> From: SPENCETOP@aol.com > To: ROWANROOTS-L@rootsweb.com > Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2001 07:56:14 EST > Subject: [RowanRoots] Mary Polly > Message-ID: <d.10e28131.27cfa0ee@aol.com> > > Hi List, > While I am no expert to be sure, years ago I was given the explanation > that > being nicknamed Polly was due to the fact that one's mother or > mother-in-law > also had the same given name, and until the elder Mary ( or whomever ) > was > deceased, the younger lady was known as "Polly" to distinguish between > the > two. In one of my families, the mother Mary had 2 sons who married Marys. > The > elder son's wife became Polly and the younger's spouse became Pollie in > all > documents I have found. > > This proved true in many of my lines, especially with the name Mary. ( > Probably the reason so many women were named Mary, was the favored > Biblical > name of Jesus' mother, Mary.) > > I do not remember where I first learned of that. I do not know if it is > true, > but you may want to look at the names of the mothers and mothers-in-law, > even > a favored Aunt being the same given name for clues. > > If anyone else has an explanation, I would love to see it. The use of > Polly > for Mary seems to go back hundreds of years and in different locales for > people of different ethnic backgrounds. > > Carolyn in NC > > > ==== ROWANROOTS Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from RowanRoots-L send a message from the address you > subscribed from to RowanRoots-L-Request@Rootsweb.com with the word > unsubscribe in the message body. > > > ________________________________________________________________ > GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! > Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! > Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: > http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. >