There's a little bling bling for ya.
From wikipedia:
"Amanda is a Latin female gerundive name meaning "having to be loved," "deserving to be loved," or, simply, "worthy of love."
The name "Amanda" first appeared in 1212 on a birth record from Warwickshire, England, and five centuries later the name was popularized by poets and playwrights.[1]
In the United States, "Amanda" slowly became more prominent from the 1930s to the 1960s, ranking among the top 200 baby names.[1] It jumped into the top 10 in the mid-1970s, likely because of Barry Manilow's 1974 No. 1 hit song "Mandy," a nickname for Amanda.[citation needed]
From 1976 to 1995, "Amanda" ranked in the ten most popular female baby names in the United States. The name was most popular from 1978 to 1992, when it ranked in the top 4. At its prime, in 1980, it was the second most popular. In 2009, "Amanda" ranked number 166. It was still ranked among the top ten names given to girls born in Puerto Rico in 2009. The name is also currently popular in Sweden, where it ranked twentieth for girls born in 2009, down five places from 2008, when it was ranked fifteenth. It is also popular in Swedish-speaking families in Finland, where it ranked among the top ten names for girls born to ethnic Swedes."
I was actually named after my great grandmother, my mom's dad's mother, a woman that was, like me, tough. She was also tiny at only 4'10", and slender throughout her entire life. I lovingly blame the fact that I am shorter than all the other women on my family on her. She was a lovely woman who passed away on Christmas Day of 1998, and because I happened to actually be visiting my grandparents in Missouri at the time, I was actually able to attend her funeral and say my goodbyes to her. It was my first funeral and the only open casket funeral that I've ever attended.
Growing up there was always at least one other girl in my class with the same name as me, but I never minded because I knew I was a legitimate Amanda, because my name had been given to me with reason and love, not just picked out of a book of baby names. In retrospect this was kind of a bratty attitude to have but I suppose I needed some way to feel special.
My family has always called me Mandy, but no one else does. In fact, I feel weird hearing that nickname from anyone but family and strongly dislike it when other people try to call me that. I've felt this way since I was a little kid. I remember coming home from Girl Scout summer camp where my mother had cheerfully labeled all of my stuff "Mandy" instead of "Amanda" and telling her that I didn't want to be called Mandy by anyone but family. I think I was seven or eight. So to this day that's what they all call me, which is fine, just like my boyfriend calls me by his name for me and I call him by my name for him, but ultimately when I think of myself, I identify as "Amanda."
There are tons of famous Amandas out there, but because I'm a big old dork, my favorites are the one from Highlander, Amanda Tapping from Stargate and Sanctuary, and Amanda Palmer, the brilliant lead singer of the Dresden Dolls who also happens to be married to the equally brilliant Neil Gaiman.
Last, but not least, we have this song by Boston, but I will warn you that at this point I've had it sung to me so many times that it sadly no longer takes me by surprise and makes me realize...
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