11 baby names that have very unexpected diminutives
Names are often extended, shortened or ‘riffed-off’ in the name of displaying intimacy and these tweaked names are known as diminutives (or ‘pet names’).
Some seemingly common baby names end up with very surprising diminutives which are arrived at by a few natty linguistic shifts. Let us take you through a few …
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Polly and Minnie are pet forms of Mary
Sometimes diminutives are longer than the name they stem from, as is the case with Mary. Mary’s diminutives include Minnie, Mae and Molly … and Polly too!
Mary becomes Molly which then becomes Polly and don’t ask us why, but it’s a thing!
Mary becomes Molly and also diverts to Minnie and Mae because pet names are twisty and turny like that.