Comments (Meaning / History Only)
A coworker who studied Latin said it means “MUST be loved,” but every book or name website out there says “worthy of love.” Either way, great meaning!
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The name "Amanda" in my native or local dialect means "WILL NEVER FAIL" and when it's been written in full, we have "CHIMAMANDA" meaning "MY GOD WILL NEVER FAIL". That is to say that AMANDA is the short pronunciation for CHIMAMANDA and is usually used by those who don't want to call the person bearing CHIMAMANDA her full name.
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Gift from god makes sense.. Amanda is also a dialect of language.. Batu afi Amanda... Language is a gift from god.
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Name -Amanda ■ Origin - Sanskrit, Indian, Hindi ■ Meaning - active, not slow
Native script - अमन्दा.
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Native script - अमन्दा.
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Unfortunately, Amanda is not in the Bible and literally means "should or must be loved".
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My name is Amanda and in the bible another word for love is god, so worthy of love means worthy of god, and if something is worthy of god it can be translated as a gift from god.
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"Amanda " is Latin, a gerundive in the passive, meaning literally,"she that is requiring to be loved".
I have no problem with that.
I have never come across the idea of a "man" in my name - but would like to think that since it is enclosed within a feminine, it denotes a strong inner core, and all the best of male attributes I could have, whilst still being quite positively female.
What's so wrong with that? How 21stC can you get? Mind you, I have been accused of having a male sense of humour...
I was named after my grandmother who was named Love. It was an old family name originally from a 17thC surname which in turn came from an old word "Luff". Luff ( I am using the phonetic) was an old word for wolf. So there you go, I am actually named after a wolverine, now you must excuse me, it is a full moon tonight and for some reason my skin is prickling and my, how my nails have grown, and those eyebrows...
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I have no problem with that.
I have never come across the idea of a "man" in my name - but would like to think that since it is enclosed within a feminine, it denotes a strong inner core, and all the best of male attributes I could have, whilst still being quite positively female.
What's so wrong with that? How 21stC can you get? Mind you, I have been accused of having a male sense of humour...
I was named after my grandmother who was named Love. It was an old family name originally from a 17thC surname which in turn came from an old word "Luff". Luff ( I am using the phonetic) was an old word for wolf. So there you go, I am actually named after a wolverine, now you must excuse me, it is a full moon tonight and for some reason my skin is prickling and my, how my nails have grown, and those eyebrows...
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I think the problem here is that people are confusing the gerund (a noun) with the present participle (a verbal adjective), as the two forms (originally indicated by -ing and -end suffixes respectively) have coalesced in English. Amanda is not an adjectival "being loved", "loving" or "must be loved", but the act of loving or being loved.
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The Latin translation of Amanda is "being loved" or "requiring to be loved".
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"Amanda" is a subjective command in Latin from verb, "amar", "to love" that means "one that should be loved". While it is a command in Latin, it is in the subjective case meaning that "Amanda" is more of a suggestion that a mandate.
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Even though Behind the Name says the name was not used in the Middle Ages, I have seen it on a history site which is taken directly from contemporary birth records of the 1200s.
So it must have been used at least ONCE in the Middle Ages.
It was most likely taken as a female form of the saint's name Amandus, and may have had religious connotations in medieval times.
For a name that is often considered pretty but commonplace, it has an interesting and apparently controversial history.
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So it must have been used at least ONCE in the Middle Ages.
It was most likely taken as a female form of the saint's name Amandus, and may have had religious connotations in medieval times.
For a name that is often considered pretty but commonplace, it has an interesting and apparently controversial history.
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I have to say that I remain a bit skeptical about the idea that Amanda was in use in medieval England. The entire case for that seems to be one reference in a book by P.H. Reaney to "Amanda filius Johanis" (Amanda daughter of John in Latin) found in a 1221 document in Warwickshire.
In doing my own research on names using American census data from ancestry.com, I have found a great many instances where the index of names on ancestry.com claims that a "modern" name existed in a 19th century census, but when I look at the photocopy of the actual census record (also available on ancestry.com), it clearly seems to me that the census taker's handwriting was misread. It is really easy for a modern person looking at bad handwriting from over a century ago to jump to the conclusion that a particular hard-to-decipher name is something they are familiar with. For example, the ancestry.com index claims there was a person named "Colleen Streng" who was the head of a family in Crown Point, New York, in 1820, but when I look at the photocopy of the actual record I think that person was more likely named "Colburn Strong."
There also are cases where the original census taker wrote down a name that didn't exist because they misheard what they were told. For instance, I know of a case where the census taker wrote down "Mars" as a boy's first name when the actual name was "Morris" -- but in the family's accent that sounded close to "Mars."
