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HelpRe: Using a less common nickname
in reply to a message by Llewella
Depends on the name and nickname. I don't think anyone would wonder why you called Henry for Harry, or Margaret for Gretchen. But Noll, Polly, Nancy? Yeah, I think people would wonder. And just for the record, I don't get how Mary could get the nickname Polly. If anything, wouldn't it be Molly? Or am I missing something? :P Just curious (:
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In the middle ages a way they made nicknames was by changing Rs to Ls (how we get Molly from Mary, Dolly from Dorothy, Sally from Sarah), and then another common thing was to change the first consonant (Meg->Peg, Ned->Ted, Will->Bill, Rob->Bob, Molly->Polly).
In the US, Harry isn't commonly used as a nn for Henry. I didn't know it was until I started coming to this site.
Margaret nn Gretchen is the one I'm most curious about because I think Gretchen is the nn I'd like to use.
I would have fun explaining to people the etymology of nicknames if they asked, though. :)
In the US, Harry isn't commonly used as a nn for Henry. I didn't know it was until I started coming to this site.
Margaret nn Gretchen is the one I'm most curious about because I think Gretchen is the nn I'd like to use.
I would have fun explaining to people the etymology of nicknames if they asked, though. :)
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I think with Gretchen you wouldn't have to explain it to that many people. Most peopl just know my niece as Greta; they don't even realize her real name is Margaret, because my sister always introduces her as Greta. People might be a little confused if you told them that your daughter's name was Margaret-called-Gretchen because Gretchen is almost exclusively an independent name in the US now, but just something like "Gretchen actually started out as a nickname for Margaret! Nick and I really love old-fashioned nicknames, so we decided to use an old nickname of one of our favorite girls' names." That should suffice.
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See? I didn't know that.
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