Peggy

According to Behindthename.com, Peggy is a pet form of Meg, which itself is a pet form of Margaret. That's a whole lot of petting. This information really only covers the origin of the name, however. In fact, Peggy has often been given as a first name in its own right, with no Megs or Margarets involved. For most of the 20th century Peggy was a top 500 name for baby girls in the United States, only dropping out of the top 1000 in the 1990's. Meg, on the other hand, has never enjoyed such popularity in the U.S. (which surprises me a little, but oh well.) Of course, Margaret is an old classic, and though not as popular as it once was, is still in frequent use--but that's another post. The meaning of Margaret is "pearl," so I suppose Peggy can be considered to mean "pearl" also, although personally I think the new official meaning of Peggy should be "teenager of the 1950's." Again, Peggy did drop out of the top 1000 in the early 1990's, mainly because Peggy was now a name borne by one's mother, or perhaps even grandmother. In other words, it was old-fashioned. Will it at some point come back into fashion? That is anyone's guess. Whatever it was that made parents fall in love with the name in the early 20th century may cause parents of the future to feel the same way.

Mia

Mia is a nickname or short form of Maria used in Denmark and Sweden. It is also now used occasionally as a first name in its own right in English speaking countries, mostly due to the fame of actress Mia Farrow.

Lexi, Lexie

Originally a nickname for feminine names containing "lex," such as Alexis, Alexandra, etc., Lexi is now given as a name in its own right. Lexi appeared on the U.S. Social Security Administration's list of 1000 most popular names in the early 1990's, and has been gaining in popularity ever since. The alternative spelling Lexie is also used, but of the two, Lexi is the more popular form. Personally, I like the name Lexi, but if you are considering this name for a new baby I'd definitely recommend giving one of the long forms of the name, such as Alexandra, and using Lexi as the child's nickname. This gives the child a choice later in life as to whether she wants to be a cute and trendy Lexi or a something a little more sophisticated or businesslike. It also gives her other names to choose from, such as Alex or Allie, or even Andi, if you choose Alexandra for her name.

Gary

Gary has several origins, which mostly all reach back to the same base origin, which is the Germanic element gar, which means "spear." Many names, such as Gareth, Garret, Garland, and Garfield, begin with this element, and Gary was originally a nickname or short form for those names. Widely used nicknames often become given names in their own right, and they also often spawned surnames. Both of these happened with Gary, so today, Gary can be a nickname, a name in its own right, or a transferred use of the surname as a given name. Gary was a very popular name in the U.S. from the 1930's through the 1960's, probably largely because of the fame of actor Gary Cooper. The name is still used, and is still in the U.S. top 500, but has been steadily dropping since the 1970's. Other famous, or at least well-known, Garys include Gary the snail, from the popular Spongebob Squarepants cartoon; actor Gary Dourdan, who plays Warrick Brown on television's CSI; Gary Levox, the lead singer for the country group Rascal Flatts; actor Gary Oldman; and the town, Gary, Indiana. Although this name is still suffering somewhat from its extreme popularity in the 20th century, and not being helped by having a famous snail using the name, Gary will most likely make a comeback and return to popular use eventually.

Elsa

Elsa is a nickname of Elizabeth or Elisabeth, and it is a very international name, found in a multitude of countries, from Sweden to Italy to Germany. Elsa is a character in Wagner's Lohengrin, and Elsa is a famous lioness written about in Joy Adamson's Born Free, which was also made into a popular movie. Actress Elsa Lanchester was famous for her role in Bride of Frankenstein, and Elsa is one of the most sympathetic characters in Helen Hooven Santmyer's ...And Ladies of the Club (which is one of my favorite books ever.) Elsa was a reasonbly common name in the U.S. in the first couple of decades of the 1900's, but hasn't managed to find a place in the top 500 since then. Personally, I really like this name and would like to see it make a strong comeback, but the association with Elsa the lioness might still be too strong for many new parents.

Vic

Vic is a nickname for Victor, or occasionally for Victoria.

Viggo

Viggo is Scandinavian and can be a nickname or short form for any name containing the element Vig, which means "war." Pronunciation of the name seems to vary depending on geography, but the most famous Viggo, Viggo Mortensen, from the Lord of the Rings movies, apparently pronounces his name "Vee-go."

Drew

Drew used to be thought of mainly a nickname for the masculine name Andrew, but, largely due to the fame of actress Drew Barrymore, it's also being thought of, and sometimes used as, a name for girls. Drew is also a surname, and I've mentioned many times before the tradition of using a female relative's maiden name as the given name for a child. Drew Barrymore is an example of this tradition; she was given the maiden name of her great-grandmother. In its normal masculine form, Drew is given as a name in its own right (not as a short form of Andrew) often enough in the U.S. to remain in the top 300, and sometimes the top 200, names for baby boys. And, the masculine form doesn't seem to have lost any popularity as a result of the name being associated more often with a woman. Drew as a given name for a girl has been appearing in the U.S. top 1000 for girls, but so far it has never made it into the top 500, and it doesn't seem to be gaining any popularity. For girls, this is a very rare name. Whether it will remain so is anyone's guess.

