Jody

Where Jody comes from

Variant of Judy, diminutive of Judith, q.v.
— Wiktionary's entry for Jody
  • Hebrew
  • French
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1919
    First appearance
    #4,814 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1950
    Jody Scheckter born
    South African racecar driver
  3. 1950
    Jody Williams born
    American teacher and aid worker
  4. 1970
    Peak, #153
    2,200 babies named Jody — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1979
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #251.
  6. 1994
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Hebrew.
  • A female given name from French.
  • A male given name from French.
Namesakes
  • Jody Williams · American teacher and aid worker, born 1950
  • Jody Scheckter · South African racecar driver, born 1950
  • Jody Lukoki · Dutch footballer, 1992–2022
  • Jody Watley · American singer, born 1959
  • Jody Craddock · English footballer, born 1975

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.