Cassidy

The name came galloping in on a horse it didn't own. Cassidy is an Irish surname, from O Caiside, tracing back to a meaning of "curly-haired" — a physical attribute turned into a family identity, turned into a given name through the particular alchemy of American naming culture. The 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid gave it one kind of swagger; David Cassidy of The Partridge Family gave it another, softer one. Between those two Cassidys, the name found an enormous audience.

Originally drifting between genders, Cassidy shifted firmly into girl territory through the 1980s and 1990s as surname-names became a mainstream feminine style. It has been a fixture ever since, currently resting at rank 476, having moved through its peak years with enough momentum to keep it comfortably on American charts without feeling like a relic of any particular decade.

Three syllables have a snap to them — CASS-ih-dee — the hard opening consonant giving way to a bright, rolling finish. It pairs well beside Romina or Clementine, names that share its three-beat confidence, or beside the shorter Adhara for contrast. The girl named Cassidy tends to fill a room not by being loud but by being certain, the one who organizes the group project because she already knows how it ends, who is generous with her time and precise with her words, curly hair optional.