Amanda is a Latin feminine gerundive (i.e. verbal adjective) name meaning, literally, "she who must (or is fit to) be loved". It is common in countries where Germanic and Romance languages are spoken. Other translations, with similar meaning, could be "deserving to be loved," "worthy of love," or "loved very much by everyone." Its diminutive form includes among others Mandy and Manda. Amy is also an English diminutive of Amanda as well as other (unrelated) given names. "Amanda" comes from ama- (the stem of the Latin verb amare, "to love") plus the feminine nominative singular gerundive ending (-nda). Other names, especially female names, were derived from this verb form, such as "Miranda". The name "Amanda" occasionally appears in Late Antiquity, such as the Amanda who was the "wife of the ex-advocate and ex-provincial governor Aper (q.v.); she cared for his estates and raised their children after he adopted the monastic life: 'curat illa saeculi curas, ne tu cures'" (Paul. Nol. Epist. 44.4). In England the name "Amanda" first appears in 1212 on a birth record from Warwickshire, England, and five centuries later the name was popularized by poets and playwrights. In the United States, "Amanda" slowly became more prominent from the 1930s to the 1960s, ranking among the top 200 baby names. 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 four. At its prime,...