Hi again everyone, Yes, Jim, I'll buy that. That's the most sense I've heard made from the Margaret/Peggy thing. I was mostly asking on behalf of my 6 year old daughter, who (in a classroom full of Ashleys, Brittanys & Courtneys) is named Margaret - no short form yet - just Margaret. She loves her "antique" name. She knows it comes from her GGGGrandmother, Margaret McGregor & that she shares it with several other female descendants of subsequent generations. I was the eldest child in my family. My younger siblings (Catherine, James & who else? - Margaret!) as you suggested, couldn't say "Mary" right away. I was "Mamie" to each one in turn. But it didn't stick. But I have a cousin, Mamie McInnis, on whom it did! Any ideas on "Dolly"? I have an elusive relative, Dolly Johnstone, who went to NZ after WW1, but no one recalls her true given name. It wasn't Margaret, Sarah or Catherine - these were her sisters. Her mother was Agnes. Maybe it was just a nickname in it's own right. Mary