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Daisy (given name)

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Daisy
Femme à la marguerite, an Art Nouveau illustration by Alfons Mucha.
Pronunciation/ˈdeɪzi/ DAY-zee
GenderFemale
Origin
Word/nameOld English
Meaning"day's eye"

Daisy is a feminine given name. The flower name comes from the Old English word dægeseage, meaning "day's eye".[1] The name Daisy is therefore ultimately derived from this source. Daisy is also a nickname for Margaret because Marguerite, the French version of the latter name, is also a French name for the oxeye daisy.[2][3]

Popularity

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The name came into popular use in the late Victorian era along with other flower names. Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran wrote in their 2007 book Baby Name Bible that Daisy has a "fresh, wholesome, and energetic" image.[2] The name has been used for literary characters such as Daisy Miller, the title character of the novella by Henry James. In Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, a character named Margaret is "Meg" to her family, but "Daisy" to her wealthy would-be-friends. In television, Daisy Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard wears very short, form-fitting, denim cut-off jeans shorts, now often called Daisy Dukes after this character.

Girl with a Bouquet of Daisies by Jules-Cyrille Cavé, 1897.
Gathering Daisies by Karl Witkowsi, 1900.

The name was in steady use for American girls throughout the 20th century and was ranked among the top 200 names for girls between 1900 and 1940. It declined in popularity between 1960 and 1980, but has been climbing in popularity since the 1980s and has again ranked among the top 200 names for American girls since 1990. It was the 294th most common name for all females during the 1990 United States census. Daisy has ranked among the top 100 names for girls in the United Kingdom since 1996 and in the past decade in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand.[4]

People

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Animals

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Fictional characters

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Daisy. Behind the Name. Retrieved on 2012-05-23.
  2. ^ a b Rosenkrantz, Linda, and Satran, Pamela Redmond (2007). Baby Name Bible. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0-312-35220-2
  3. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 67. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.
  4. ^ "Popularity for the name Daisy - Behind the Name".
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