Amy

Three letters, one soft landing. Amy comes from the Old French Amée, itself from the Latin amata — beloved, loved one — and it has been pronounced like a small confession ever since. Louisa May Alcott gave the name its literary shading in Little Women; the 1970s and 80s sent it surging, placing it in the American top three for much of that stretch. Amy Winehouse gave it smoke and gravel; Amy Poehler gave it wit. The name has quieted in recent decades but never vanished, holding firm inside the top 250. A classic in cursive — unfussy, warm, undeniably affectionate.