggie). I was never made fun of for my name, even as a kid. As I have gotten older, I have grown to appreciate being named Margaret even more because there isn’t a lot of other Margaret’s my age that I have met (I’m 27) so it feels a bit more unique. I was also named after my great aunt who was a really special person.

Lemonsyellow · 19/02/2021 22:00

@feelingverylazytoday

I think it's an awful name. Also 'Daisy' is a name in it's own right, not a nickname for Margaret.
Daisy is a standard nickname for Margaret. Marguerite is French for Daisy. Margaret is super.
Ihatemyseleffordoingthis · 19/02/2021 22:00

DD's BFF is Maggie to her parents and Peggy to DD.

I think if you can disassociate it from Thatcher, Margaret is a beautiful name.

TigerDroveAgain · 19/02/2021 22:04

Flipping heck - that’s my MIL

it’s a proper old lady name without the charm. See also Ethel, Mabel and Hilda (which I believe may have been Mrs T’s middle name)