The baby name Amanda topped the popularity charts during the 1980s. But should it truly be considered a timeless classic?
Thanks to Ella for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE NAME AMANDA MEAN?
Back in the 400s, the future Saint Amandus served as Bishop of Bordeaux.
Amandus comes from the Latin “to be loved.” Amanda would be the feminine form, but there’s no record of it being used as a feminine name at that point.
There’s another Saint Amandus from France in the 600s, but again – no girls.
AMABEL, AMICE, AND MORE
There’s an oft-repeated claim that Amanda first appears in the early 1200s in Warwickshire, England. This seems to come from researcher P.H. Reaney. I can’t find the original record, but it seems plausible.
Am- names had a good run, from Amabel, the forerunner of Annabelle and Mabel, to Amice, Amy, Amelot, Amance, and more.
The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources lists many of these names, including Amanda.
LITERARY AMANDA
By the 1600s, the Latin word inspired the use of Amanda anew.
Playwright Colley Cibber used it for a character in his 1696 “Love’s Last Shift.” His Amanda is virtuous and clever, too. She retains those traits in the sequel, written later that year.
AMANDA IN THE 20TH CENTURY
Fast-forward to the nineteenth century, and Amanda was established. By the late 1800s, the name appeared in the US Top 100.
The baby name Amanda faded in the first half of the twentieth century, though it didn’t disappear:
- Noel Coward’s heroine in his 1930 Private Lives answered to the name.
- It was the name of Tennessee Williams’ troubled, match-making mama in 1944’s The Glass Menagerie.
- American actress Jane Russell wore the name in 1955 movie Foxfire
- Also in 1955, Amanda Blake – born Beverly Louise Neil – first appeared as the legendary Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke.
The one-two punch in 1955 would put the name on parents’ radar once more. But we’ll get back to that in a minute.
MANDY
The name was already a success in 1974, when singer-songwriter Barry Manilow recorded “Mandy” and took it to #1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart.
Fun fact: “Mandy” was originally titled Brandy. Only another song titled Brandy had recently topped the charts.
The name’s rise accelerated even more.
1980s FAVORITE
The given name Amanda became a Reagan era staple, tied up with some truly iconic figures from the 1980s into the 1990s, including:
- While Amanda Grayson had been introduced as Spock’s mother on the original Star Trek series, the character was developed and expanded as the story continued across many years.
- We met Dynasty’s Amanda Carrington in 1984.
- Boston’s chart-topping 1986 single by the name.
- Introduced in 1986, DC Comics gave us an American government official named Amanda Waller.
- In 1987, Leah Thompson played Amanda Jones in the John Hughes flick Some Kind of Wonderful.
- Melrose Place was a 1990s staple, but it featured 80s television favorite Heather Locklear as legendary advertising exec Amanda Woodward.
Actresses, athletes, and more famous people answer to the name, including:
- Amanda Seyfried, Amanda Peet, and Amanda Bynes
- Mandy Moore – yes, her first name is also Amanda
- Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Amanda Beard
- Poet Amanda Gorman
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME AMANDA?
The given name Amanda has ranked in the United States Top 1000 every single year since data was first reported in 1880.
The name ranked in the US Top 100 during the 1880s and 90s, before settling into relatively uncommon status for most of the early twentieth century.
It didn’t rise in use again until midcentury. By 1966, the name returned to the US Top 200. In 1971, it reached the Top 100. And from 1976 through 1995, the baby name Amanda reigned as a Top Ten favorite.
The name has been falling since the 90s. As of 2023, Amanda comes in at a relatively uncommon #484.
Related names include:
- NicknameMandy, which left the US Top 1000 after 2005.
- Spellings Mandie and Mandi appeared in the rankings at peak Amanda during the 1990s, too.
- From 1900 through 1910, Manda occasionally appeared on the fringes of the girls’ Top 1000.
