Let's Hear It for Bouncy, Cheery Girls' Names!

Girl Names
1

I know this may not be a popular sentiment and so I present it as a bit of a confession:

I love the names [name_f]Dolly[/name_f], [name_f]Holly[/name_f], [name_f]Lolly[/name_f], and [name_f]Polly[/name_f].

[name_f]Ginnie[/name_f] and [name_f]Ginger[/name_f], [name_f]Peg[/name_f] and [name_f]Meg[/name_f], [name_f]Trudy[/name_f] and [name_f]Trixie[/name_f].

[name_f]Bess[/name_f] and [name_f]Bessie[/name_f], [name_f]Tess[/name_f] and [name_f]Tessie[/name_f], [name_f]Cassie[/name_f] and [name_f]Flossie[/name_f].

Mamie and Mercy, Betsy and Bedelia.

[name_f]Elsie[/name_f], [name_f]Hetty[/name_f], and even [name_f]Gertie[/name_f]. If I am really honest, I will admit to a secret delight in [name_u]Taffy[/name_u] ([name_f]Taffeta[/name_f]?) and [name_f]Cricket[/name_f] ([name_f]Christiane[/name_f]?).

I’m not saying I would name a child these little names outright. [name_f]Dolly[/name_f] would be christened [name_f]Dahlia[/name_f] and [name_f]Lolly[/name_f], [name_f]Laurel[/name_f], and [name_f]Ginnie[/name_f]/[name_f]Ginger[/name_f], [name_f]Virginia[/name_f], etc.

But it would be for the pleasure of calling them [name_f]Dolly[/name_f], [name_f]Lolly[/name_f], and [name_f]Ginger[/name_f], that I would give them their longer and more substantial names.

Some might find these merry names sexist or weak or trivial. Theoretically, I agree, but in reality, I don’t.

Life is hard and our name can buoy us up. [name_f]Morwenna[/name_f] is a beautiful name, more beautiful to my ear than [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] and its charming progeny, [name_f]Meg[/name_f] and [name_f]Peg[/name_f] and [name_f]Polly[/name_f].

But [name_f]Morwenna[/name_f] is a wailing lament of a name. It is the name of a woman who has lost her love to another woman or to the sea. It might well be a title character from an [name_m]Edgar[/name_m] [name_m]Allen[/name_m] [name_u]Poe[/name_u] poem. It is gorgeous but melancholy.

[name_f]Polly[/name_f]? Not so much.

[name_f]Polly[/name_f] is lively and curious, zesty and resourceful, even ebullient and insouciant. She’s less interested in mooning over men and more interested in living a full and vigorous life. Riding her bike or horse, reading or writing a good book, square dancing or painting pictures, climbing a mountain or raising Sussex spaniels.

Go, [name_f]Polly[/name_f], go!

2

[name_m]How[/name_m] fun! I love the idea of a long, sophisticated first name with a lively and vivacious nickname. I don’t normally like [name_f]Polly[/name_f], but now I’m warming up to it!

3

The more I think about it, the more sure I am that I would name a daughter [name_f]Polly[/name_f] instead of [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], because I don’t love [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] and to choose a name I don’t love would be silly.

Plus [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] could choose to be called [name_f]Maggie[/name_f] or [name_f]Mags[/name_f] or [name_f]Megan[/name_f] or [name_f]Margit[/name_f] or Magritta, all of which I loathe.

Then again, [name_f]Polly[/name_f] could choose to be called my least favorite name on earth, [name_f]Paula[/name_f].

Naming people really is a crap shoot! About the best we can do is choose a name we adore, whether it be “real” name or “nickname”, and hope our kids adore it too!

4

I actually really love the name [name_f]Polly[/name_f]. It’s been on my list for ages.

There’s a Disney TV movie from the early 90’s called [name_f]Polly[/name_f] (musical version of [name_f]Pollyanna[/name_f] with several characters from the Cosby show :)). It makes me happy every time I think of it.

I’ve never met a person named [name_f]Polly[/name_f] but I would love to. I think you’ve convinced me to push it higher up on my list :slight_smile:

I don’t think names like [name_f]Molly[/name_f] or [name_f]Holly[/name_f] or [name_f]Tess[/name_f] or [name_f]Bess[/name_f] or [name_f]Meg[/name_f] are weak or insubstantial. They’re lovely names with history and a great feel.

I’m not so on board with [name_f]Ginger[/name_f] (it’s all Gilligan’s Island to me) or [name_f]Lolly[/name_f] (all lollipop to me), but I do agree that some of the somber/heavy names don’t excite me either.

