Rhoda

Derived from the ancient Greek noun for rose. It entered English use by way of the New Testament and took hold among seventeenth-century Puritans who favored concise biblical names. In the United States, it maintained a steady presence from the late nineteenth century onward without ever threatening to crowd the school rosters.

A Rhoda reads as someone who speaks in complete sentences and does not wait for laughter before delivering the next line. The name carries the dry cadence of a midcentury municipal office and the dust of the 1920s ledger. Bearers are pictured wearing trench coats and possessing an intolerance for small talk in grocery lines. It is an unvarnished name for someone who knows where the utility shutoff valve is located.