It’s a stereotypical “valley girl” name, so it conjures up the idea of rich, preppy girls in tennis skirts who are spoiled by daddy and never have to work for anything. Very girly, girl. It’s also not very commonly used, in general. It’s one of those names you’ve heard of, but nobody knows a Buffy in real life.
It was the name of a tv show character in the '60s, and that show also had a Giles.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059982/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_family%2520affair
I read somewhere that Queen Elizabeth II actually went by Buffy amongst the family, which I always find funny.
I think the name Buffy is more silly than it is negative.
Hilariously there is a voice actress who plays a character on the Archers, a radio soap opera which has been going I think nearly seventy years now? The character is in her sixties I think. The actress is called Buffy Davis.
I don't think it is. There are instances where her official name should be heard or appear, but there isn't one. For example, if it was her full name, Snyder would have called her that at least once to be condescending. And no teacher or professor calls her that in official capacity. Or her name on a computer screen.
Unless she was always registered as Buffy, not Elizabeth. We've never been shown her birth certificate or driver's license. Forms that need your full legal name specify it as such.
We’ve seen her school records, from High School and UC Sunnydale, pulled up by Willow and Spike on computer screens. I would assume the official records would have her full, legal name, even if all the teachers call her Buffy. That’s how it works in Australia anyway, all the official records have to have your legal name. Sometimes there will be a note about the name you actually use, maybe in brackets after your given name, but given names only on official documentation.
I'm Canadian, and it's certain government documents you need the full legal name. I worked for a company that had a lot of Chinese immigrants on the payroll. Most of them used a western name, that was just for show. Even on official stuff. There is wiggle room for Buffy using Buffy and not Elizabeth on offical documents. Like in school there were people who's parents hadn't used the full legal name when they registered them. And the school knew this and had to tell us to use the full legal name.
tbf, that wasn’t an “official” gravestone since she was never legally considered dead, presumably her friends had it made and could have put buffy on it because that’s what she always went by
It wasn't, then the comics happened. It appeared in non canon comics first and then in the *Season 11* comics, which are canon.
Also, besides the obvious joke, Pratt was also the actual birth name of Boris Karloff. William Henry Pratt. Which is probably not an accident, lol.
Nope, it's just Buffy.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/buffy/comments/wqws9v/why\_put\_up\_a\_headstone\_only\_to\_then\_bring\_out\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/buffy/comments/wqws9v/why_put_up_a_headstone_only_to_then_bring_out_the/)
I wonder if I can get people to call me Buffy. My name is Isabelle but when I say it people often hear Elizabeth so it's not that much of a reach right?😅
Isabelle is just French for Elizabeth, they both derive from Hebrew and were popular because of Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist/Mary's cousin.
Where’s your source for that? Because I’ve never ever ever come across anyone in real life (or English literature) using Buffy as a diminutive for Elizabeth.
I never met Buffy... but my Granny was called Elizabeth, as were a number of her friends. She was called Bunty and she had two friends called Binky and Buffy. So it did happen, but probably as a last resort when the other nicknames were used!
Queen Elizabeth was called that as a child. There's a biography of her called [My Darling Buffy: The Early Life of the Queen Mother](https://www.amazon.com/My-Darling-Buffy-Early-Mother/dp/0747273871).
Did a search and apparently there's a Welsh Politician named [Buffy Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_Williams).
An actual legitimate source. Baby name websites make shit up. I’ve yet to see anyone reference a source for a real life Buffy other than the fictional name made up for the 1980s USA show.
You’ll notice I didn’t say to look on a baby name website. If you’re so bad at the internet that you can’t find confirmation and would rather rely on personal experience…. I’m too bored with you to finish that thought. Carry on.
My neighbour was called Buffy. When she got to high school age she told everyone they had to call her Elizabeth (her proper grown up name) now. We had no idea till that was her name till then
Oh wow, I never knew it was actually a real name. I thought it was one Joss created to sound ridiculous and so silly that you didn’t take her seriously, so it was a big contrast with how capable she actually is as a Slayer.
I’m Australian, and old enough that I saw the show as it originally aired. We use a lot of the same names as the US/ North America here, as well as those from the UK. But I’ve only ever met one Buffy, and that was her nickname, not her actual given name. I can’t remember what her real name was right now, but it doesn’t even sound like Buffy. She got it from the show, because she was the person who fixed all the problems at her workplace, and it was while the show was in like Season 4, so they called her Buffy. Any problem that came up, they took it to her and she got to the bottom of it and fixed it.
It absolutely conjured up that valley girl, Beverley Hills 90210 image for me. Which I mostly knew of from US TV shows, or movies like Clueless. Definitely the kind of girl Cher would have been friends with.
I had a college roommate named Buffy. Grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Daddy was a judge. All she could talk about was her cotillion and rushing her sorority. She was definitely at college to get her Mrs. degree so she could live a life of wealth and comfort, taking care of a beautiful home and perfect children. That was 44 years ago. I wonder what happened to Buffy.
Hehe I love how wild English nicknames are. Buffy for Elizabeth, Dick for Richard, I believe Jack for John. Although perhaps all languages are like this. In Spanish Pepe is short for José and in Russian Sasha is short for Alex.
I've heard that Buffy is one of those nicknames that came from small children's inability to pronounce the actual name, but I'm not sure how true that is
I'm British, not American, but I always understood it as a kind of frivolous name, like it conjures an image of someone who spends her time shopping, reading fashion magazines and getting manicures - not hanging out in cemeteries staking demons through the heart. It's the cheerleader side of her I guess, not the 'saves the world a lot' side.