5

Thank you for this! My nickname is [name_f]Sally[/name_f], and I’ve always loved how lively and fun - for lack of a better word - it sounds. It has been a source of comfort for me when life sometimes has been anything but. You described it perfectly: “Life is hard and our name can buoy us up.” And people who complain that names that end in -ie or -y are juvenile or “weak” forget all the wonderful words that share those endings: beauty, happy, funny, lovely, lively, pretty, joy, goofy, sparkly, sassy, glitzy, friendly, play, zany, dreamy, etc.

And as an aside: I know a [name_f]Polly[/name_f] who is 85 and is the life of the party. She does her name proud.

6

[name_f]Holly[/name_f] does sound very happy and bouncy to me!

7

As in “sally forth” which sounds quite enthusiastic. :slight_smile:

I do wonder if we won’t see more of these names as life gets more and more challenging.

I also wonder why a parent might choose [name_f]Princess[/name_f] or [name_f]Precious[/name_f] which seem to me so embarrassingly praising, falling into the old category of “It Would Sound Better Coming from Someone Other than Yourself” when they could just choose a cheery (and thus comforting) name which might promote a more reasonable self-esteem.

8

Yes, speaking as a [name_f]Molly[/name_f], thank you! I often wish I had a more formal name like my siblings do, although now that I’m an adult it’s not as much of an issue as when you’re a kid and everyone knows your siblings’ names.

You really put into words what I think my parents wanted when naming me - a friendly, happy, comfortable sounding name. For people considering this kind of name: even if I did want more “substance,” the fact is that plenty of people have complimented my name for the very reasons that the OP mentioned. Having a bouncy, comfy sounding name makes people have positive associations as soon as they meet you.

“Life is hard and our name can buoy us up.” - what a great sentiment!

ETA: I’ve always like [name_f]Polly[/name_f] for [name_f]Paloma[/name_f] but [name_f]Molly[/name_f] and [name_f]Polly[/name_f] is just a little too precious.

9

I too think that is what many of our parents sought for us.

Parental name motivations interest me. What for example motivates a parent to name her daughter [name_f]Bloodrayne[/name_f] or Morgause?

Possibly a desire to be slightly depraved or at least hip and edgy?

10

I agree that a lot of parents probably don’t consider that.
As someone who has never once had their name either complimented or teased I feel I kinda missed out. (My name is [name_u]Kim[/name_u]…)

11

I find with these names I love them or hate them.

I join you in a love for [name_f]Dolly[/name_f] & [name_f]Polly[/name_f], and [name_f]Tess[/name_f]/[name_f]Tessie[/name_f].

I also like some others I think of as this type: [name_f]Molly[/name_f], [name_f]Mae[/name_f], [name_f]Susie[/name_f], [name_f]Betty[/name_f], [name_f]Tillie[/name_f], [name_f]Kitty[/name_f], [name_f]Callie[/name_f], [name_f]Tabby[/name_f] etc.

But I personally can’t get on board with [name_f]Ginny[/name_f], [name_f]Elsie[/name_f], [name_f]Ginger[/name_f], [name_f]Trudy[/name_f], [name_f]Bessie[/name_f], [name_f]Trixie[/name_f], etc. so maybe you don’t like the ones I mentioned and I can hardly blame you.

[name_f]Polly[/name_f] I would probably formalize with [name_f]Opal[/name_f]. [name_f]Polly[/name_f], classically, was often short for [name_f]Mary[/name_f], but I couldn’t use that.

[name_f]Molly[/name_f] or [name_f]Mae[/name_f] I might consider using alone. Is [name_f]Mae[/name_f] almost a little too serious for this category, though?

I wish I liked [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] but I don’t.

I find [name_f]Roxie[/name_f] adorable but most people seem to hate it. :frowning:

12

Though I don’t care for many of those names, I adore [name_f]Trudy[/name_f] and [name_f]Trixie[/name_f] (I must have a thing for the ‘tr’ sound!) and would happily use these on a future daughter!

I also quite like [name_f]Ginny[/name_f] ([name_f]Virginia[/name_f]), [name_u]Tally[/name_u] ([name_f]Tallulah[/name_f]) and [name_f]Kitty[/name_f] ([name_f]Katherine[/name_f]).

