Amanda (given name)

Amanda
Pronunciation /əˈmændə/ ə-MAN-də
Gender Female
Language(s) Latin
Origin
Meaning "She who must be loved", "worthy of love"
Other names
See also Amandine, Amy, Mandy, Miranda
Look up Amanda in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Amanda is a Latin female gerundive name meaning "having to be loved", "deserving to be loved" or simply "worthy of love".[1]

The name "Amanda" first appeared in 1212 on a birth record from Warwickshire, England, and five centuries later the name was popularized by poets and playwrights.[2] In the United States, "Amanda" slowly became more prominent from the 1930s to the 1960s, ranking among the top 200 baby names.[2]

From 1976 to 1995, "Amanda" ranked in the ten most popular female baby names in the United States. The name was most popular from 1978 to 1992, when it ranked in the top 4. At its prime, in 1980, it was the second most popular. In 2009, "Amanda" ranked number 166. It was ranked among the top ten names given to girls born in Puerto Rico in 2009. The name is also currently popular in Sweden, where it ranked twentieth for girls born in 2009, down five places from 2008. It is also popular in Swedish-speaking families in Finland, where it ranked among the top ten names for girls born to ethnic Swedes.

People

Notable people named Amanda include:

Fictional characters

See also

Footnotes

  1. Frank Nuessel (1992). The Study of Names: A Guide to the Principles and Topics. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. p. 10. Retrieved 11 September 2013.   via Questia (subscription required)
  2. 2.0 2.1 Think Baby Names "Origin and meaning of Amanda"