# when did bambi become a girl's name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2001, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bambi-become-a-girls-name/95492 "2001-11-27T13:38:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![riserius1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@riserius1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riserius1)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bambi-become-a-girls-name/95492/1 "2001-11-27T13:38:19Z")
In the Disney movie “Bambi”, the title character is male. He is, in fact, referred to as “The young Prince” several times throughout the movie. My question is: When did Bambi come into usage as a girl’s name? The earliest instance I can think of is an episode of welcome back, Kotter where a female character with that name was introduced. Any thoughts? Chris W ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bambi-become-a-girls-name/95492/2 "2001-11-27T13:52:06Z")
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**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bambi-become-a-girls-name/95492/3 "2001-11-27T13:58:32Z")
I swear I thought Bambi was a girl until he/she grew antlers at the end of “Bambi”. ---
**Author:** ![SlickUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@SlickUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickUSA)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bambi-become-a-girls-name/95492/4 "2001-11-27T14:00:51Z")
You have a good point, i’ve never heard of any guys name Bambi ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bambi-become-a-girls-name/95492/5 "2001-11-27T15:30:25Z")
I would imagine that “Bambi” as the male buck’s name is derived, in the late 1930s, from “Bambino,” an Italian word for baby, which was recently used as the nickname for the Greatest Baseball Player Ever, who most definitely was male. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bambi-become-a-girls-name/95492/6 "2001-11-27T18:39:49Z")
. . . except that _Bambi_ was originally written in German and published in 1923. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bambi-become-a-girls-name/95492/7 "2001-11-27T18:44:26Z")
Pro Football Hall of Famer Lance Alworth was nicknamed “Bambi”. ---
**Author:** ![NYR407](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@NYR407](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NYR407)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2001, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-bambi-become-a-girls-name/95492/8 "2001-11-28T15:14:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Montfort \* > \*\*I would imagine that “Bambi” as the male buck’s name is derived, in the late 1930s, from “Bambino,” an Italian word for baby, which was recently used as the nickname for the Greatest Baseball Player Ever, who most definitely was male. \*\* I didn’t know Willy Mays was nicked named Bambino. I always thought he was the Say Hey Kid. OK, I know who you are referring to but you say “recently used as a nickname”. Hasn’t that been around for a while. Maybe Paul O’Neill should just be called Baby. Sorry, just felt like adding that in.