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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?

OP posts:
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BettysButtons · 20/02/2021 07:56

@feelingverylazytoday

I think it's an awful name. Also 'Daisy' is a name in it's own right, not a nickname for Margaret.
It can be a name in its own right but it originates from Margaret or Marguerite. Just like Rita.
ShulamithFirestone · 20/02/2021 08:16

I personally wouldn't because of Thatcher, but objectively it is a gorgeous name.

FuckyouBrennan · 20/02/2021 08:20

Stuffy to me.

WellTidy · 20/02/2021 08:39

I absolutely love Maggie. Not so keen on Margaret, but Maggie is one of my favourites. Have you thought about Magda, nn Maggie? I won’t be having any more children but if we ever had a female dog, it would be a Maggie.

feelingverylazytoday · 20/02/2021 10:01

Bettybuttons perhaps in mumsnet land. In real life it's an actual name, because people don't pick a name they don't really like, then arrive at another name by word association and call it a nickname. They just choose the name they like in the first place.
Here's a clue, OP. Nearly every post has suggested a nickname (s), that suggests that nobody really likes the name 'Margaret'.

StarkintheSouth · 20/02/2021 10:08

My late grandmother was Margaret and I loved her so much! My daughters middle name is Margaret as I felt like it was an apt tribute but didnt like it as a first name. Maggie is so cute though. X

BasiliskStare · 20/02/2021 10:24

@Lauraloop1516 - I think Margaret is a brilliant name - whatever you choose I wish you and DD well

GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman · 20/02/2021 10:34

There are plenty of other Margarets in history. Check out Lady Margaret Beaufort.

OldRailer · 20/02/2021 10:40

May I also nominate Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands.

And Saint Margaret of Scotland.

BestZebbie · 21/02/2021 20:55

.....I'm very very surprised that no one has mentioned the key character "Moody Margaret" in the Horrid Henry series. An obvious nickname during that period at school.

And of course, the inability of people to spell it, henceTerry Pratchett's "Magrat".

BettyOBarley · 21/02/2021 20:59

Personally I think it would be better as a middle name. I'm probably biased though as I have an outdated name and I've hated it my entire life I have to say.

DenisetheMenace · 21/02/2021 21:02

Don’t like it, sorry. Do like Maggie and Margot, though.

Edenember · 21/02/2021 22:35

It’s funny the people arguing with Daisy as a diminutive for Margaret! It’s use as a nickname for Margaret predates Daisy as a floral name in its own right. www.britishbabynames.com/blog/2012/09/daisy.html

whattodo2019 · 22/02/2021 00:12

Gorgeous x

Redsquirrel5 · 22/02/2021 00:45

It is my middle name after my lovely, Nanna. There is a farmer in our village called it but I don’t know of any others. Never had one at school. I think it would be a lovely tribute.

Rubybluesy · 22/02/2021 00:57

Thatcher!

LampsOn · 22/02/2021 08:38

I love it. Timeless and elegant. I've only met lovely Maggie's in my time.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 22/02/2021 08:48

@feelingverylazytoday

Bettybuttons perhaps in mumsnet land. In real life it's an actual name, because people don't pick a name they don't really like, then arrive at another name by word association and call it a nickname. They just choose the name they like in the first place. Here's a clue, OP. Nearly every post has suggested a nickname (s), that suggests that nobody really likes the name 'Margaret'.
Nowadays if new parents want to call their child Daisy, they will probably put Daisy on the birth certificate. Until a few decades ago, they probably wouldn't have done. Registrars, priests/vicars/ministers etc, older family members, society generally said there should be a formal name on the birth certificate. You could call your child what you wanted at home, but on her birth certificate and baptismal records you'd see the formal version, which for Daisy would be Margaret, as so many people have explained.

This is why birth records from generations ago are full of names like John, Joseph, Robert, Henry, Mary, Margaret, Katherine, Elizabeth and so on but if you'd met most of those people they'd have been introduced as Jack, Joe, Bob, Harry, Polly, Maggie, Kate, Lizzie.

Even now, some of us still prefer to do that, as it gives the child a choice as they grow up whether to use the full name or a shorter version/nickname. I suppose there's no reason, though, why a child shouldn't do the reverse of the old approach - Joe on birth certificate, asks to be called Joseph, for example.

OldRailer · 22/02/2021 09:15

Yes it can cause a moment's puzzling to realise your old Aunty Polly's birth registration was that odd sibling called Mary!

AnnaE89 · 22/02/2021 11:57

Maggie is a gorgeous nickname and what a lovely way to honour your Grandma.

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