Where did the writers of The Andy Griffith Show get the name “Opie?” Is it short for something else? Is it a common name in the South? Have you ever heard of any real person named “Opie?”
I went to high school with a guy named Opie, actually his name was Odum Parker but everyone called him Opie (does that count). I didn’t find out his real name until he died. 
According to this site, Opie is his real name.
"According to the Internet Movie Database, Opie was named after bandleader Opie Cates, a favorite of actor Andy Griffith and series creator Sheldon Leonard. "
There has been at least one previous SDMB thread on this question.
First, Andy Griffith got the name from Opie Cates (1909-1987), a bandleader of the 1930s and 1940s, whom Griffith and executive producer Sheldon Leonard both admired.
The Social Security Death Index has 683 persons with the first name “Opie” who died between 1961 and the present.
The 1930 U.S. Census has 1,111 persons with the name “Opie” (no, I didn’t make that number up).
No one will care, but my guide dog puppy is named Opie. Whenever I tell people his name, fellow students will invariably say “Oh, like opie-um” while older folks will mention “Like on that old TV show”.
You do have a good point. Opie Taylor was probably named after opium. It was smuggled into Mayberry years earlier by that guy who eventually opened up that Chinese restaurant. Before the epidemic was halted, it had killed Opie’s mother, driven Ernest T. Bass batshit insane, destroyed Otis’s life, and firmed up Andy’s resolve to dedicate his life to law enforcement so that the town would never be plagued again. His son’s name was a constant reminder of that promise.
Yes… its all becoming clear now… 