Amanda

The name stems from the Latin gerundive amanda, translating roughly to deserving of love. English dramatists introduced it to theatrical scripts in the late seventeenth century for stage heroines. American birth records noted it in modest numbers throughout the nineteenth century. Radio ballads and mid-century television later propelled it into widespread national use.

Hearing the name today recalls a 1993 classroom where two desks answered at once. The name belongs almost entirely to women who remember dial-up modems and book fair catalogs. With an average age of thirty-nine, an Amanda tends to possess formidable calendar discipline. The name reads as someone who splits a group dinner check to the cent without ceremony.