13

Hooray for fun. Seeing a thread like this makes me smile. :slight_smile:

From you listings, I like [name_f]Dolly[/name_f], [name_f]Holly[/name_f], [name_f]Polly[/name_f], [name_f]Ginny[/name_f], [name_f]Meg[/name_f], bess, [name_f]Bessie[/name_f], [name_f]Tess[/name_f], [name_f]Flossie[/name_f], [name_f]Trudy[/name_f], [name_f]Elsie[/name_f], [name_f]Hetty[/name_f] & [name_f]Cricket[/name_f]. :slight_smile:

[name_f]Polly[/name_f] & [name_f]Molly[/name_f] I can easily see as being full names. I know a [name_f]Molly[/name_f], and she suits her name perfectly.

goes off topic (whoopsies)

If you wanted a full name for [name_f]Polly[/name_f], she could be a [name_f]Paula[/name_f]/[name_f]Pauline[/name_f] (silently shouting noooo!) or maybe make the name more lively, [name_f]Polline[/name_f] or Polienne? Or maybe squeeze the P, L & O and the E sound out of [name_f]Penelope[/name_f], and get [name_f]Polly[/name_f]? Because life’s too short for Miss. P to be a [name_u]Penny[/name_u]! We got [name_f]Polly[/name_f] out of [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], so why not [name_f]Polly[/name_f] out of [name_f]Penelope[/name_f]?

goes back on topic

As a lover of nicknames, I would be happy to meet a little [name_f]Virginia[/name_f] nn [name_f]Ginny[/name_f] (I love [name_f]Virginia[/name_f]!) [name_f]Dalia[/name_f] nn [name_f]Dolly[/name_f], [name_f]Laurel[/name_f] nn [name_f]Lolly[/name_f]. Actually, I would have to hold myself back from giving the mother/father a huge hug and congratulating them on their girls wonderful name.

A few of my favourite nicknames not listed are

[name_f]Dulcie[/name_f]
[name_f]Delly[/name_f]
Phee
[name_f]Lizzie[/name_f]
[name_f]Betty[/name_f]/[name_f]Bette[/name_f]
[name_m]Pip[/name_m]/[name_f]Pippy[/name_f]
[name_f]Tilly[/name_f]
[name_f]Milly[/name_f]
[name_u]Philly[/name_u] (I can’t help it)
[name_f]Rhody[/name_f]
[name_f]Maudie[/name_f]
[name_u]Audie[/name_u] (full name [name_f]Audrey[/name_f])
[name_f]Lettie[/name_f]
[name_f]Bea[/name_f]
[name_u]Penny[/name_u]
[name_f]Sadie[/name_f]
Relly (I always had down Relly as an nn for [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f])
[name_u]Charlie[/name_u]
[name_f]Sylvie[/name_f]
[name_f]Lottie[/name_f]
[name_f]Dottie[/name_f]

Well, I am not going to ramble on any longer, but I totally agree with you! Have fun!

14

[name_m]How[/name_m] could I forget [name_f]Kitty[/name_f]? A great name both on its own and with [name_f]Katherine[/name_f] or such.

It manages to be both Western in flavor (Gunsmoke’s Miss [name_f]Kitty[/name_f], dating myself here) and sweetly old-fashioned and spunky and independent, like a cat.

15

although that is because in grade school I used to love singing that mournful tune whose refrain was “Go tell Aunt [name_f]Rhody[/name_f] her old grey goose is dead.”

Isn’t it odd that one can get nostalgic even about melancholy (and grisly) songs?

16

I love happy names too! You are right, life is hard enough as it is!

Some of my favorites that I would consider using on their own or that are not originally nicknames but still have that happiness to them, for me:

[name_f]Sadie[/name_f]
[name_f]Dottie[/name_f]
[name_f]Hattie[/name_f]
[name_u]Mattie[/name_u]
[name_f]Tillie[/name_f]
[name_f]Millie[/name_f]
[name_u]Ruby[/name_u]
[name_f]Poppy[/name_f]
[name_f]Daisy[/name_f]
[name_f]Maisie[/name_f]
[name_f]Pippa[/name_f]
[name_f]Lily[/name_f]
[name_u]Josie[/name_u]
[name_f]Rosie[/name_f]
[name_u]Lou[/name_u]
[name_u]Billie[/name_u]
[name_f]Lola[/name_f]

17

I like [name_f]Polly[/name_f]! I also like it as a nn for [name_f]Primrose[/name_f] [name_f]Iola[/name_f]. I find it hard to find middles for it that aren’t fillers.

18

seems a MUCH nicer way to get to [name_f]Polly[/name_f] than my original thought of [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] or [name_f]Mary[/name_f], both of which seem such somber [name_f]Sunday[/name_f] names.

[name_f]Polly[/name_f] is a [name_m]Saturday[/name_m] name!

19

is a sprightly name.

20

I love names like this. I gravitate towards names like [name_f]Oona[/name_f], [name_f]Honey[/name_f], [name_f]Bonnie[/name_f], [name_f]Veda[/name_f], [name_f]Fern[/name_f], [name_f]Suzie[/name_f], [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] over [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f], [name_f]Honoria[/name_f], ect.

I am always looking for names that have that lively, fun element and a sophisticated side as well. [name_f]Magnolia[/name_f] comes to mind.