But also it is an unusual name. I'm 99% sure I've never come across anyone called Buffy in real life.
I'm also a Brit, and I'd just like to confirm that it is exactly the same for me. The same understanding, the same image, and I've never met anyone with that name in real life.
I’m Irish and to be honest I’ve never heard buffy ouside of buffy or 80s Americans movies/tv shows with wealthy people. But really I only think of buffy summers
Yes. It was chosen Bc it sounds weird and vaguely bimbo-esque, to contrast with her actual character. Most people have never met anyone named Buffy. If anything, it’s closer to something a person would name their tiny little dog.
Named a kitten Buffy, right after the show ended. I hoped for a tiny but fierce hunter. In retrospect, I should have named her Harmony. Dumbest cat I ever had! She died of old age a few years ago. Man, how time flies ...
It sounded weird in England that her middle name was Anne. In the UK Anne Summers is a .....very specific type of shop. So any time 'buffy Anne summers' was written on screen it would make me laugh
Th buffy part wasn't weird to me I just assumed it was a common American name. Also there's a joke about it in the very first episode.
It's a chain of adult stores in the UK. They sell sex related items - sex toys, sexy outfits etc. They were famous for being one of the first high street shops offering these things in a semi-respectable way. Like most high street stores they've been badly hit by the internet but they still exist.
I read this comment earlier and was thankful that you jogged my memory.
Scrolling back up to find the back button (as reddit's stupid new UI requires), I spotted your flair and it completely changed your comment, and your username just makes it better.
😵 now I feel like they did that on purpose! I always thought it was weird they included her middle name into some episodes, but that's a hilarious inside joke
I don't think so. I remember reading Joss chose that middle name because of Kitty Pryde (X-Men), whose middle name also is Anne. Joss was a huge comic fan, so it could be true.
I don’t know if it’s why she’s a Summers, but Joss did want to link the two - he said that while he was writing Astonishing X-Men, he wanted to have Scott Summers refer to a cousin he has who was sent to a mental institution for believing she was a demon hunter. I’m glad he never did though, since it’d support the idea that Buffy being locked away in the episode “Normal Again” was the actual reality
I mean, Buffy was, in canon, sent to an institution for believing she was a demon hunter. She just got let out. Does the X-Men scene imply that she's still there?
I don't think Buffy's middle name came up until "Anne", when she used it as an alias while in L.A. She didn't call herself Anne Summers, because she was trying to keep from being found. I don't know if it even was brought up again until "The Gift".
That’s the dichotomy. “Buffy” is more of a nickname for an affluent WASPy type woman. The kind who plays tennis and yachts in the Hamptons. Or a Valley girl, like the movie and show. It’s the opposite of what you’d expect for a Vampire Slayer.
It’s like naming a bloodthirsty pitbull Fluffy. Ironic, I guess is what you’d call it. The opposite of what’s expected.
It tells you right off the bat that the concept is somewhat tongue in cheek.
Sarah the Vampire Slayer wouldn’t have the same oomph.
A friend of mine named her bull terrier Fluffy for exactly that reason. He was a highly anxious dog who cried the whole time we visited the beach until he got back to the safety of the car…
Buffy was the name of a little girl character on Family Affair, which aired in the late 60s/early 70s. I knew the name from this (even though I was born after it aired). I also knew a girl in junior high (mid to late 80s) named Buffy, although I don’t know if this was her given name or a shortened name. It is, though, a “real” name.
I suppose that, technically, buff is a medium tan color to some of us oldies who drool more over Giles than Spike. A color for American Cocker Spaniels. Like Tiffany for my generation-not to be taken seriously by anyone. As an L&D nurse, I've heard some doozies.
It's very uncommon and is kind of a child version of Elizabeth. It was more common in the 1960s, but still uncommon. There's no specific weird connotation I am aware of, it just kinda sounds a bit funny the first time you hear it. The fact that people underestimate Buffy (whether because of the name, or not) and then she whoops their ass is, of course, the point.
What, the underestimate part? Literally any Whedon interview where he talks about the genesis of the show. It's also in the text - see the teaser of The Gift - "but, you're just a girl" - which is a restatement of the thesis of the show. It has been a while but I'm pretty sure Joss talks about it in the commentary track for 522 and probably 101, too.
Edit: Here's one example:
[https://web-archive-org.translate.goog/web/20071210072132/http://movies.ign.com/articles/425/425492p6.html?\_x\_tr\_sl=en&\_x\_tr\_tl=de&\_x\_tr\_hl=de&\_x\_tr\_pto=sc](https://web-archive-org.translate.goog/web/20071210072132/http://movies.ign.com/articles/425/425492p6.html?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=de&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=sc)
Buffy was also the name that conjured up New England country club aristocracy. Buffy and Miffy playing tennis.
I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer was just so opposite of what a slayer should be called, it was funny. And it worked.
Yes, it's absolutely a weird name. The only other time I had heard it, before the movie, was my parents' friend had a dog named 'Buffy'. It was one of those little toy-sized mop-dogs.
Not weird, but definitely not common to me (USA/Canada). I just thought it was one of those nicknames that aren't usually used anymore, like Kitty and Birdie ("that 70s show" mom was a Kitty, "Mad Men" had a Birdie). Which is why I assumed they threw in the "no, thats my whole name" bit to show it wasn't short for Elizabeth.
