Nicknamey Names

In previous eras, girls' names ending in -ie were not unusual. Currently, and throughout the second half of the 20th century, it was more common to give a long form of a name, and then call a child by a pet form (i.e., Katherine -> Katie, Elizabeth -> Lizzie etc.). In fact, this was such a norm that people invented or coined long forms of names to use for nicknamey names, like Brandisha, Brandalina -> Brandy; Lexington, Lexianna -> Lexi. In the 1880s-1920s, however, there were a lot of names in use that sounded like they should be short for something, but that was the whole name! A lot of these sound strange by today's standards (Leafie? Brownie?... Assie?!?). I also included some -lee names. We think of adding -lee or -leigh to a name today as being fashionable (i.e., Riverlee, Wrenlee, Jayleigh, Zaeleigh etc.) This was also a thing back in the early 20th century! (note Paralee, Opalee, Rubylee etc.)

 Here is a list of all the -ie (and sometimes -ee or -ey) names I found from 1880-1926 that were not also found in 2024.

Nicknamey names are still found today, though! Here is a list of -ie names from 1880-1930 that were also on the 2024 list: