Minnie

MIN-ee

Diminutive of Wilhelmina, German

"resolute protection"

Minnie Origin and Meaning

The name Minnie is a girl's name meaning "resolute protection".

Minnie was wildly popular at the turn of the last century — it was the fifth or sixth most popular name throughout the 1880s — but is completely obscure in the US today. Blame Mickey's girlfriend. Regardless, it's possible that the up and coming trend toward old-fashioned nickname-names — think Maisie, Mamie, Millie — may give Minnie (all on its own, not as a short form of anything) a new moment in the sun.

In fact, Minnie has already broken in to the England and Wales Top 1000 and as of 2023, it ranked at #444. Traditionally used as a short form of Wilhelmina, Minnie could also be used as a nickname for a variety of names, including Minerva, Martina, Marin, Mary, Hermione, Jasmine, and Araminta.

Minnie Driver (born Amelia) has given it some modern celeb cred and there have been characters named Minnie in Dickens's Little Dorrit and Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra. Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz classic, while "Minnie the Minx" (full name Hermione Makepeace) appears in the long-running British comic, The Beano.

Minnie Rank in US Top 1000

# 956 in the US

Minnie Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 659 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Minnie

• 659 Nameberry 2025
• 448 England 2023
• 64 Dogs 2022
• 32 Cats 2023

20 Names Similar to Minnie

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Minnie.

• Polly
• Dolly
• Betty
• Dottie
• Bonnie
• Peggy
• Betsy
• Penny
• Nellie
• Lois
• Sally
• Jean
• Wendy
• Kitty
• Dot
• Maxine
• Bess
• Lou
• Effie
• Myrtle

Famous People Named Minnie

• Amelia Fiona "Minnie" Driver English actress
• Minnie stage name of Nicha Yontararak; singer in South Korean girl group (G)I,DLE
• Minnie Pearl (born Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon) American country comedienne
• Minnie Julia Riperton American singer
• Amalia Mignon "Minnie" Hauck American opera singer
• Minnie Fisher Cunningham American suffragist; first executive secretary of the League of Women Voters
• Minnie D. Craig American politician
• Minnie Devereaux Canadian silent film actress
• Minnie Maddern Fiske (born Marie Augusta Davey) American stage actress
• Minnie Gentry (born Minnie Lee Watson) American actress
• Minnie Dupree American actress
• Minnie Marx (born Miene Schönberg) American manager and mother of the Marx Brothers
• Minnie Egener American opera singer
• Minnie Pwerle Australian Aboriginal painter
• Huldah Pierce "Minnie" Warren American dwarf singer and circus performer
• Minnie Tittell Brune American,Australian actress
• Pearl Minnie Anderson (b. 2005) daughter of actress Maya Rudolph and director Paul Thomas Anderson
• Minnie Blossom Bourne (b. 2013) daughter of singer Rachel Stevens & Alex Bourne
• Minnie Ida Anderson (b. 2013) daughter of Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson
• Minnie Theodora Osbourne (b. 2018) daughter of English media personality Jack Osbourne, sister to Pearl Clementine and Andy Rose

The name Minnie in Pop Culture

• Minnie Mouse Disney character
• Minnie Brandon the daughter of Rebecca "Becky" Brandon (nee Bloomwood) and Luke Brandon from the 'Shopaholic' book series written by Sophie Kinsella
• Minnie May Barry character in L.M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables"
• Minnie "Pet" Meagles Gowan character in Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit"
• Minnie the Minx character in British comic "The Beano"
• Minnie Crozier character on New Zealand soap "Shortland Street"
• Minnie Bannister character on British radio series "The Goon Show"
• Minnie Bishop character in anime/manga "Strike Witches"
• "Minnie the Moocher " jazz song by Cab Calloway
• Minnie Fay character from movie "Hello, Dolly!"
• Minnie Goetze character in the graphic novel and film "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"