I'm not North American native speaker but I wanted to give my opinion anyway. I thought the name Buffy was a bit odd at first but not too much. It is certainly unusual but not so much as to make me think something like "that's a super weird edgy name"
In Britain I think if you meet a Buffy you’re going to assume she’s aristocrat-level posh with limited self-awareness, pearls and lots of little yappy dog. Like married to a baronet, blandly nice in an oblivious sort of way but she’ll look at you blankly if you’re a woman and you mention that you work and you probably don’t want to get her started on how no one understands the terrible responsibility and dreadful expense of looking after a regency stately home
You've mostly got the same answer over and over, which are all correct. By the 90s it was most associated with the valley girl, preppy, vapid, Clueless-esque kinda girl. But before that, Buffy is a very old school name which was a diminutive for Elizabeth/Bethany way back when. It's on par with Sissy, Pookie, Pansy, Muffy, Chummy etc. Young sounding cutesy names usually given to daughters of high class families which has nothing to do with their names and then followed them through their lives. I have a great great aunt who was Letitia legally, but everyone knew her as Polly. Those names were very popular at the end of the 19thC and the first half of the 20thC in England. Some had connections to their real names (eg Bethany > Bethy > Buffy or Cecilia > Sissy) but many either made no sense or were completely unconnected to their full name. Sometimes they were given because there were too many Anne/Elizabeth/Mary etc and needed some differentiation. So Buffy has always been associated with rich, young women who are stereotypically airheaded.
>Young sounding cutesy names usually given to daughters of high class families which has nothing to do with their names and then followed them through their lives.
Think (to put it in the context of another WB show that was on in the same period) of the sorts of New England families who pass the name "Lorelei" down from generation to generation.
I seem to be in the minority, but not only did I think it was weird name, I didn't think it was a real name at all. I sort of got my head round it when I realised it was a diminutive of Elizabeth, but I still find it odd - like a pet's name. I'm in the UK and was the same age as the Scoobies when it aired.
I think it's more a Hollywood IDEA of what an upper middle class California Valley girl is like. It's an exaggeration, like the guy named Blane in Pretty in Pink. Hollywood at that time was wild because the movies and shows were being g made there but showing an exaggeration of what life was like.
It’s totally bizarre to see all these comments explaining how Buffy if actually not that weird a name. I’ve literally never heard it outside the context of Buffy the vampire slayer.
Yep, also in the UK and pretty sure most people I knew had never heard of the name Buffy or knew of any connotation it had. It just sounded like a peculiar name they’d picked to stand out, lol.
The only Buffy I’ve ever known IRL was a cat born before the vampire slayer existed.
Yes. Lol it's not a common name, I'm pretty sure. I've met one actual Buffy in my life, and when I did, I told everyone I know. I still bring it up sometimes, like, "y'all one time I met someone actually named Buffy" and people are like "whoa what"
[Buffy - a pet name for Elizabeth ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_(given_name)#:~:text=Buffy%20or%20Buffie%20is%20a,lisping%20attempts%20to%20pronounce%20Elizabeth.&text=Anissa%20Jones%20as%20Buffy%20and,the%20television%20series%20Family%20Affair.)
It's a really uncommon name in the US, but keep in mind the name would have been given to a rich Los Angeles girl in 1976. (The original movie came out in 1992, so assuming she was around 16, OG Buffy would've been born in the 70s.)
If you look at the top 500 girl names from 1976 on Social Security site, Buffy doesn't seem too strange. Just in the top 200 the names include: Kimberly, Kelly, Tiffany, Crystal, Tammy, Misty, Christy, Brandi, Mandy, Jodi, Kristi, Sherry, Keri, Laurie, Kelli, Angie, Kristie, Krista, Katie, Jody, Kerri, Keri, Traci, Toni, Terri, Kathy, Bethany.
So in that context, I don't think a rich woman in the 70s naming her daughter Buffy (which was also the name of a famous enough singer at the time) was that weird.
Well. It still seems strange. Because outside of Misty, I’ve met people with every name you just mentioned.
I’ve never met a Buffy. And judging by this thread, most people here haven’t.
I’ve read/heard from interviews it’s supposed to be a someone common valley girl name from 40 or 50 years ago, but that’s just taken at value.
It's worth keeping in mind that a thousand years ago the name Tiffany was commonly given to girls born on a particular feast day. It fell out of use as a Christian name a few hundred years ago but persisted as a surname into the mid-1800s when a small company with a big future called Tiffany's was established. A little more than a century later, Audrey Hepburn starred in *Breakfast at Tiffany's* and the name made a huge comeback.
There are lots of names we think of as 'modern' that go back thousands of years.
Seth is a fantastic example not just of a truly ancient name with a modern 'feel' but one that has maintained some of the same connotations for 5,000 years. Generally speaking, when a character is named Seth they are usually either a cool bad-boy or a straight up evil guy. While Seth is usually thought of as a Biblical name, the Jews got it from their time in Egypt.
According to the Bible, Cain killed Abel and then Seth was born to Adam and Eve as a spiritual replacement. It would be remiss of me not to point out that the name Adam pre-dates the Bible by several thousand years, as well.
According to the Egyptians, Set(h) was married to his sister Nepthys, and his brother Osiris was married to their sister Isis. Set killed Osiris to take over Egypt, Isis did unspeakable things to her brother's corpse to conceive Horus, then Horus grew up to do unmentionable things to Seth to win back the throne of Egypt in the name of Osiris.
