how and when did Margaret become peggy

I have read the how of why Margaret became Peggy but find it lacking. Can someone please tell me in terms I can really understand

Link to 1993 article.

The short version: “Meg” is a diminutive form of “Margaret”. “Peg” at some point was fashionable rhyming slang for “Meg”, and from there it evolved to the cuter “Peggy”.

Don’t get me started on “John” and “Jack” though…

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Thread moved from General Questions to Comments on Cecil’s Columns.
Thanks for providing the link, Gyrate.
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This is pretty simple. At one time, it became common in Anglo-Saxon/English culture to create diminutives of names. It’s not entirely clear why. One might be because a lot of people were sharing the same names and needed ways to distinguish each other. Another reason might be that after the Norman Conquest, English people started using names in “foreign” Norman forms and started creating diminutives just to feel more comfortable with their names.

One common way of creating diminutives was by changing the initial sound of a name (as well as sometimes the final sound).

Robert - Rob, Bob, Dob, Hob, Nob
Rodger - Rodge, Hodge
Richard - Rich, Rick, Dick

Similarly,

Margaret - Marge, Mag, Meg, Peg

It’s not that hard. This one is based on another way of creating diminutives - with the suffix “-kin.”

John - Johnkin - Jenkin - Jankin - Jackin - Jack

“Hank” also is a diminutive of John through a similar process - although today we think of “Hank” more as a diminutive of “Henry,” which is through another route of diminutivization.

this is the info that i received a few years back. do not quote me. peggy is celtic for margaret. thats the explanation i give when asked. voila. maybe.
pgleg

Well, it’s wrong. “Peggy” is not “Celtic” for “Margaret.” It’s English. Did you read what I said right above your reply?

“Celtic” is not the name of a language.

Also relevant: What came first, Dick or “dick”? - The Straight Dope