Oh, the 80s. Popped collars, the generous pleats of Z. Cavaricci pants, the argyle for days, and the many peppy, preppy girls who happily answered to Jennifer, Jessica…or Muffy. Back in those days, whether you were a Margaret, a Mary or something totally unrelated, some parents bestowed this nickname on their girls—perhaps as wishful thinking that they’d grow up to be sweet, stylish and gracious, or at least eligible to be married to a Rockefeller.
But the nickname that’s popping up from Brooklyn to Brentwood these days sings a bit of a different tune.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Birdie has landed. Like Scout before—and no doubt around—her, it’s just feminine enough to be an obvious girl’s name, but has a definite air of pluck, of irreverence, of a girl who marches to her own drummer and has plans to fly high. (Really, the avian references just write themselves.)
In a few cases, it’s a child’s legal name—take actresses Busy Phillips’ and soap-star Maura West, who both chose Birdie for their school-age daughters. Author and former book editor Bridie Clark just misses the mark with those transposed letters, but comes awfully close. (Besides, her YA novel You Only Live Once is set a NH prep school; The Overnight Socialite is a “modern retelling of My Fair Lady and Pygmalion.”)
But in many more cases it’s just a nickname. Just look at HGTV design star Emily Henderson—whose accessibly-chic, Scandi-mid-century-modern-Etsy-flea-market style (seen below) is as hot as all that’s hygge—refers to her towheaded daughter, Elliott, by the nickname Birdie. Actress Evelyn Byrd Bell (currently on the hilarious comedy Odd Mom Out) is entirely known as Byrdie—although the origin of her name stems from her lineage as a descendant of Richmond, Virginia founder Colonel William Byrd III.
Like the tunes of Fiona Apple or Bon Iver? You’ll love the warbling of British musician Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth Jennifer van den Bogaerde—known to fans, friends, and family as Birdy. There’s even a sweet series of illustrated children’s books about a miniature (but plucky!) fashionista named Birdie: Birdie’s Big Girl Shoes, Birdie’s Big Girl Hair.
And Birdie is actually one of many nicknames for Elizabeth, hence Mad Men’s Betty Draper, whom Don Draper sometimes affectionately calls Birdie. (A mystery: was it their marriage or the era as her cage?)
At my daughter’s Brooklyn private school, there’s a Beatrice who goes almost exclusively by Birdie, and I know of at least four Facebook friends who are known to append -bird to their daughter’s names in their postings. i.e. “Sweet Lila-bird starting second grade!” And can it be pure coincidence that the beauty site from the Who What Wear designers is called Byrdie.com?
“So, what is it about Birdie,” I ask Pamela Redmond Satran, the name guru behind not only the book Beyond Jennifer & Jason, but also the site Nameberry.com. “Birdie feels like a sassy but sweet, down-to-earth yet unusual name,” says Satran. “It’s also just old enough to be right on time,” she notes.
Here’s why: Birdie's re-ascendance follows the 100 Year or 4 Generation Rule—many baby names need 100 years to come back into style, says Satran, and we like the names our great-grandmothers had more than our mothers' or our grandmothers' names. Think Hattie, Millie, Sadie, as well as Beatrice, Bertha, Roberta—all on their way back. Birdie is a natural nickname to take any remaining mustiness down a notch.
In fact, in 1930 there were 173 baby girls named Birdie, says Satran. And further back, in 1895, when nickname-names ending in -ie were hugely fashionable, there were 184! (This says nothing of how many girls had the nickname, of course.)
Birdie was at its height around the turn of the 20th century and was used less and less until around 1950, when it disappeared. By 2000, there were only 7 babies named Birdie. But in 2015, the most recent year counted, there were 63. “Birdie is definitely back!”
But there’s more. There’s also a flick towards earthiness with this name, says Satran. “Birdie also is part of the trend toward nature names and animal names—there's even a specific trend toward actual bird names, with Wren and Lark rising for girls, and Robin being reclaimed for boys.” In fact Birdie slipped onto the coveted list of 100 Best Baby Names for 2017.
By the way, I feel like I have special license to anoint Birdie as the heir to the Muffy throne, despite my decidedly non-preppy roots. I’m a parent in Park Slope, Brooklyn—ground zero for trendy names, you might say—with a preschooler named Phoebe.
At home, we call her Birdie.
Of course, I’m also a bit of a literalist, and so I’ll just point out two things. A phoebe is a kind of bird, and my little girl also happened to arrive 8 weeks before her due date, making her a true early bird. Oh, and when researching the name online before she was born, I read this, about the Sayronis, a.k.a. the Phoebe-bird: “A bold little genus …with a lot of personality.”
