It started, as so many good things do, on the nameberry message boards: I love the name Maggie, the poster wrote, but notsomuch Margaret.  What are some more original baby names that will get me to Maggie?

And just like that, the creative nameberry community jumped in: How about Magnolia?, someone suggested.  Or Marguerite. Magda, or Magdalena.  Margo, Margot, or Margaux.

Then the suggestions got even more inventive.  Magenta.  Magalin or Magaly.

Which gave us an idea, not for yet another way to get to Maggie, but for a new way to create a nameberry blog.  What if we pose a challenge — Inventive ways to get to a popular nickname, say — and then turn the solutions over to the nameberry community?

Here’s how it will work.  Cite the popular nickname you’re starting with: Annie, say, or Jack.  Then, with a nod to the usual ways to get there — Anne and John — move on to the most comprehensive and inventive list of proper names  you can think of that might theoretically lead you to your nickname of choice.  You’re allowed to build on somebody else’s list of original baby names, but we encourage you to start your own.

And while of course you can do more than one, try and leave some good popular nicknames for the other players.  The more people who join in, the more interesting this will be.

Ready, set, blog!