View Message

Dolly is cute, but ONLY as a nickname.

---

I don't care for Queenie. (I did some research and found out that one of David Beckham's great-grandmothers was named Queenie Violet. Interesting combo IMO.)

There was a Queenie on Eastenders from 2007-2008:

I guess Dolly is okay but I hate Queenie. They sound like cow names anyways.

I like them both. Queenie was actually a name I thought was wicked-awesome as a youngster because one of my mom's students chose the name Queenie for herself when she moved to Canada. Maybe I was just in love with the idea of choosing something SO COOL for yourself more than the name, but it still gives me that young-and-foolish-in-love feeling. At any rate, I find it more acceptable that just "Queen".

---

I'd probably pair them with more stolid middles, like

---

Dolly Frances
Dolly Susan
Dolly Amelia
Dolly Edwina
Dolly Lucinda
Dolly Geraldine
Dolly Pearl?
Dolly Octavia
Dolly Fern
Dolly Marian
Dolly Maude

---

Queenie Maud (I'm nothing if not original)
Queenie Liza (sounds like Queen Eliza... hmm)
Queenie Louisa
Queenie Jamesina
Queenie Maryanne
Queenie Annemarie
Queenie Rhonda

---

Queenie is a tricky one because they all start to sound like queen's nicknames. "Queenie Victoria, Queenie Elizabeth" But I like Queenie Maud a lot actually. And Queenie Maryanne. There is something so brassy and cheesy about Queenie, it's growing on me.

Especially paired together, they seem more like dog or cat names.
I don't mind Dolly, although I think it is much better as a nickname. Queenie has almost a sarcastic quality to it. I can picture someone saying "Yes, Queenie" or "Will do, Queenie" to someone who is being bossy or controlling.

---

Dolly Madeline or Dolly Matilda

Dolly's ok. I like it better than Molly, though all those -olly names seem a bit childish to me. Queenie just reminds me of "Queenie the cutie of the burlesque show" -- the stripper of song. I guess it's a vague improvement over Princess, but not really my thing.

Well, I woldn't use either, but my late Dad had a sister nick-named Dolly. Her actual name was Dolina.

---

I also knew an elderly woman commonly called Dolly, her name was Margurite.

I don't like either. Dolly might be a cute nickname, but I'd never use it as a full name - it's just too cutesey.

---

Queenie is a name I hate. There is a horrible old woman who lives in my village who is called Queenie (I don't know if it's her real name). I think it's a name quite commonly used for gypsy women, especially those who are sort of matriachs.

Is there anything in popular culture, or "culture", that might account for it?

---

I've got a young colleague who's a Dolly; but she's black and from a non-English speaking family, so that could well be (and usually is) just a random choice. It suits her: very pretty and eager and cheerful. I shouldn't think that Dorothy, Dorothea etc would be popular enough to have Dolly as an obvious replacement, like Lisa for Elizabeth. And perhaps it's simply a fresh take on Holly, Molly and Polly and their brothers, Ollie and Wally!

---

Queenie is a puzzle. Once again, what happens in South Africa isn't evidence, but Queen is sometimes given to black girls; my husband once had a student resoundingly called Queen Elizabeth Lastname! And I've seen a couple of instances of Queeneth, which I took to be a verb (I queen, thou queenest, she queeneth?)until it hit me that it was much more likely to be a local spelling pronunciation of Gwyneth.

---

I seem to recall reading that Queenie was used in the 19th century as a nickname for girls named Victoria, but then I've also got the impression that Victoria wasn't much used by us plebs at that time. Could Queenie be a replacement for Elizabeth? It seems bizarre, but I suppose it might work.