TIMELESS CHOICE
All of this puts Amanda squarely in mom name territory right about now. It was so very popular back then that it’s not on parents’ radar today.
Except.
Take that great meaning, romantic sound, and centuries of use, and isn’t the baby name Amanda properly considered a timeless choice?
It’s an alterantive to chart-topping Amelia or Olivia, fresher than Annabelle or even Andrea. For a name everyone will recognize, but no child will share, the baby name Amanda has plenty of potential.
What do you think of the baby name Amanda?
First published on August 14, 2014, this post was revised on March 11, 2025.
I’ve been obsessing over Jennifer nn:
Neve
Finn
Ferry
Jeff
Effie
Ennie
Josie
Any takers?
Amanda can also be Annie, Anya, Addie, or even Edie for short.
(Spell it backwards, its Adnama, Adna becomes Edna which becomes Edie)
Is it a stretch? Sure. But its not unthinkable
Amanda is a special name to me as it was the name of my late niece who died young.
My sister is Amanda, called Mandy. Born in 1975. Named for Amanda Blake that played Miss Kitty on Gunsmoke. I love the name very much, it is one of my confirmation names and a top baby name contender!
My young sister is an Amanda. Born in 1986. So Top 3. My name has never been in the Top Thousand.
I like it a lot actually. I think of all the ’80s names, it’s one of the good ones. I was bitter as a kid though that either hers needed to be Artemesia, or mine needed to be Jennifer, but this was terribly, terribly unfair.
I really like Amanda, but I didn’t grow up with any. Although I wasn’t really a fan of it when it was first released, I’ve come to love the song by Boston. 😀 I find it has a little more gravitas than the also-popular Amy, but is still very feminine.
Amanda will be one of those names that comes back into vogue for sure, probably once it’s a granny name. It has the same appeal as many of the granny names that are now in revival, like Charlotte and Emily. I wonder whether Amandine will ever get popular in the US – it had a bit of a boost in France in recent history.
Yes, and John Malkovitch has a daughter named Amandine!
I was Amanda M as well!! I was born right in the middle of the 80’s so I can relate. I have grown to like my name, and I can see how it could wear well in 2014, however, I think it still feels far too popular to the current generation having babies so I don’t see it coming back into more common use for another generation.
I don’t see our name coming back any time soon either. It’s still a better name than those -ayden names or Nevaeh or Addison, or Mackenzie (or any variation of those) or any of the trendy/respelled, or over the top crazy names out there.
My real first name is Amanda (I got my nickname from my middle name Lynn) and I’ve never been a fan of it at all. It was #3 in my birth year 1986, so I always felt it was too common and trendy and I always had at least 1 or 2 other Amanda’s in my class (at one time, there were 4, including me). Every time someone called my name, the other girls would answer too. Confusing. lol The teachers referred to us as Amanda M. (me), Amanda S., Amanda O., and so on, or we used nicknames.
I was born in 1973, so Amanda was just catching on – actually, about to catch fire! Still, there was only one Amanda in my class – I think in my school, actually.
By the 80s, yes – everywhere! And now the photographer we regularly use for family pics is an Amanda – but then again, she’s the only one that comes to mind immediately.
Jessica was the same. I knew one in high school, and I know one my age and have met tons my age, but it wasn’t everywhere until a few more years.
Funny how that works – how a name can be so popular, and yet you don’t know anyone with that name …
I knew a ton of Jessica’s. I lost count of how many. Same with Jennifer, Nicole, Ashley, and Christina/Kristina (and one Krystyna).
Kimberly was popular too, though like you mentioned, it’s funny I didn’t know too many with that name given its popularity, except my maternal grandmother’s late friend’s granddaughter (her half-sister/cousin, one of my closest friends in Elementary school was named Rachel) and maybe a classmate or two here and there. I used to call myself Kimberly when I was like 7 until I was 9 or 10 years old because of the Power Ranger and because I didn’t hear it as much as my own name. lol