I would choose
Margaret if I was planning on using nn's which is what I would do, my favorite are
Meg,
Mari,
Maisie, and
Greta. Mags and
Maggie are pretty good but I prefer the other nn's I mentioned, though Mags and
Maggie are better than
Marge,
Margie,
Peg,
Peggy,
Mamie and
Mayme. I like
Madge and
Midge, I think I prefer
Madge, but they are a bit odd yet their oddness is part of what I like about them.
May and
Meggy are also pretty good nn's.
If you weren't wanting to use nn's then I'd go with
Mary. If it comes down to just plain
Margaret and
Mary I'd definitely choose
Mary.
Margaret isn't terrible, it just isn't the most pretty name. I prefer
Margaret as a three syllable name than as a two syllable name, I think the sound of it is prettier, less common, and it makes more sense. Even though I know mostly two syllable pronounced
Margaret's, my brain always tries to pronounce it with three syllables. That's why two syllable pronounced
Katherine is annoying to me and why I prefer the spellings
Kathryn and
Cathryn when it is pronounced the two syllable English way.
So in conclusion I'd use
Margaret pronounced the three syllable way and I'd use nn's, but if I couldn't use nn's I'd choose
Mary.
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This message was edited 3/19/2013, 1:57 AM