hi, everybody! i have a new story idea, and i’m dying for some berry feedback.
the concept is this:
a girl, between the ages of ten and thirteen, receives an antique pearl pendant from her grandmother for her birthday. the necklace has been passed down through the generations of girls in the family on a particular birthday - and the girls all are named margaret (you see where the pearl comes in?). the necklace enables the wearer (named margaret, aged thirteen, i think) to visit other wearers of the necklace, so this margaret can see what her grandmother and great-great-great aunt, etc., were like at her age.
but i feel like it would get kinda monotonous having every (first) daughter named margaret and called margaret OVER AND OVER until the end of time, ya know? so i was thinking that they could all have different nicknames, because margaret has so many options! so, what are your favorites? and what time period do they remind you of?
(aside: my favorite’s daisy. also, i was trying to have the years represent important events in history - what are some of the most memorable events in american history, to you?)
My favorites are [name]Meg[/name], [name]Margo[/name], [name]Pearl[/name], and [name]Maggie[/name].
A [name]Margaret[/name] born in the 1930’s or 1940’s could be called [name]Peggy[/name] or [name]Rita[/name]. A current times [name]Margaret[/name] could be [name]Maggie[/name] or [name]Pearl[/name]. [name]Maymie[/name] was more common in the 1890’s.
Other nicknames are more timeless - [name]Meg[/name], [name]Margo[/name], [name]Greta[/name], [name]Mae[/name], [name]Maisie[/name], etc.
I like [name]Meg[/name] and [name]Margo[/name], [name]Gretta[/name] is one that would be fitting for an older character (great aunt). [name]May[/name] is another one.
There are probably doubles here, but I just had to say that I wrote an entire story about a girl named [name]Margaret[/name] who didn’t know what her name was because everyone around her (mother, father, and servants) called her by a different name. They were:
[name]Margaret[/name]
[name]Moira[/name]
[name]Maggie[/name]
[name]Greta[/name]
[name]Morgan[/name]
[name]Margery[/name]
[name]Mary[/name]
[name]Molly[/name]
[name]Megan[/name]
I also know a [name]Margaret[/name] who goes by [name]Marga[/name], [name]Margo[/name], and [name]Midge[/name] (and its derivatives - Midgie, etc.)
Also, some could go by a nickname like [name]Pepper[/name] because they like pepper or something, if you get tired of [name]Margaret[/name].
My US history significance goes up whenever there’s a war: Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, etc. I also like the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, the conformity of the 1950s, and the big-business era of the 1890s.
[name]Mamie[/name]
[name]Meg[/name]/[name]Meggie[/name]
[name]Mar[/name]
[name]Molly[/name]
[name]Daisy[/name]
[name]Pearl[/name] (maybe the first [name]Margaret[/name] could be called this?)
[name]Maggie[/name]
[name]Madge[/name]
[name]Maisie[/name]
[name]Peg[/name]/[name]Peggy[/name]
[name]Greta[/name]
Mog/Moggie
[name]Rita[/name]
Rett? (this one I made up)
[name]Margie[/name]
[name]Midge[/name]
A few of these I found on Wikipedia, and apparently [name]Megan[/name] can be used as a nickname for [name]Margaret[/name] too, as in [name]Margaret[/name] ‘[name]Megan[/name]’ Lindholm.
I wouldn’t use all nicknames for [name]Margaret[/name], but branch out. If everyone was named [name]Margaret[/name] like that in my family, I would want a very different name, not at all related to my proper name. Memorable, short names as well as the typical [name]Margo[/name], [name]Greta[/name], [name]Pearl[/name], [name]Rita[/name], [name]Meggie[/name] etc. Maybe [name]Jinx[/name], [name]Trixie[/name], [name]Lark[/name], [name]Wren[/name]?
I second that opinion: not all the nicknames have to be based on the name [name]Margaret[/name]. you can give nicknames for appearance and attitude, too.
Another option, depending on how far back you’re going into the character’s family tree, there could be Margarets from wherever the family originated before coming to [name]America[/name] and they might be named a version of [name]Margaret[/name] that’s used in their native language. This gives nicknames as well as other languages.
