Meaning: Its source is amanda, amandus, a Latin name meaning "One that must be loved, lovable."

Nickname For: Amanda and Miranda

Alternative Spellings: Mandee and Mandie

Popularity: The name Mandy ranked 475th in popularity for females of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.

This name is highly rated in the 1990 U.S. Census popularity survey of all ages, but after 1960 does not appear in the state data listing the most popular baby names.

Narrative: The Latin male name Amandus, shared by a number of early Christian saints, may or may not be related to the modern girl's name Amanda.

Amanda first appears on an isolated 1212 birth record from Warwickshire, England. The name came into common use, however, only after its appearance in the works of 17th-century playwrights Colley Cibber and John Vanbrugh.

Some authorities feel the dramatists created Amanda as a feminine version of Amandus. Others believe they were simply reworking Shakespeare's 16th-century theatrical invention Miranda, and were not aware of either the ancient male name or the mysterious 13th-century girl.