Absolutely. The diminutive -IE ending was highly popular in Scotland in the 18th century. The poet
Robert Burns, for instance (1759-1796) was called
Rabbie among contemporaries, and
Charles Stuart (a pretender to the throne of England, 1720-1788) was commonly called "
Bonnie Prince Charlie."
Janet/Jannet/Jennet was a popular name in Scotland, and these three forms seem to have been used almost interchangeably (for example, in this book, where all of them plus
Jean appear repeatedly:
http://tinyurl.com/pdelq2k.)
There is no need for for the progression to necessarily be
Janet > Jennet >
Jennie. There is plenty of evidence that women named
Jean and
Janet were nicknamed
Jennie as well.
Jenny Cameron, for example, was also called
Jeanie.
This message was edited 11/23/2015, 4:41 PM