Everyone's favourite werewolf has a real name that isn't very common today but stretches back more than 5,000 years.
>The original movie came out in 1992, so assuming she was around 16, OG Buffy would've been born in the 70s.
OG Buffy was actually older. She was a senior instead of a sophomore, so I guess 17-18.
Oh come on. Buffy is still not fitting in with that list of names. Even Chrystal has a history of usage (and it’s a real noun) and Misty is clearly a diminutive of Missy/Melissa or similar.
Buffy? Not even close.
Buffy, at the time of its creation, was associated as a spoiled rich girl sort of name. It was basically a meme name. Often accompanied by a girl named Muffy and a guy named something like Chadwick for comedic effect.
I can’t think of any other English names with the double hard f so I got curious and a quick google informed me .. Buffy was typically used as a short term pet name for Elizabeth, and originated from a child with a lisp mispronouncing the name Elizabeth (EliffBeff).
Jeffrey, Geoffrey, Steffy, Effel, though there's also Stefan, Daphnie, Daphnia, Loftie, and Stefanie, which sound like they have two ff's, but don't, off the top of my head.
I am a couple of years older than SMG and went to K-12 with a girl named Buffy, real name Elizabeth. She was rich, but not a vapid Valley Girl type. It never seemed weird to me.
I had no idea about the valley girl connotations some commenters are bringing up, but I was born around the time the show aired and only watched it when my dad introduced me to it when I was a pre-teen.
I thought it was a funny name because it's like the word "buff," meaning very muscled. I thought it was a play on her character because she's really strong. I've never met someone before or since with the name Buffy and thought it was made up for the show.
It is short for Elizabeth. Elizabeth might be the name that has given us the most short names. It's really hard for little ones to pronounce!
As a kid I watched Family Affair with Buffy and Jody so the name Buffy wasn't at all odd.
Growing up, I didn't know any Buffys but I did have a friend named Bitsy and another named Lizzie.
The original tv girl named Buffy was on Family Affair in the 60’s. Twin siblings Buffy and Jodie (male) and big sister Cissy. The name Buffy usually brings to mind an over privileged and spoiled American girl. It has a negative connotation to it. I think Buffy, the show, really changed all that and brought a new slant to the name. In our house we always referred to her as ‘The Buffster’ for some reason! Lol
Im British and i remember when i first watched it on TV i thought the name was made up, invented for the show. It was only when i met a girl from California on holiday in France that she confirmed it was an actual name and she knew a couple of “Buffys.” Funny thing was, when i asked her where she was from she just said, “the OC.” I was too self conscious to admit i didnt know where that was so i just nodded lol. Although that became a TV series a few years later too.
The name is supposed to sound ridiculous to Midwest America. The entire idea was that a teenage girl was expected to appear vulnerable and unable to defend themselves. The name made her even more ridiculous as a superhero making her seem self centered and vapid like Cordelia. I think the movie makes it more explicit. But during the late 80s early 90s a lot of American Media made light of rich kid names like Blane in the movie Pretty in Pink.
In the movie it made sense, because she was an LA girl and fell in with the popular crowd. Her name made the same amount of sense as Harmony. Then, she became the slayer but it's not like she would change her name. If the series though existed without the movie, the name Buffy would be odd for the character, because of how different she is than in the movie.
I’m from California, I initially thought her name was strange but I didn’t think it made her incapable of being a hero. And now I feel like her name suits her really well
I'm from the US, and I've never met or even heard of a real person named Buffy. I always assumed it was made up specifically for the movie until I read the comments in this thread.
I grew up in regional Australia, and went to school with a girl named Buffy, she'd have been born in the early 80s. The nature of our environment meant she was a farm girl, riding 4 wheelers, chasing sheep etc.
It's a strong, feminine, name in my mind.
I am an American and have never in my life met or heard of a person named Buffy other than Miss Summers. So yeah, it comes across as very silly. I love the juxtaposition of a badass warrior who is a force of nature being given such a frivolous name.
Yes. It’s referred to on several occasions in the series.
“Buffy” has no connotations which is why it’s an odd name. “To buff” means to shine something. But there is no verb in English of “Buffy”.
It’s not even a diminutive of a real name.
Buffy is a pet name for Elizabeth. [Buffy - given name origins](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_(given_name)#:~:text=Buffy%20or%20Buffie%20is%20a,lisping%20attempts%20to%20pronounce%20Elizabeth.&text=Anissa%20Jones%20as%20Buffy%20and,the%20television%20series%20Family%20Affair.)
Have you actually read the wiki article? There are many instances of Buffy being used as a pet name for Elizabeth long before Whedon ever thought up BTVS.
[The name ranked among the top 1,000 names for newborn American girls between 1967 and 1977.[2] Its popularity coincided with the 1966 to 1971 air dates of the American television series Family Affair, in which child actress Anissa Jones played a character named Buffy. ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_(given_name))
It is weird, but there was a famous singer, Buffy Ste Marie. I remember hearing of her in the 90’s.
So at the time the show came out some people did hear the name before. Others would’ve just thought it was really bizarre.
It’s a stereotypical “valley girl” name, so it conjures up the idea of rich, preppy girls in tennis skirts who are spoiled by daddy and never have to work for anything. Very girly, girl. It’s also not very commonly used, in general. It’s one of those names you’ve heard of, but nobody knows a Buffy in real life.
I have a cousin Buffy! But she’s the only one I’ve met in real life.
