Freddie or Freddy: the pet names that changed their ending

Freddie is the tenth most popular boys' name in England and Wales. In 2025 it went to 2,526 boys. Freddy went to 135. That is nineteen Freddies for every Freddy.

In America it is the other way round. In 2017 there were 163 boys called Freddy, 90 called Fredy and 76 called Freddie. But America spelled it Freddie too, once. Freddie was the bigger spelling in every year of the American records until 1989.

Freddie is one of 55 American names that end in an ee sound and have had a real contest over how to spell it. On 17 of them parents dropped the -ie for a -y. Then the girls took up an -i, then an -ee and an -eigh. Now the -ie is coming back.

How we counted

We used the American records of the top 1,000 boys' and girls' names for every year from 1880 to 2008. We put spellings together when the only difference is the ending: -y, -ie, -i, -ey, -ee or -eigh. A doubled letter does not count as a difference, so Terri and Teri go together. Boys and girls are counted separately.

A name is on our list when its second spelling had at least a quarter of it in some year, at a time when the name was given to at least 5 in every 10,000 babies. That gives 55 names, 39 girls' and 16 boys'. We took out pairs that are said differently, like Cassie and Casey or Cherry and Cherie. We count -ey with -y and -eigh with -ee, because they do the same job. And a spelling only takes the lead when it stays in front for five years running.

Kathy and Cathy are not one name here, and neither are Kristy and Christy. The difference there is the first letter, not the ending.

The -ie came first

Sixteen of the 55 names were already in the records in 1880. Fourteen of them led with the -ie. Jennie went to 81.2 girls in every 10,000 that year and Jenny to 1.3. Sallie was on 41.4 and Sally 8.2. Mollie was on 29.0 and Molly 1.8. The boys' list was all -ie: Charlie, Johnnie, Jimmie, Bennie, Billie and Tommie. The two exceptions were Mandy and Betty, and Betty only just, at 12.0 to Bettie's 11.6.

Then, one name at a time, the -y took over. Here are all 17, with the year the -y went in front and the American count for each spelling in 2017.

Fifteen of the 17 changed between 1898 and 1960. The boys went in a rush: Bobby in 1918, Tommy in 1922, Johnny in 1930, Sammy in 1932 and Jimmy in 1933. Five boys' names changed ending in fifteen years.

Johnnie had its best year in 1910, at 24.1 boys in every 10,000. Johnny was on 7.0 in 1920. In 1930 Johnny went past, 16.1 to 15.8, and Johnnie was never in front again. Fifteen years later Johnny was on 41.5. In 2017 it was 964 boys to 95.

On these 39 girls' names the change was just as big. In 1880 the -ie had 86% of the girls. By 1930 it had 12%.

Did anything go the other way? Twice. Marcie took the lead from Marcy in 1977, and Kacie from Kacey in 1981. Both names were small. Marcy and its spellings never got past 16 girls in every 10,000, and Kacey never got past 7.

The -i was only ever for girls

The next new ending was the -i. Vicki came into the records in 1934 and led its name from the start. After that came Jeri in 1949, Patti in 1951, Terri in 1956, Jodi in 1961, Cori in 1971, and Brandi and Keri in 1983. By 1961 the -i had 33% of the girls on our list. One in three.

Not one of the 16 boys' names has ever been led by its -i spelling. It never had more than three boys in every thousand on the list. And where a name was given to both, the -i is how you can tell which. In 1960, 64.2 boys in every 10,000 were called Terry, and no Terri made the boys' top 1,000. The girls that year were 42.1 Terri, 23.3 Terry, 11.2 Teri and 5.3 Terrie. In 1970 it was the same with Jody. The boys were all Jody, at 7.9. The girls were 22.8 Jodi, 12.0 Jody and 5.8 Jodie.

The -i did not last. Patti went back to Patty in 1959. Kristi lost to Kristy in 1977, and Brandi and Brandy swapped places three times. By 2008 the -i had 7% of the girls on our list.

Then -ee and -eigh

The first name on our list to be led by an -ee was Kaylee, from the year it came into the records in 1984. Marlee led its name from 1992. Karlee went in front in 2003 and Haylee passed Hayley in 2004. In 2017 there were 2,847 American girls called Rylee, 1,845 called Ryleigh and 875 called Rylie.

