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I have a 32-year-old daughter named Victoria. So obviously I think you can't do better when naming a daughter. I love everything about this name, the way it looks, the way it sounds, its elegance, how regal it is, its sophistication, the fact that it's ancient, that it was name of the Roman goddess of victory, and its historical connection to the Queen. I never considered any other name for my daughter, there were no lists and no discussions with my husband, I hit on Victoria before I had even become pregnant and it was perfect.

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There is just one little problem with it now, in the US, at least: its popularity. When choosing a name for my daughter, I had specifically wanted to avoid an overly popular name. Anything that was in the top fifty was absolutely out of contention. She was born in 1982. All throughout the 70s, Victoria had not been in the top hundred in the US, and had actually never even been a top fifty name here. But in 1981, as it turned out, it ended up rising to 87, and ended up at 65 in 1982, and kept rising, and it's been in the top fifty for a long time now.

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It's an interesting example of how people start liking a name at the same time, for no apparent reason, because I certainly didn't know when I used it that it was beginning a rise in popularity.

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But if popularity doesn't bother you, then you couldn't make a better choice.

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As for the nickname Vicky, my daughter has never been called that, but then again, we established a different nickname, Torrie. It might be inevitable if you insist on the full name. But I don't get the Vicky hate anyway, I don't see anything wrong with it. In fact, once in a while, I've wondered if I shouldn't have gone ahead and called my daughter Vicky, because most people assume a Vicky is a Victoria and many people, we've found, make no connection between Torrie (or Tori) and Victoria.