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Sally is fine as a stand-alone name.

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Do NOT use Mary; it's so bland.

Martha is dull and heavy and frumpy.
Sally is cute in a poodle-skirt and saddle-shoes kind of way. Better than Sarah which is duller than yesterday's dishwater.
Elizabeth I don't really care for but it's not awful. Betsy is cute the same way as Sally is, only a little more cutesy, probably because of the old B is for Betsy books.
Martha, Sally and Betsy sound like sisters, sisters about sixty years old now who take bus trips to gospel festivals and Indian casinos. Martha always brings her knitting, Sally puts all the pictures up on her blog, and Betsy flirts a bit too much.
Mary with the nickname Polly might be historically more established than Susannah with the nn Sally, but to me it's just as pointless. Name her Polly and be done with it.

I like the sibset because it's so old fashioned, I could picture it for the daughters of a Revolutionary hero. I never quite understood Polly as a NN for Martha, but it's not a bad NN. If you want to keep that 1776 kind of feel, you could call her Patsy, too.

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Since this particular sibset is so old fashioned, you could name Sally Sarah to match Martha/Polly and Elizabeth/Betsy, but if you *really* don't like Sarah, why bother? If Susannah is more to your liking, that could work: Martha/Polly, Elizabeth/Betsy, and Susannah/Sally. Even though I think Polly and Sally are just fine on their own, it's a cute sibset. Go for it.

I like Martha but the others are too nicknamey and too dated. I can't imagine Sally or Betsy on anyone younger than about 60. Plus I think they're twee and cutesey. I just don't like them, sorry.

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I hugely enjoy Sally and Betsy! Sally has been a name in its own right for so long that it really doesn't need a long form. Betsy does!

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I'd like Nancy, Betsy and Lindsey, and possibly Topsy, as a set. Anne, Elizabeth, Lindsey is fine on its own and Topsy can only be Topsy.

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Sally and Betsy is lovely, but so are Sally and Polly - I've got a very soft spot for Polly.

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I can't join you in a Martha, I'm afraid. I knew a nice Maritha once (the th sounded like a t - maREEta) but I've had very bad luck with Martha people.

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I was nearly a Sarah myself, for family reasons. I'm really glad I escaped, though I'd have been a happy Sally if my parents had thought of it.

Martha: Dislike. It still seems old and covered in Stewart-ness.

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Sally: I don't really like it. It sounds sad and plain. But a doggie I love to bits is named Salli and that makes me smile.

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Elizabeth "Betsy": Cute. I prefer Betsey (I have no idea why).

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All together they seem to be trying to hard to be vintage-y-chic.

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Polly is hideous and I don't like how it'd be a nn for Mary.

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Martha and Betsy are two of my favourite names, so I love that.

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I don't hate Sally...I like it a whole lot more since Billina had a niece named Sally and it started getting discussed on here a lot more. It is one of those names when familiarity breeds fondness or whatever. I had never really met or heard of a real life Sally before, and it always sounded like the 'go to' name for a doll. I still don't think it ages well but Sarah nn Sally seems contrived too. So does Susannah nn Sally (even though I adore Susannah). Salome is is the only full name I like for it...but that is also pretentious and would sound out of place in the sibset. I got nothing...

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For the second sibset, again, endless love for Martha and Elizabeth/Betsy.

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Mary "Polly" is fun. Polly sounds dumb on anyone older than like 8 though. I know one my age and it really does sound ridiculous on her. No matter how many years I know her, it never sounds 'right' coming from my mouth. Molly ages a bit better. Polly sounds better with the sibset...yeah, I've got nothing :-p

This message was edited 10/11/2013, 9:17 PM

I do not think Sally needs a nickname, but I prefer Sallie, and more specifically, Sallie Louise, as it is a family name for me. My great-great-great-aunt Sallie died because her dress caught on fire. So dramatic. She had a daughter named Hazel Modesta, too.

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Love the others. For Elizabeth, I am more inclined to want Ella.

The compulsive part of me says that if one full name is used, then all children should have full names. Also, I think I find Polly more interesting so I prefer that to Sally. I've only known one person named Polly (Polly Annabell, to be exact -- she hates Annabell).

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BTW, I adore Elizabeth (nn Betsy) and considered that for Anna. It sounds dreadful with our surname so dh and I briefly toyed with Libby yet our hearts weren't really in it.

Martha, Sally, and Betsy is so cute. It's so adorably eighteenth century. As soon as I saw the heading on your post, a picture came to mind of three young women in colonial garb with mobcaps waving at a line of soldiers who are marching off to fight the British to win their independence and then go back to their butter churns and spinning wheels. Normally I'm a nickname purist, but I give Sally on its own a pass here because this set is so adorably cute.

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Martha, Polly, and Betsy has the same vibe, but I prefer Sally to Polly.

I think Martha, Sally and Betsy is super cute and no, I don't think Sally needs a full name.