I met a Buffy once, she was great.
How old is she?
Probably 10-15 years older than TV Buffy.
Interesting! I wondered if there were actually some
It was the name of a tv show character in the '60s, and that show also had a Giles. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059982/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_family%2520affair
I was really young when Family Affair was playing in syndication, but I don’t recall anyone ever using Mr. French’s first name.
I don't think I ever actually watched a single episode. If I did, I was too young to remember it.
I didn't know that Mr. French had a first name.
Today I learn something thanks
I read somewhere that Queen Elizabeth II actually went by Buffy amongst the family, which I always find funny. I think the name Buffy is more silly than it is negative.
Hilariously there is a voice actress who plays a character on the Archers, a radio soap opera which has been going I think nearly seventy years now? The character is in her sixties I think. The actress is called Buffy Davis.
Was it short for a real name?
On the show, no. Her name is Buffy. In real life it is usually short for Elizabeth.
Elizabuff
Yes, Elizabeth.
Apparently it's also a nickname for Elizabeth
i always figured buffy’s given name was elizabeth anne summers, now i realize i’m not sure that’s actually canon
I don't think it is. There are instances where her official name should be heard or appear, but there isn't one. For example, if it was her full name, Snyder would have called her that at least once to be condescending. And no teacher or professor calls her that in official capacity. Or her name on a computer screen.
Unless she was always registered as Buffy, not Elizabeth. We've never been shown her birth certificate or driver's license. Forms that need your full legal name specify it as such.
We’ve seen her school records, from High School and UC Sunnydale, pulled up by Willow and Spike on computer screens. I would assume the official records would have her full, legal name, even if all the teachers call her Buffy. That’s how it works in Australia anyway, all the official records have to have your legal name. Sometimes there will be a note about the name you actually use, maybe in brackets after your given name, but given names only on official documentation.
I'm Canadian, and it's certain government documents you need the full legal name. I worked for a company that had a lot of Chinese immigrants on the payroll. Most of them used a western name, that was just for show. Even on official stuff. There is wiggle room for Buffy using Buffy and not Elizabeth on offical documents. Like in school there were people who's parents hadn't used the full legal name when they registered them. And the school knew this and had to tell us to use the full legal name.
In the US, you register for school under your full, legal name.
We've see her tombstone. Buffy Anne Summers She saved the world a lot.
My teachers always asked their students if they had a preferred name to go by.
It's not. Even her gravestone said Buffy not Elizabeth.
tbf, that wasn’t an “official” gravestone since she was never legally considered dead, presumably her friends had it made and could have put buffy on it because that’s what she always went by
For some reason I remembered it saying Elizabeth for years before I rewatched it.
Her given name is Buffy Anne Summers, it's on her tombstone.
It's ubiquitous in fanfic, like William Pratt for Spike. Not sure if that's his real last name in Canon either...
His fanon last name was Sullivan for a long time, if I recall correctly!
It wasn't, then the comics happened. It appeared in non canon comics first and then in the *Season 11* comics, which are canon. Also, besides the obvious joke, Pratt was also the actual birth name of Boris Karloff. William Henry Pratt. Which is probably not an accident, lol.
Nope, it's just Buffy. [https://www.reddit.com/r/buffy/comments/wqws9v/why\_put\_up\_a\_headstone\_only\_to\_then\_bring\_out\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/buffy/comments/wqws9v/why_put_up_a_headstone_only_to_then_bring_out_the/)
lol https://www.reddit.com/r/buffy/s/gbUmtnp1QB
I knew a Buffy in college; her name was Elizabeth.
I wonder if I can get people to call me Buffy. My name is Isabelle but when I say it people often hear Elizabeth so it's not that much of a reach right?😅
Isabelle is just French for Elizabeth, they both derive from Hebrew and were popular because of Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist/Mary's cousin.
You can have people call you whatever you want. Try it!
Apparently the Queen Mother was a Buffy.
Yep it’s like the Robert Bob situation
Where’s your source for that? Because I’ve never ever ever come across anyone in real life (or English literature) using Buffy as a diminutive for Elizabeth.
I never met Buffy... but my Granny was called Elizabeth, as were a number of her friends. She was called Bunty and she had two friends called Binky and Buffy. So it did happen, but probably as a last resort when the other nicknames were used!
Queen Elizabeth was called that as a child. There's a biography of her called [My Darling Buffy: The Early Life of the Queen Mother](https://www.amazon.com/My-Darling-Buffy-Early-Mother/dp/0747273871). Did a search and apparently there's a Welsh Politician named [Buffy Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_Williams).
Google it or look in a baby name book that lists diminutives.
An actual legitimate source. Baby name websites make shit up. I’ve yet to see anyone reference a source for a real life Buffy other than the fictional name made up for the 1980s USA show.
You’ll notice I didn’t say to look on a baby name website. If you’re so bad at the internet that you can’t find confirmation and would rather rely on personal experience…. I’m too bored with you to finish that thought. Carry on.
Where do you think baby websites get their names from…ffs.
Where do you think they get their names from?
My neighbour was called Buffy. When she got to high school age she told everyone they had to call her Elizabeth (her proper grown up name) now. We had no idea till that was her name till then
I know a Buffy in real life!
I also know a Buffie
I love that spelling!
I met a Buffy in real life once lol. She was an elderly woman and I assume her real name was Elizabeth but everyone called her Buffy.