By 2005 the -ee and -eigh spellings had more of the girls on our list than any other ending, and in 2008 they had 39.5%. Four endings, each with its moment, in a little over a hundred years. The boys never joined in. There is no -ee or -eigh on any of the 16 boys' names. They went from -ie to -y and stayed there.

Now the -ie is back

Our American counts stop in 2017, but the rankings run to 2025, and they tell you which way things are going. Take every girls' name in the top 1,000 in 2015 or 2025 that ends in -ee or -eigh. There are 50. Thirty-six went down and 22 dropped out of the top 1,000 altogether, Haylee and Hayley both among them. Kaylee went from 61st to 255th. Kayleigh went from 324th to 804th.

Now look at the -ie names. Millie went from 469th in 2015 to 73rd in 2025. Hallie went from 565th to 120th, Elsie from 386th to 123rd, Maisie from 625th to 233rd, Evie from 511th to 270th and Rosie from 774th to 283rd. Lottie was not in the top 1,000 at all until 2022 and is 528th now.

Macie has done the full circle. It lost to Macy in 1990, and by 2015 the spelling in front was Maci, 268th to Macy's 414th and Macie's 418th. Macie went back in front in 2022. In 2025 it is 438th, Macy 720th and Maci 773rd.

But the -ie has come back on new names, not old ones. The names that swapped to -y a hundred years ago are still -y. In 2017 Molly beat Mollie 1,819 to 240, Johnny beat Johnnie 964 to 95 and Jimmy beat Jimmie 456 to 72.

Britain never let go of the -ie

Our British records cover the babies born in England and Wales in 2024 and 2025, so we cannot tell you when Britain changed its mind, or whether it ever did. We can tell you what British parents pick now.

Count the boys' short forms in the 2025 top 100. Ten end in -ie: Freddie 10th, Archie 11th, Alfie 16th, Albie 21st, Charlie 22nd, Louie 28th, Reggie 37th, Ronnie 39th, Frankie 56th and Vinnie 58th. Six end in -y: Harry 19th, Teddy 34th, Tommy 44th, Sonny 45th, Toby 89th and Bobby 94th.

Look at Tommy and Bobby. They are two of the names America moved to -y early, in 1922 and 1918. Of the 17 names in our table, ten were given to 50 or more babies in England and Wales in 2025. On eight of them Britain uses the American -y: Billy 481 to 5, Bobby 544 to 33, Tommy 1,160 to 27, Johnny 89 to 5, Jimmy 93 to fewer than three, Benny 69 to 13, Dolly 144 to 55 and Molly 405 to 192. The two where it does not are Freddie and Macie, 51 to Macy's 18.

Even where Britain agrees, it keeps more of the -ie. One Molly in three here is spelled Mollie. In America it is about one in nine. And Teddy and Sonny are the reminder that there is no rule. Neither is one of the old American swaps, and both are -y here. Teddy went to 1,360 boys and Teddie to 141.

The girls' top 100 here is full of -ie: Elsie 8th, Rosie 24th, Hallie 29th, Lottie 31st, Evie 35th, Millie 36th, Maisie 43rd, Gracie 84th and Darcie 92nd. Darcie is one America spells the other way. Here it went to 513 girls, with Darcy 351 and Darcey 131. In America in 2017 it was Darcy 183 and Darcie 22.

And here is the part we did not expect. Go back to the seven -ie girls' names climbing in America: Millie, Hallie, Elsie, Maisie, Evie, Rosie and Lottie. Every one of them is in the top 50 in England and Wales. The numbers cannot tell us whether American parents are looking at British names or both countries got there on their own. They only tell us that the -ie America gave up a century ago is coming back on the names Britain already uses.

What it means for you

If you are choosing between Freddie and Freddy, in Britain the -ie is the normal way to spell a boy's short form, and Tommy, Bobby, Billy, Teddy and Sonny are the exceptions. In America the old names are -y and the new ones are -ie.

And do not pick an ending because it looks modern. In America the fashionable ending has changed again and again since 1880, and the one coming back now is the one that was there at the start.