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Isn't it strange that a name once so loved and so popular over many centuries from the Middle Ages onwards should have fallen into virtual disuse for children today? I have seen it in a UK poll of the unsexiest names, along with names like Enid and Nora. (Was Margaret Thatcher responsible, perhaps?) Princess Margaret's granddaughter has it, but in the form Margaretta, which was borne by a lovely older half-Italian English actress, Margaretta Scott. I like Margaret, but I like Marguerite better, probably because I love the marguerite daisy. Yet even in France Marguerite's apparently not popular. I hate Madge, Maggie, Margery (like margarine and outdated, as is Marjorie in my opinion). The Hebrew form is Margalit and there was an English writer called Marghanita Laski (I've seen Marghanita described as a Hebrew version of Margaret ("pearl") but alternatively as the name of the scarlet pimpernel flower in Israel, so that's confusing: which is it?). I think that today the Welsh Megan has taken Margaret's place. I like Megan but hate the Aussie pronunciation mee-gan. The Margaret nicknames Peg and Peggy seem dated, but Meg is cute. Daisy is a nickname for girls named Marguerite. Margot is too, but that reminds me of maggot when it's written. I recently read that the trendy version Margaux (as in Hemingway) is really the name of a village outside Bordeaux famous for its red wine!

This message was edited 1/19/2008, 2:03 AM