Buffy (given name)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Anissa Jones as Buffy and Johnny Whitaker as Jody, circa 1967, starred in the television series Family Affair. | |
| Gender | Female |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Origin | |
| Meaning | Pet form of Elizabeth |
Buffy or Buffie is a pet form of the female given name Elizabeth that is also in use as an independent name. It originated from a small child's lisping attempts to pronounce Elizabeth[1] or the diminutive Bethie.
The name ranked among the top 1,000 names for newborn American girls between 1967 and 1977.[2][3][4] The popularity of the name coincided with the 1966 to 1971 air dates of the American television series Family Affair, in which child actress Anissa Jones played a character named Ava Elizabeth “Buffy” Patterson-Davis.[5]
The name later became associated with the character Buffy Summers on the 1990s American television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The name was considered representative of the Valley girl stereotype, comical and lacking seriousness, which was one of the reasons the “girly, diminutive” name was chosen as the name for the title character of the series. During the 1980s, Buffy was also a stereotypical name for someone who is wealthy and snobbish.[6][7]
The name is still in occasional use for girls in the 2020s.[4]
