For example, Molly may replace Margaret, Tom traditionally replaces Thomas, Polly for Mary, and Bill is commonly used for William. These traditional nicknames are exactly the kind you are invited to please add to the following list.
Polly is a given name, most often feminine, which originated as a variant of Molly (a diminutive of Mary). Polly may also be a short form of names such as Polina, Polona, Paula or Paulina.
Margaret has many diminutive forms in many different languages, including Maggie, Madge, Daisy, Margarete, Marge, Margo, Margie, Marjorie, Meg, Megan, Rita, Greta, Gretchen, and Peggy.
Polly was derived from Molly at the same time as Peggy developed from Meggy (pet name for Margaret) and other "M-" to "P-" conversions.
Often used as a nickname for Paula and is considered a name on its own.
Polly = Mary
First off, we have another case of the letter R being replaced by two L's. Then, the natural evolution of language turned Mary into Molly. And yes, more rhyming occurred, turning Molly into Polly.
The name Polly is ranked #2197 overall.
Peggy from Margaret
Over the years, Maggie morphed into Meggie and Meg, likely because of accents changing the vowel sound. That continued to transform into the Peggy and Peg we know today, based simply on a trend of creating nicknames that rhyme.
Save to list. Girl. Greek, English. Short form of Georgina, a feminine form of George, which originally comes from the Greek name Georgios, from georgos, meaning "farmer, earthworker", which is from ge, meaning "earth" and ergon, meaning "work".
But many nicknames are traditionally used to replace a more formal name. For example, Molly may replace Margaret, Tom traditionally replaces Thomas, Polly for Mary, and Bill is commonly used for William.
Polly was born and raised in the North of England, which is where she says the bulk of her accent hails from. “But I left when I was very young so maybe there's a touch of London in there,” she theorizes, saying she is “covering a lot of England” with her current accent.
You can also see it in Megota 1309 (also Latinized). So that gets us Meg. From there, Peg is straightforward: It's a rhyme. The shift from something like Magge, Megge, or Pegge to Maggie, Meggie, or Peggy comes in the 16th C with the Great Vowel Shift — what used to be an unstressed schwa sound shifts to \ee\.
MAIREAD – One of my all-time favourite names. Scottish form of MARGARET.
The flower name comes from the Old English word dægeseage, meaning "day's eye". The name Daisy is therefore ultimately derived from this source. Daisy is also a nickname for Margaret because Marguerite, the French version of the latter name, is also a French name for the oxeye daisy.
Mairead, also spelt Maighread, is a feminine given name, the Scottish Gaelic equivalent of Margaret. The Irish Gaelic form is spelt Máiréad or Mairéad, or Máighréad.
Midge is a name primarily given to girls. This retro-chic title is a popular nickname for Margaret, which stems from the Greek word margarítēs, meaning “pearl.” Midge is also the name applied to many small biting insects throughout the UK and Ireland.
William to Bill
Either way, the first written evidence of a William being called Bill was in the late 17th century when Irishmen mocked King William III of England by calling the hated Protestant conqueror "King Billy."
The name Margaret is of German origin and means "pearl." It is derived from the Latin Margarita, which was from the Greek word margarites, meaning "pearl". As an English name, it became very popular during the Middle Ages, dominating the lists.
In 2021 there were only 63 baby girls named Polly. 1 out of every 28,246 baby girls born in 2021 are named Polly.
polly in British English
(ˈpɒlɪ ) nounWord forms: plural -lies. an informal word for politician.
From the names Polly and Anna. Polly is a form of Molly, which is a form of Mary, the English form of Maria, which comes from the name Miryam, from the Hebrew mar, meaning "sea" and yam, meaning "bitter".
An English short form of Frances, which is a form of the Italian Francisca, from the Latin Franciscus, meaning 'Frenchman'.
Ann/Anne is very very commonly turned into Fanny in Cornwall.
Why is Ted short for Edward? The name Ted is yet another result of the Old English tradition of letter swapping. Since there were a limited number of first names in the Middle Ages, letter swapping allowed people to differentiate between people with the same name.