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Lassie
How to Pronounce Lassie
Pronounced LASS-ee /ΛlΓ¦s.i/High
Meaning: Lassie comes straight from the Scots and northern English word lassie, an affectionate term for a girl or young woman (a diminutive of 'lass'); a handful of American families adopted it as a given name in the early twentieth century.Medium
Popularity in the U.S. Β· SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880βpresent). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Lassie is the everyday Scots and northern-English word for a girl, a fond diminutive of lass. A small number of American parents turned that endearment into a first name in the early twentieth century, well before Hollywood attached it to a dog.
As a human name it was always rare, cresting around 1916 at only a few dozen girls a year and fading by the nineteen-sixties; the fictional collie Lassie, introduced in the nineteen-forties, later overshadowed that quiet earlier use. The word-meaning, 'girl', stayed constant throughout.
Variations
Nicknames
Famous Bearers
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Lassie (fictional)The heroic collie of the 1943 film Lassie Come Home and later television, whose name simply reuses the Scots word for a girl.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Lassie mean?
Lassie is the Scots and northern-English word for a girl or young woman, a diminutive of 'lass'.
How do you pronounce Lassie?
It's said LASS-ee /ΛlΓ¦s.i/ β two syllables, stress on the first.
Is Lassie a boy or girl name?
Lassie is used as a girl's name, fitting its meaning of 'a girl'.
How popular is Lassie?
Lassie was always a rare choice as a given name and is a genuine early-twentieth-century antique.