Unisex · #5,926 in 2026

Bandy

Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. Bandy is sometimes considered the predecessor of ice hockey, both sports belonging to a family of sports called hockey.

Current Rank
#5,926
Peak Rank
#3,568 (1979)
Total Babies
62
5-Yr Trend
Stable
👧 Girl peak #6,611 (30 total)
👦 Boy peak #3,568 (62 total)
👦As Boy Name
1976
First Year
1986
Last Year
1979
Peak Year
#3568
Peak Rank
62
Total Count
9
Years Active
👧As Girl Name
1976
First Year
1985
Last Year
1976
Peak Year
#6611
Peak Rank
30
Total Count
5
Years Active

Meaning & Origin of Bandy

What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.

Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. Bandy is sometimes considered the predecessor of ice hockey, both sports belonging to a family of sports called hockey.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →

Etymology
Kazakh stamp featuring bandy ( допты хоккей dopty khokkey , "ball hockey") The sport's English name comes from the verb "to bandy", from the Middle French bander ("to strike back and forth"), and originally referred to a seventeenth-century Irish game similar to field hockey. [ citation needed ] The curved stick was also called a "bandy". The etymological connection to the similarly named Welsh hockey game of bando is not clear. An old name for bandy is hockey on the ice ; in the first rule books from England at the turn of the century 1900, the sport is literally called "bandy or hockey on th
Origin & history
Detail from Brueghel 's 1565 The Hunters in the Snow Charles Goodman Tebbutt with a bandy stick in 1889

The Story of Bandy

As a girl name

Bandy first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a girl name in 1976, with 8 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 1976, when 8 Bandys were born — ranking #6,611 that year. As of 2026, Bandy ranks #9,306 for girls with 6 births, with steady use. In total, more than 30 Bandys have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1970s through the 2020s.

As a boy name

Bandy first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a boy name in 1976, with 5 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 1979, when 11 Bandys were born — ranking #3,568 that year. As of 2026, Bandy ranks #5,926 for boys with 6 births, with steady use. In total, more than 62 Bandys have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1970s through the 2020s.

Popularity Over Time

Girls Boys

Popularity by State

ME
WA
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
NY
VT
NH
MA
OR
ID
SD
IA
IL
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
NV
WY
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
DC
UT
CO
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
AK
AZ
NM
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
HI
TX
FL
Top 10
11-50
51-100
101-500
500+
No data

Names that sound like Bandy

Phonetically similar names — useful when Bandy is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.

Frequently Asked Questions about Bandy

What does the name Bandy mean?
Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. Bandy is sometimes considered the predecessor of ice hockey, both sports belonging to a family of sports called hockey.
How popular is Bandy in 2026?
In 2026, Bandy ranks #5,926 among boys' names in the U.S., with 6 babies given the name that year.
When was Bandy most popular?
Bandy reached its peak popularity in 1979, ranking #3,568 that year with 11 babies given the name.
Is Bandy a unisex name?
Yes — Bandy is used for both girls and boys in U.S. records, with about 33% of Bandys assigned female and 67% assigned male historically.
What names go well with Bandy?
Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Bandy include Choya, Renell, Suresh. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data.

About the name Bandy

Bandy is a unisex baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1976 and has accumulated 62 births in the dataset. Bandy's peak popularity came in 1979 when it ranked #3,568. Use the chart and map above to compare Bandy's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.

Continue exploring

Data sources

  • Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
  • Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
  • Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
  • Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
  • Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .

Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.