Molly
- I love it just because I don't see anybody named 'Molly' anymore. It's just so pretty, and all it needs is a little dusting.
- I keep trying to NOT like Molly because it's cute and nickname-ish like Katie. As a teacher, I just keep meeting the greatest KIDS named Molly. It's a pretty name. Molly Rose or Molly Caroline. I know the sweetest child in the world, a 6 year old named Molly May Lastname.
- I love the name Molly! It gives the illusion of a fun loving, mischievous little girl. Molly Shae is a sweet, simple and very pretty name.
- Molly is a cheery, happy sort of name. Maybe it’s a bit childish, but that’s what gives it all the charm it has. All the Molly’s I’ve known (I’ve known lots) have been helpful, humorous, and all-round nice girls. I rather like Molly as a nickname for the more severe, grown-up Mary, but it’s fine on it’s own, too.
- my husband's favorite girl name. He made me put it on the list.
- Molly Janae: because it combines an old-fashioned and a newer name that go well together and sounds feminine
- Molly Rachel: Molly honors my Irish heritage! Rachel is a beautiful, classic name that we would have used as a first name, but it became too popular.
Molly started out as a pet form of Mary, which has been used since the 18th century. It is an alteration of an earlier pet form, Mally, which fell out of use when Molly took over. People associate this name with Ireland, but it was used in England just as much (see the book Moll Flanders by Daniel Dafoe, 1722). When the Normans invaded England in 1066, they brought new sounds to the language that were difficult for the native populations to pronounce. The "r" and "l" sounds were among the confused. Thus, many diminutive forms of names either dropped their "r" sounds (as Frances became Fanny, and Brigid became Biddy) or else changed it. This is how Mary became Moll and Molly (also Sarah became Sally, Henry became Hal etc.)
An interesting factoid: in a study done for their book Freakonomics, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner found that Molly is the number one "whitest" name (i.e., one given to the most number of white people and not used by other races) in the U.S.A.
See Also: Mary, Polly
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