Hi, Mary (or May, Molly, or Polly) You were asking about Peggy and Margaret. When you're talking about informal versions of first names, you have to remember that pet names almost always come from childhood. Children have difficulty with certain sounds and we often simplify things to make it easier for them. Or we latch on to the forms the children use and start using them ourselves. The easiest consonant sounds for children are the ones made with the lips rather than the tongue--that is, M, P, & B. That's why a baby's first words are usually Mama or Papa and Baby--they're the easiest combination to master. This is true for many languages.( I might also mention W, which is a lip sound too, but the only example I can think of for names is Will, which becomes Bill.) The M sound is made by closing the lips and letting the sound out through the nose. If you don't do the nasal sound, but just open and close the lips, you get P. This is why so many first names that start with M end up with a pet name that starts with P. That's what a child will often come up with on a first attempt. On the other hand, R, L, and N are far more difficult--even for some adults. They are all made with the tongue in a similar position. The result seems to be that these sounds are often switched. If you look at the words "Caribbean", "Caliban", and "cannibal" all come from the same root--you can see the R, L, & N being switched. Now look at Henry, Harry, & Hal--same thing. Also Mary & Molly (which from what I mentioned before, can become Polly), and Sarah & Sally. Another thing to notice is that names that begin with a vowel often add an N, so Noll=Oliver, Nan=Ann, Ned=Edward, Nell=Eleanor or more often, Helen. So you see, Peggy is simple. :-) Margaret-->Meg-->Peg. Now if someone could explain to me why modern parents seem to be naming their little girls after cocktail waitresses??? Jim Polson Vancouver (on your side of the water) > I agree with the list members' versions of where Jock comes from. Not everybody on this side of the water (Canada) realises too, that men called Sandy are actually born Alexander, at least in Scotland. I only recently learned that Nancy can be "short" for Ann. But can anybody out there explain to me why Peggy is short for Margaret?