Kia

Kia can be used as a nickname for almost any name that begins with K (or even a hard C) and ends in A, such as Kristina, or Kiara. It has been used in the U.S. as a name in its own right very occasionally, but has never been really popular. Kia is, nonetheless, a good name for a pet, or for a fictional fantasy or RPG character, and has the added advantage of being quick and easy to type. Kia's popularity for baby girls will most likely suffer because of the association with car manufacturer Kia Motors.

Heath

There are two sources for the name Heath. First, Heath is a surname that has made the transition to being used as a given name. The surname comes from the Old English haedh, and designated someone who lived on a heath. (A heath, or heathland, is defined as "an area of open uncultivated land, typically on sandy soil and covered with heather, gorse, and coarse grasses.") Second, Heath is simply a short form of the name Heathcliff. I have to admit that I was surprised to see that Heath is in the top 1000 names for baby boys in the U.S. and has been every year since 1966. The reason for its appearance in 1966 was almost certainly the television show The Big Valley, which debuted in 1965 with Lee Majors as Heath Barkley. That doesn't explain why the name is still being used, and it doesn't explain why the only Heath I've ever been acquainted with is a Heath Bar.

Missy (Missie)

Missy (occasionally spelled Missie) has two sources. First, it is a simple transfer of the word missy, which comes from miss, the traditional form of address for an unmarried girl or woman in English. Second, Missy is sometimes used as a nickname or pet form of Melissa. Missy is very rare as a name in its own right. It has been used since the 1950's at least, and nearly made the top 500 in the U.S. during several years in the 1960's, but that was the peak of its popularity. Although Missy has never been a very popular name for people, it has been used quite a bit for cats and small white dogs.

Dodie

Dodie is a nickname for Dorothy. How in the world did we get Dodie from Dorothy? According to Ask Oxford, Dodie is the result of a small child trying to pronounce "Dorothy" and failing miserably. That's good, because that's about what I had guessed--although how in the world Oxford knows this to be true is beyond me. The author of 101 Dalmatians (the original novel,) was Dodie Smith. Television experts--and people even older than I am--might remember that there was a Dodie on My Three Sons for a while. She was played by Dawn Lyn. Dodie is a good name for a cat, or perhaps a small dog.

Daan

Daan is a Dutch name, and it is very popular currently in the Netherlands. It is a short form of Daniel, so the English equivelent of Daan would be Dan.

Jewel

Jewel means, well, jewel. That is, a precious stone or gem. Back in the 1800's it was fashionable to use gem names as names for babies--mostly for girls, but in some cases for boys. Jewel is one of these names (though others were more specific, such as Ruby or Beryl.) The popularity of the name Jewel carried over from the 1800's into the 1900's, and the name was somewhat in use in the United States through the 1960's. After that, it disappeared from the U.S. top 1000 baby names until 1997, when it shot suddenly to #667. The reason for the reappearance of the name is most likely due to the popularity of the singer Jewel. The revival of the name hasn't been overwhelming, and its use has been declining steadily since 1998. Many people, rather than thinking of Jewel as a name in its own right, tend to think of it as a nickname for Julie or Julia, but by the same token, there is really no reason that a girl named Jewel could not use Julie as a nickname.

Annette

Annette is, as all the other names sites say, a French "pet form" of Ann(e). Famous Annettes have included Annette Funicello, and Annette Bening. Although Annette is still currently in the top 1000 names for baby girls, its in the bottom 500, meaning, basically that it is in use, but not over-used. It was a much more popular name thoughout most of the 1900's, and in the 1960's was a top 100 name. This is probably why it is not so much in use today: baby girls born today might be the daughter of an Annette, or the granddaughter of an Annette, or perhaps the neice of an Annette. So my best guess would be that in most cases today that the name is given, it is as a middle name, maybe to honor the elder relative with the name. As a middle name, Annette is wonderful. Paired with either a one-syllable or three-syllable first name, it is musical. (It's not bad with a two-syllable first name, but the rule of thumb--which can, and should, be often broken-- is to give names of varying syllables--they usually just flow better. Two syllable names can follow other two syllable names more easily than one syllable names can follow one another though-- example, Katie Annette flows better than Lynn Jean. See?) Annette is definitely a name to keep in mind when naming a baby girl, just because it is such a great middle name, and because it does come with a little bit of versatility. A girl named Annette can also reasonbly claim to be Ann or Anne or Annie, or if she's feeling VERY retro she can be Nettie.