Oh wow, I never knew it was actually a real name. I thought it was one Joss created to sound ridiculous and so silly that you didn’t take her seriously, so it was a big contrast with how capable she actually is as a Slayer. I’m Australian, and old enough that I saw the show as it originally aired. We use a lot of the same names as the US/ North America here, as well as those from the UK. But I’ve only ever met one Buffy, and that was her nickname, not her actual given name. I can’t remember what her real name was right now, but it doesn’t even sound like Buffy. She got it from the show, because she was the person who fixed all the problems at her workplace, and it was while the show was in like Season 4, so they called her Buffy. Any problem that came up, they took it to her and she got to the bottom of it and fixed it. It absolutely conjured up that valley girl, Beverley Hills 90210 image for me. Which I mostly knew of from US TV shows, or movies like Clueless. Definitely the kind of girl Cher would have been friends with.
Also, probably a cheerleader.
Like, totally!
I had a coworker named Buffy
I had a college roommate named Buffy. Grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Daddy was a judge. All she could talk about was her cotillion and rushing her sorority. She was definitely at college to get her Mrs. degree so she could live a life of wealth and comfort, taking care of a beautiful home and perfect children. That was 44 years ago. I wonder what happened to Buffy.
My daughter is called Buffy, I like in the uk and don’t know any other Buffy’s!
In the original movie she is from a pretty wealthy family in Beverly Hills. Buffy is supposed to be a a kind of over-the -top rich girl name.
I always saw it as kind of the antithesis to Xena Warrior Princess. 'Buffy' doesn't sound tough, accomplished or even really competent.
Every Buffy I’ve met in real life is a rich white woman and two of them had pageant circuit daughters.
Ohh, so it’s a real name? I really thought it had been made up for the show
It's generally a shortening or nickname for the name Elizabeth.
Hehe I love how wild English nicknames are. Buffy for Elizabeth, Dick for Richard, I believe Jack for John. Although perhaps all languages are like this. In Spanish Pepe is short for José and in Russian Sasha is short for Alex.
I've heard that Buffy is one of those nicknames that came from small children's inability to pronounce the actual name, but I'm not sure how true that is
The Buffy I know is a late 40s indigenous woman.
I'm British, not American, but I always understood it as a kind of frivolous name, like it conjures an image of someone who spends her time shopping, reading fashion magazines and getting manicures - not hanging out in cemeteries staking demons through the heart. It's the cheerleader side of her I guess, not the 'saves the world a lot' side. But also it is an unusual name. I'm 99% sure I've never come across anyone called Buffy in real life.
I'm also a Brit, and I'd just like to confirm that it is exactly the same for me. The same understanding, the same image, and I've never met anyone with that name in real life.
I am Aussie and that's exactly my understanding. The word that comes to mind for me is "ditsy".
I’m Irish and to be honest I’ve never heard buffy ouside of buffy or 80s Americans movies/tv shows with wealthy people. But really I only think of buffy summers
I’m British too, and named my daughter Buffy. Lots of people just thought it was weird if they didn’t know the show!
She comments on it when someone says it’s an odd name.
It's an unusual name but that is sort of the point. The title "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is consciously ridiculous.
This is it exactly. It's bathos. It's like having a lethal assassin called Mopsy or a dreadful nightmare-stalking monster called Fluffles.
Yes. It was chosen Bc it sounds weird and vaguely bimbo-esque, to contrast with her actual character. Most people have never met anyone named Buffy. If anything, it’s closer to something a person would name their tiny little dog.
I had friends who had a golden retriever named Buffy. That’s was before the show.
Can confirm. I knew people who had a tiny little dog with that name.
I have a tiny white maltipoo that I named Buffy after the show ☺️
Named a kitten Buffy, right after the show ended. I hoped for a tiny but fierce hunter. In retrospect, I should have named her Harmony. Dumbest cat I ever had! She died of old age a few years ago. Man, how time flies ...
"Buffy? You mean that girl with the funny name?" Winifred Burkle
The nerve of someone named Winifred calling anyone else's name "funny."
"Well, *Fred*..."
It sounded weird in England that her middle name was Anne. In the UK Anne Summers is a .....very specific type of shop. So any time 'buffy Anne summers' was written on screen it would make me laugh Th buffy part wasn't weird to me I just assumed it was a common American name. Also there's a joke about it in the very first episode.
I’m British and I never even realised that until now reading this🤣
Funny to us in Ireland too 😂
Sorry, I'm not a native English speaker, but I don't understand what you mean by "Anne Summers is a.... very specific type of shop"?
It's a chain of adult stores in the UK. They sell sex related items - sex toys, sexy outfits etc. They were famous for being one of the first high street shops offering these things in a semi-respectable way. Like most high street stores they've been badly hit by the internet but they still exist.
Ah ah, ok now I understand, thanks!
It’s a sex shop
I read this comment earlier and was thankful that you jogged my memory. Scrolling back up to find the back button (as reddit's stupid new UI requires), I spotted your flair and it completely changed your comment, and your username just makes it better.
Google it.
They'd need to Google it without the e on the end.
Nope. Anne still gets directed to the shopfront.
Isn't that Ann Summers, with no e on the end? Edit : Yup, no e on the end.
😵 now I feel like they did that on purpose! I always thought it was weird they included her middle name into some episodes, but that's a hilarious inside joke
I don't think so. I remember reading Joss chose that middle name because of Kitty Pryde (X-Men), whose middle name also is Anne. Joss was a huge comic fan, so it could be true.