When these mistakes occur so often in reading American records from only a century ago, it seems likely to me such mistakes also occur when people are trying to read medieval English records.
So with there only being the one instance of a supposed Amanda back in medieval times, I think there is at least a 50/50 chance that Reaney misread the handwriting, or that the original record was miswritten. I would at least like to see confirmation from other researchers who have looked at the original record (or a photocopy of it) that it indeed does look like "Amanda" before accepting that as good evidence for the actual existence of the name in 1221.
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In doing my own research on names using American census data from ancestry.com, I have found a great many instances where the index of names on ancestry.com claims that a "modern" name existed in a 19th century census, but when I look at the photocopy of the actual census record (also available on ancestry.com), it clearly seems to me that the census taker's handwriting was misread. It is really easy for a modern person looking at bad handwriting from over a century ago to jump to the conclusion that a particular hard-to-decipher name is something they are familiar with. For example, the ancestry.com index claims there was a person named "Colleen Streng" who was the head of a family in Crown Point, New York, in 1820, but when I look at the photocopy of the actual record I think that person was more likely named "Colburn Strong."
There also are cases where the original census taker wrote down a name that didn't exist because they misheard what they were told. For instance, I know of a case where the census taker wrote down "Mars" as a boy's first name when the actual name was "Morris" -- but in the family's accent that sounded close to "Mars."
When these mistakes occur so often in reading American records from only a century ago, it seems likely to me such mistakes also occur when people are trying to read medieval English records.
So with there only being the one instance of a supposed Amanda back in medieval times, I think there is at least a 50/50 chance that Reaney misread the handwriting, or that the original record was miswritten. I would at least like to see confirmation from other researchers who have looked at the original record (or a photocopy of it) that it indeed does look like "Amanda" before accepting that as good evidence for the actual existence of the name in 1221.
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The name Amanda is a gerundive form of the Latin "amare" ("to love"). The name is translated as "must be loved".
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Italian poet Guido Cavalcanti (1255-1300) speaks of a woman from Toulouse aptly named Amanda in his 30th composition, "Era in penser d'amor quand'i'trovai". His sonnet n° 29 is also centered on a "woman of Toulouse", but her name is not revealed.
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As far as I know, it means "worthy of love."
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I had always heard that it meant "worthy of love."
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Amanda does not mean lovable. It means "she must be loved" in Latin. From the verb amare, to love, and in the feminine gerundive form.
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That's extremely nitpicky, don't you think? In Latin it means 'to be loved', hence 'loveable.' I think 'she must be loved' is almost the same as 'loveable,' don't you?
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Actually, while in English it may seem extremely nitpicky, Latin does not 'waste' verb forms (unlike English). 'She must be loved' is gerundive/future passive participle, indicating that the noun needs or deserves love. The gerundive therefore is supposed to indicate that something must be done. 'Loveable', on the other hand, does nor carry the same connotation, since it is an adjective. It indicates that the noun is able to love, that it is possible to love, but it does not indicate that it is a dire action that must be done.
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I have been told through biblical scholars that in Hebrew/Aramaic the name AMANDA means "Gift from God."
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Comments are left by users of this website. They are not checked for accuracy.
Yes, there is a correlation between the name popularity of Amanda and cultural references in the latter 20th century. Here are a few examples:
Movies:
The 1980 film Fame featured a popular character named Amanda Jones, played by Irene Cara.
The 1987 film Dirty Dancing featured a popular character named Amanda Keller, played by Jennifer Grey.
The 1989 film Say Anything... featured a popular character named Amanda Beckett, played by Ione Skye.
Television:
The 1980s sitcom Family Ties featured a popular character named Mallory Keaton, whose nickname was "Amanda."
The 1980s soap opera Dynasty featured a popular character named Amanda Carrington, played by Catherine Oxenberg.
The 1990s sitcom Melrose Place featured a popular character named Amanda Woodward, played by Heather Locklear.
Music:
The 1980 song "Amanda" by the band Boston was a huge hit.
In addition to these specific examples, the name Amanda was also popularized by a number of other cultural trends in the late 20th century. For example, the name Amanda was often associated with wealth, beauty, and success. This was due in part to the popularity of the characters mentioned above, as well as other famous Amandas such as Princess Diana and Amanda Bynes.
It is also worth noting that the name Amanda was relatively uncommon in the early 20th century. However, it began to gain popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, and reached its peak in the 1980s and 1990s. This suggests that the cultural references mentioned above played a significant role in the popularity of the name Amanda.
Of course, there are other factors that may have contributed to the popularity of the name Amanda, such as its pleasant sound and its positive meaning. However, it is clear that the cultural references played a significant role in making the name Amanda so popular in the latter 20th century.
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The only bit it got wrong was "Princess Diana". After I pointed that out, it apologized and corrected itself :)