Jodie

Derived as a diminutive of Judith (Hebrew for 'woman of Judea') or Joan, with occasional crossover from the masculine Jody via Joseph. American parents began registering it independently in the late nineteenth century. It gained independent momentum alongside midcentury trends toward casual, affectionate forms on legal birth certificates.

The name lands squarely in the station-wagon era of the 1970s. It suggests a childhood spent riding unbelted in the rear-facing third row of an estate wagon. It carries the easygoing, direct quality of a name meant to be shouted across a playground at dusk. Today, it reads as a capable Gen Xer who knows how to change a tire without consulting a video tutorial.