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Traditionally, Molly is a nick for Mary (Mary > Mally > Molly), but I've also seen it used as a nick for Margaret.

Mary, Margaret, Mallory etc

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Your imagination is the limit.

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Of course, to me Molly is fine as a grown-up name. Why would it not be good enough as a formal name? B/c it originated as a nn or b/c it ends in -ly? (but there are many fn ending in -ly, like Lily, Hayley, Holly etc)

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I think this is a very American thing, I don't think anyone in Sweden would worry about Molly not being grown-up enough.

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"You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams."
(On Children by Kahlil Gibran)

Molly can also be used as a nn for Margaret. My Papa's bestfriend's wife's name is Molly but her full name is Margaret. So I guess you could also use any derivatives of Margaret

Molly is originally a pet for of Mary, so I guess all Mary names would do - Mary, Maria, Marie, Marissa, Miriam, Moira, etc. - and names starting with "mo-", such as Mona, Morag, Morna, Morgan, Morgaine, Moreen, and Monica.

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You could also use Molly as a MN and refer to her as Molly anyways, if you're afraid that she's going to grow up thinking that Molly is too cutesy for a first name.

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I personally don't think Molly is too cute to be taken seriously, though. It's adorable, but not babyish or anything, IMO :-)