Margaret or Elizabeth?

[maryautumn]

Which one do you prefer?

100% Elizabeth

Elizabeth

Elizabeth. Margaret is awful.

I like Margaret but Elizabeth is one of my favourite names of all time.

You could be like the royal family and name the first daughter Elizabeth and the second Margaret

I just think Thatcher or the Queen! Do you have Union flag bunting in your garden?

I really like Maggie so Margaret if you had to pick one.

I should specify the NAME Maggie not Maggie Thatcher the person. In case the afterlife is real and my grandfather comes to haunt me.

Neither, by Margaret is really hideous.

If you like both names equally but don't have a particular reason for choosing Margaret eg. it's not a family name or that you really adore one of the nn's (Greta, Peggy, Meg, Margot, Maisie, Maggie, Mae etc), I'd stick with Elizabeth as it's far more timeless.

As far as I'm aware Elizabeth is the only girls name that has stayed in in the E and W top 100 every year since records began in the 1300's. An Elizabeth could be easily be any age and any social class - yet thanks to it's dozens of nn choices and the fact it hasn't been in the top10/20 for a while, the name doesn't feel overused imo.

Where as most Margaret's are more likely to be 60 plus - although there will be some younger girls with the more popular diminutives/variations around (Margot is currently trendy for example).

Margo Margot are lovely

Elisabeth I’d an amazing name because you can get lots of nick names. Beth, Betsy Bess el lizzy Liz Elisa

Elizabeth by a long way. It has nice diminutives whereas Margaret doesn't.

AAs the mother of an Elizabeth who has various pet names depending on who she is with I would say its a good choice in terms of shortenings (which will happen!) as the choices are many and varied! With Margaret you are pretty much stuck with Maggie, Mags or Peggy.

@DramaAlpaca

Elizabeth by a long way. It has nice diminutives whereas Margaret doesn't.

Huh? Meg, Maggie and others are lovely. Lizzie and Liz are godawful.

Although I said Elizabeth, I am surprised to see PP say Margaret doesn't have any nice diminutives. These are all nicknames for Margaret, some have also become name themselves:

Meg, Peg, Peggy, Meghan/Megan, Margo/Margot, Maggie, Pearl, Rita, Daisy and May.

I would call a Margaret May or Meg/Megs.

Elizabeth is a very classic name. You will rarely meet anyone who dislikes the name Elizabeth. Maybe a little bland, though.

Margaret is quite a bold choice. It's maybe on the point of having a revival, but a lot of people will hate it due to Thatcher connotations or because their elderly mother has a million friends called Margaret. It IS a pretty sound, though. If MARGot and ViolET are both considered nice names these days, why not Margaret?

I love Meg as a diminutive (think Little Women!) but can't stand Marge. Not keen on Elizabeth as it's very bland. Do you have to have one or the other?

I love both but Margaret would be my choice
So many great nicknames for Margaret too and it's such a classic but very underused

I’m one who dislikes the name Elizabeth! Possibly because it still seems to me (60s-70s generation) the ultimate boring middle name, along with Louise - absolutely everyone was something like Helen Elizabeth or Karen Louise.

Also really dislike Liz!

Margaret I don’t love but Maggie is sweet.

I wouldn’t actually choose either though.

elizabeth

fab name

Margaret by a country mile.

Slight swing to Elizabeth but both great timeless names. Both have loads of short versions too.
Liz, Beth,
Margaret, Mags, Margo, Meg,

Both pretty timeless.

Elizabeth is beautiful! Margaret is ok but I'm not fond of Maggie.

I like both a lot. Elizabeth is probably easier nowadays, as Margaret is more unusual, but Margaret is an ancient name too. It has harder sounds in it, which I like. I like the various short forms you can get from both.

Elizabeth, but both are fine.

Elizabeth by a long way. It has nice diminutives whereas Margaret doesn't

Ha, just goes to show it’s different strokes for different folks - DD is Greta and we love it. Also prefer alternatives of Meg, Maggie, Margot, Daisy etc to Lizzie/Liz/Betsy/Beth.

But personally I wouldn’t choose either full version; if I was going for ‘timeless classic’ I’d plump for Katherine (not very helpful I know!)

Elizabeth, 100%

Although I'm biased because every Margaret I've ever known has been a really mean person. Also Maggie is a very common name for dogs it seems