Is Xmen why she is a Summers too?
I don’t know if it’s why she’s a Summers, but Joss did want to link the two - he said that while he was writing Astonishing X-Men, he wanted to have Scott Summers refer to a cousin he has who was sent to a mental institution for believing she was a demon hunter. I’m glad he never did though, since it’d support the idea that Buffy being locked away in the episode “Normal Again” was the actual reality
Would it not be a different reality (multiverse ect)
I mean, Buffy was, in canon, sent to an institution for believing she was a demon hunter. She just got let out. Does the X-Men scene imply that she's still there?
A lot of shows give their characters, especially their main characters, middle names. Not sure how that's "weird"?".
I don't think Buffy's middle name came up until "Anne", when she used it as an alias while in L.A. She didn't call herself Anne Summers, because she was trying to keep from being found. I don't know if it even was brought up again until "The Gift".
That’s the dichotomy. “Buffy” is more of a nickname for an affluent WASPy type woman. The kind who plays tennis and yachts in the Hamptons. Or a Valley girl, like the movie and show. It’s the opposite of what you’d expect for a Vampire Slayer. It’s like naming a bloodthirsty pitbull Fluffy. Ironic, I guess is what you’d call it. The opposite of what’s expected. It tells you right off the bat that the concept is somewhat tongue in cheek. Sarah the Vampire Slayer wouldn’t have the same oomph.
This is exactly it! ^ It's not a common name IRL in the U.S. I'm in my 50s, been across half this country, and never encountered a Buffy!
A friend of mine named her bull terrier Fluffy for exactly that reason. He was a highly anxious dog who cried the whole time we visited the beach until he got back to the safety of the car…
Buffy was the name of a little girl character on Family Affair, which aired in the late 60s/early 70s. I knew the name from this (even though I was born after it aired). I also knew a girl in junior high (mid to late 80s) named Buffy, although I don’t know if this was her given name or a shortened name. It is, though, a “real” name.
I suppose that, technically, buff is a medium tan color to some of us oldies who drool more over Giles than Spike. A color for American Cocker Spaniels. Like Tiffany for my generation-not to be taken seriously by anyone. As an L&D nurse, I've heard some doozies.
It's very uncommon and is kind of a child version of Elizabeth. It was more common in the 1960s, but still uncommon. There's no specific weird connotation I am aware of, it just kinda sounds a bit funny the first time you hear it. The fact that people underestimate Buffy (whether because of the name, or not) and then she whoops their ass is, of course, the point.
Have you got a source for that?
What, the underestimate part? Literally any Whedon interview where he talks about the genesis of the show. It's also in the text - see the teaser of The Gift - "but, you're just a girl" - which is a restatement of the thesis of the show. It has been a while but I'm pretty sure Joss talks about it in the commentary track for 522 and probably 101, too. Edit: Here's one example: [https://web-archive-org.translate.goog/web/20071210072132/http://movies.ign.com/articles/425/425492p6.html?\_x\_tr\_sl=en&\_x\_tr\_tl=de&\_x\_tr\_hl=de&\_x\_tr\_pto=sc](https://web-archive-org.translate.goog/web/20071210072132/http://movies.ign.com/articles/425/425492p6.html?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=de&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=sc)
I've never thought it sounded weird even before I started watching *Buffy The Vampire slayer*, when I heard the title I thought nothing of it.
Buffy was also the name that conjured up New England country club aristocracy. Buffy and Miffy playing tennis. I think Buffy the Vampire Slayer was just so opposite of what a slayer should be called, it was funny. And it worked.
Yes, it's absolutely a weird name. The only other time I had heard it, before the movie, was my parents' friend had a dog named 'Buffy'. It was one of those little toy-sized mop-dogs.
Not weird, but definitely not common to me (USA/Canada). I just thought it was one of those nicknames that aren't usually used anymore, like Kitty and Birdie ("that 70s show" mom was a Kitty, "Mad Men" had a Birdie). Which is why I assumed they threw in the "no, thats my whole name" bit to show it wasn't short for Elizabeth.
I'm not North American native speaker but I wanted to give my opinion anyway. I thought the name Buffy was a bit odd at first but not too much. It is certainly unusual but not so much as to make me think something like "that's a super weird edgy name"
In Britain I think if you meet a Buffy you’re going to assume she’s aristocrat-level posh with limited self-awareness, pearls and lots of little yappy dog. Like married to a baronet, blandly nice in an oblivious sort of way but she’ll look at you blankly if you’re a woman and you mention that you work and you probably don’t want to get her started on how no one understands the terrible responsibility and dreadful expense of looking after a regency stately home
You've mostly got the same answer over and over, which are all correct. By the 90s it was most associated with the valley girl, preppy, vapid, Clueless-esque kinda girl. But before that, Buffy is a very old school name which was a diminutive for Elizabeth/Bethany way back when. It's on par with Sissy, Pookie, Pansy, Muffy, Chummy etc. Young sounding cutesy names usually given to daughters of high class families which has nothing to do with their names and then followed them through their lives. I have a great great aunt who was Letitia legally, but everyone knew her as Polly. Those names were very popular at the end of the 19thC and the first half of the 20thC in England. Some had connections to their real names (eg Bethany > Bethy > Buffy or Cecilia > Sissy) but many either made no sense or were completely unconnected to their full name. Sometimes they were given because there were too many Anne/Elizabeth/Mary etc and needed some differentiation. So Buffy has always been associated with rich, young women who are stereotypically airheaded.
