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ArchivesRe: Margaret = Peggy
in reply to a message by Corinne
The origin is a hard one to answer! But, Margaret can easily become Maggie, which drops the R; Maggie or Mag becomes Meg, which is or used to be the preferred Scottish nickname form, and Peg rhymes with Meg! The same kindof thing happened with Mary, which became Molly (R is a hard sound for children, and most nicknames come from other children in the family who can't quite get their young tongues round the new sibling's real name) and then Polly. For boys, Robert to Bob is similar, I think.
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A lot of names with the letter R in them have developed short forms in the past which leave out the R e.g. Christopher has the short form Kit, Sarah became Sally, Bridget becomes Biddy (not Briddy) and Frances became Fanny (not Franny) although this isn't used much in Britain now because Fanny has developed as a slang term for the female genitals!
Also in modern times the Z seems to replace the R sound e.g. Karen/Caroline becomes Kaz/Caz, Barry becomes Baz, Sharon becomes Shaz or Shazza as a nickname.
Rosey.
Also in modern times the Z seems to replace the R sound e.g. Karen/Caroline becomes Kaz/Caz, Barry becomes Baz, Sharon becomes Shaz or Shazza as a nickname.
Rosey.
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