| Comment | Peggy was widely popular in, say, the 1940s or 1950s, so women with that name are still living, though they were probably baptized Margaret. It's not a name that has come back yet as far as I know; Margaret is more or less classic, but the only nickname now might be Meg.
Kitty was less widespread, but known from actresses like Kitty Carlisle, or that woman who wrote the gossipy biography of Sinatra. I don't think most English speakers would think of cats at all, only maybe of Katherine.
Lucy may be relatively classic in BE, but not very widespread in AE, partly because of the association with the bossy character Lucy in the Peanuts comic strip or the brash Lucille Ball, and partly because it sounds like 'loose-y' and could be a source of teasing among children. But it could be on the comeback among, for example, fans of the Narnia books.
>>dass Mädchennamen auf -i (-y, -ie) als niedlich wahrgenommen werden und ... die vielen jetzt erwachsenen Frauen ... nicht ernstgenommen werden
I think that's also true of boy's nicknames from the 50's and 60's, like Bobby, Billy, Teddy, Kenny ... The short forms (Bob, Bill, Ted, Ken) sound more grownup and thus probably more competent. Men who kept the boyish forms ending in -y may be in a less 'serious' career like sports or entertainment.
Penny isn't as popular as it was a few decades ago, but it isn't always short for Penelope, at least in the US where that name isn't at all common.
Lily isn't short for anything at all in English; it's a flower, like Rose (a classic) or Iris (more dated). But it's also not that common in the US.
Fanny hasn't been in use since the 18th or early 19th century, I would say, because the other meanings of that word now predominate.
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