When I was younger (much,
much younger) I thought
Magnolia Jane would be the most beautiful name ever. I got the idea from a tree we bought for my mother for Mother's Day, which was called a (surprise!)
Magnolia Jane.
In retrospect I see how taking the
entire name of a plant would be a mistake when naming a child, but I don't think
Magnolia is an atrocious name in and of itself. I like other names that are coincidentally the names of trees (
Rowan,
Linden, etc) or flowers (
Violet,
Rose, etc) and the association doesnt' spoil them for me. Personally I wouldn't use
Magnolia on a real child but in theory or if other people take a liking to it I think it's alright.
Also: the most likely nickname that comes to mind is
Maggie.
http://www.qwantz.com/index.pl?comic=629