Amanda
Amanda was the 493rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 601 babies. Its best year was 1980, when it ranked 2nd; the most babies were born in 1987 (41,786). Over the last ten years it has moved down 180 places. More babies were named Amanda in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Meaning worthy to be loved · Latin
Say it uh-MAN-duh /əˈmændə/
- Rank in 2025
- #493 girls, down 49 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 601girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 198741,786 babies
- Total since 1880
- 792,774babies recorded
What does the name Amanda mean?
Amanda is Latin for "(she) who is to be loved", the feminine gerundive of amare, "to love". DMNES glosses it "meant to be loved" and notes that Withycombe was wrong to call it a 17th-century invention, since related forms such as Amandine appear earlier; Wiktionary links it to the saint's name Amandus. It came into regular English use through 17th- and 18th-century literature.
amanda (Latin, “to be loved”)amāre (Latin, “to love”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Mandy, Amandine, Manda.
See also: Latin names, names that mean love.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Amanda', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (ed. S. L. Uckelman), Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Amanda', DMNES, Durham University
- Dictionary.com Unabridged (based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary), with Collins English Dictionary, s.v. 'Amanda', Dictionary.com / Random House / HarperCollins
Nicknames for Amanda
The usual nicknames for Amanda are Mandy and Manda. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Amanda in the last five years, 6 were named Mandy, against 5 twenty years earlier.
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Amandas go by each one.
Amanda popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 2,136 since 1899.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #493 | 601 |
| 2020 | #444 | 695 |
| 2010 | #188 | 1,664 |
| 2000 | #32 | 8,558 |
| 1990 | #4 | 34,413 |
| 1980 | #2 | 35,811 |
| 1970 | #108 | 3,545 |
| 1960 | #296 | 978 |
| 1950 | #410 | 380 |
| 1940 | #453 | 218 |
| 1930 | #478 | 196 |
| 1920 | #335 | 379 |
| 1910 | #229 | 278 |
| 1900 | #154 | 377 |
| 1890 | #104 | 392 |
| 1880 | #89 | 241 |
How popular is Amanda, counting every spelling?
Amanda has no other common spelling that sounds the same. Counting every name's spellings together, it ranks #507 for girls in 2025, against #493 on the official list, because Jazlyn/Jazlynn/Jazzlyn and Arlette/Arlet/Arlett and Kaylin/Kaylynn/Kailyn move ahead once their spellings are combined.
How many kids will share the name Amanda?
601 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Amanda (0.17 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Amanda born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 14 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Amanda.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Amanda?
About 744,400 people born in the US named Amanda are alive today, with a median age of 40; half are between 34 and 45. That makes Amanda mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Amanda by state
How common Amanda was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Pennsylvania (2.4×), Florida (1.9×), Ohio (1.6×), Indiana (1.6×), Kentucky (1.5×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Louisiana, South Carolina, Connecticut.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Amanda: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Amanda, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Amanda · Sibling names for Amanda
Questions about the name Amanda
What does Amanda mean?
Amanda means “worthy to be loved” (Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Amanda?
Amanda was the 493rd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 601 babies. Its best year was 1980, when it ranked 2nd; the most babies were born in 1987 (41,786). Over the last ten years it has moved down 180 places. More babies were named Amanda in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Is Amanda a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Amanda in the US.
Where is Amanda most popular?
In 2021–2025, Amanda was most common in Pennsylvania (0.95 per 1,000 girls), followed by Florida and Ohio.