You can also see it in Megota 1309 (also Latinized). So that gets us Meg. From there, Peg is straightforward: It's a rhyme. The shift from something like Magge, Megge, or Pegge to Maggie, Meggie, or Peggy comes in the 16th C with the Great Vowel Shift — what used to be an unstressed schwa sound shifts to \ee\.
Over the years, Maggie morphed into Meggie and Meg, likely because of accents changing the vowel sound. That continued to transform into the Peggy and Peg we know today, based simply on a trend of creating nicknames that rhyme. It's the same reason we have Bill from William.
The nickname ``Molly'' was/is used for both Mary and Margaret. Apparently, the whole Molly/Polly names come from the middle ages when ``M'' and ``P'' were often interchangeable. Thus, at some point, both Molly and Polly became shortened versions of these names.
Daisy is a feminine given name. The flower name comes from the Old English word dægeseage, meaning "day's eye". The name Daisy is therefore ultimately derived from this source. Daisy is also a nickname for Margaret because Marguerite, the French version of the latter name, is also a French name for the oxeye daisy.
Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beatrice.
Derived from the classic name Mary, Molly was often used as a diminutive or nickname, but has since been commonly seen as a given name in its own right.
Fanny is a feminine given name. It originated as a diminutive of the English given name Frances or the French Françoise, both meaning "free one", and of the Spanish name "Estefanía" and the French name Stéphanie, both meaning "crown".
Mamie is a girl's name that began as a shortened form of the Greek Margaret. Today, however, it has transformed into a sweet name with a place of its own on the charts. As Margaret means "pearl," so too does Mamie.
People wanted a shorter more familiar way to call people named James and the vowel changed because Jim sounds better than Jam. Jimmy came later not for brevity, but because people presumably wanted a cuter, even more familiar way to refer to children and friends who were already called Jim.
Hank is a masculine name of German origin. This familiar name translates to “home ruler”, which makes sense due to its longstanding prevalence in culture. Hank is probably best known as a diminutive of Henry or Harry, but it is thought to trace back to the medieval name Hankin.
Originally a nickname of the feminine names Dolores and Dorothy, Dolly has become a given name in its own right. In-tune with its emotions, Dolly inherits the meanings "emotion" and "sorrowful" from Dolores.
It is because it was shortened to Will originally, that it became 'Bill': Will(iam) > Bill was, in fact, part of a great 13th-14th century trend of swapping some other letter for the original first letter of a name as rhyming slang.
The name Nancy was originally a diminutive form of Annis, a medieval English vernacular form of Agnes. In some English dialects, "mine" was used instead of "my" and "Mine Ancy" eventually became Nancy. The name was also later used as an English diminutive of Anne or Ann.
How did Daisy become a common nickname for Margaret in centuries past? It's not exactly a nickname, in origin. It's rather an English translation. Margaret comes from the Greek word margarites, initially meaning “pearl”.
Polly is a given name, most often feminine, which originated as a variant of Molly (a diminutive of Mary). Polly may also be a short form of names such as Polina, Polona, Pauline, Paula or Paulina.
Millie is a feminine given name, or diminutive form of various other given names, such as Emily, Millicent, Mildred, Camille, Camilla, Camila, Emilia, Maximillian, or sometimes Amelia.
Archie or Archy is a given name, almost exclusively masculine, and a diminutive of Archibald, which is derived from the Germanic ercan, meaning “genuine”, and bald, meaning “bold.” It has been in use as an independent given name in the Anglosphere since the 19th century.
The name was at one time viewed as the English equivalent of the etymologically unrelated Russian name Daria or its diminutive Dasha. Traditional English diminutives include, among others, Do, Dodi, Dodie, Doe, Doll, Dolley, Dollie, Dolly, Dora, Dori, Dorie, Doro, Dory, Dot, Dottie, Dotty, Tea, Thea, and Tia.
Billie is a unisex given name. It is a variant spelling of Billy, an English nickname for William and its masculine and feminine variants. It has also been used as a feminine nickname for etymologically unrelated names such as Lillian. Both Billie and Billy are often also used as independent given names.
Herb is a masculine, earthy name of Old German origin with many meanings to inspire your little sprout. Short for Herbert, it means "illustrious warrior," "army," "noble," "sublime," "bright," and "shining." It's the perfect fit for a gentle soul and fierce protector of nature.
Pet forms of the name are Baz and Bazza. Barry may also be a hypocorism for Bartholomew or Barton. As a given name, Barry is currently less common than it once was. It rose in popularity in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s, and was in the top 100 names through the 1970s.
