Randy

Where Randy comes from

The dictionaries list Randy as a given name — a diminutive of the male given names Randall and Randolph, used as a male given name in the US — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1915
    First appearance
    #3,392 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1925
    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.
  3. 1948
    Randy Schekman born
    Nobel prize winning American cell biologist
  4. 1956
    Peak, #28
    16,547 babies named Randy — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1960
    Randy Pausch born
    American professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design
  6. 1966
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #45.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the male given names Randall and Randolph, used as a male given name in the US.
  • A diminutive of the female given name Miranda.
Namesakes
  • Randy Schekman · Nobel prize winning American cell biologist, born 1948
  • Randy Pausch · American professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design, 1960–2008
  • Randy Quaid · American actor, born 1950
  • Randy Couture · American mixed martial artist, born 1963
  • Randy Travis · American country singer, born 1959

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.