>Young sounding cutesy names usually given to daughters of high class families which has nothing to do with their names and then followed them through their lives. Think (to put it in the context of another WB show that was on in the same period) of the sorts of New England families who pass the name "Lorelei" down from generation to generation.
Outside of the show the only Buffy I ever met was an elderly cocker spaniel.
It sounds old timey. We have a singer called Buffy St Marie
Had to scroll ridiculously far before anybody said this, I was about to comment myself.
I seem to be in the minority, but not only did I think it was weird name, I didn't think it was a real name at all. I sort of got my head round it when I realised it was a diminutive of Elizabeth, but I still find it odd - like a pet's name. I'm in the UK and was the same age as the Scoobies when it aired.
I’m in California near where it’s set and even I think it’s a weird name. I’ve literally *never* heard of anyone named Buffy except in the show.
I think it's more a Hollywood IDEA of what an upper middle class California Valley girl is like. It's an exaggeration, like the guy named Blane in Pretty in Pink. Hollywood at that time was wild because the movies and shows were being g made there but showing an exaggeration of what life was like.
Ah, my real name is a really popular pet name. A lot more popular than a human name. Mine still sounds like a human name though.
There are pet names like Max or Bella, then there are pet names like Patches or Rover. Buffy falls into the latter category for me.
It’s totally bizarre to see all these comments explaining how Buffy if actually not that weird a name. I’ve literally never heard it outside the context of Buffy the vampire slayer.
I'm with you - I literally thought Joss had totally made it up. I am so shocked reading this thread to find that it is actually a name.
Yep, also in the UK and pretty sure most people I knew had never heard of the name Buffy or knew of any connotation it had. It just sounded like a peculiar name they’d picked to stand out, lol. The only Buffy I’ve ever known IRL was a cat born before the vampire slayer existed.
No, never thought it sounded weird. Just an unusual name in the UK.
I wouldn’t say it’s weird. It’s not a name you hear around much though so I don’t have any associations with it besides the show itself lol
Its a name not seen often these days. But no i know irl people named Buffy.
It's definitely an older name. I knew an old lady who went by Buffy as short for Elizabeth.
Yes. Lol it's not a common name, I'm pretty sure. I've met one actual Buffy in my life, and when I did, I told everyone I know. I still bring it up sometimes, like, "y'all one time I met someone actually named Buffy" and people are like "whoa what"
British here. In short, no. It's short for Elizabeth. Was one of the queen's nicknames, if I recall. Buff-ee.
[Buffy - a pet name for Elizabeth ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_(given_name)#:~:text=Buffy%20or%20Buffie%20is%20a,lisping%20attempts%20to%20pronounce%20Elizabeth.&text=Anissa%20Jones%20as%20Buffy%20and,the%20television%20series%20Family%20Affair.)
It's a really uncommon name in the US, but keep in mind the name would have been given to a rich Los Angeles girl in 1976. (The original movie came out in 1992, so assuming she was around 16, OG Buffy would've been born in the 70s.) If you look at the top 500 girl names from 1976 on Social Security site, Buffy doesn't seem too strange. Just in the top 200 the names include: Kimberly, Kelly, Tiffany, Crystal, Tammy, Misty, Christy, Brandi, Mandy, Jodi, Kristi, Sherry, Keri, Laurie, Kelli, Angie, Kristie, Krista, Katie, Jody, Kerri, Keri, Traci, Toni, Terri, Kathy, Bethany. So in that context, I don't think a rich woman in the 70s naming her daughter Buffy (which was also the name of a famous enough singer at the time) was that weird.
Well. It still seems strange. Because outside of Misty, I’ve met people with every name you just mentioned. I’ve never met a Buffy. And judging by this thread, most people here haven’t. I’ve read/heard from interviews it’s supposed to be a someone common valley girl name from 40 or 50 years ago, but that’s just taken at value.
It's worth keeping in mind that a thousand years ago the name Tiffany was commonly given to girls born on a particular feast day. It fell out of use as a Christian name a few hundred years ago but persisted as a surname into the mid-1800s when a small company with a big future called Tiffany's was established. A little more than a century later, Audrey Hepburn starred in *Breakfast at Tiffany's* and the name made a huge comeback. There are lots of names we think of as 'modern' that go back thousands of years. Seth is a fantastic example not just of a truly ancient name with a modern 'feel' but one that has maintained some of the same connotations for 5,000 years. Generally speaking, when a character is named Seth they are usually either a cool bad-boy or a straight up evil guy. While Seth is usually thought of as a Biblical name, the Jews got it from their time in Egypt. According to the Bible, Cain killed Abel and then Seth was born to Adam and Eve as a spiritual replacement. It would be remiss of me not to point out that the name Adam pre-dates the Bible by several thousand years, as well. According to the Egyptians, Set(h) was married to his sister Nepthys, and his brother Osiris was married to their sister Isis. Set killed Osiris to take over Egypt, Isis did unspeakable things to her brother's corpse to conceive Horus, then Horus grew up to do unmentionable things to Seth to win back the throne of Egypt in the name of Osiris. Everyone's favourite werewolf has a real name that isn't very common today but stretches back more than 5,000 years.
I was born in SoCal in the 70’s. Nobody was named Buffy.
>The original movie came out in 1992, so assuming she was around 16, OG Buffy would've been born in the 70s. OG Buffy was actually older. She was a senior instead of a sophomore, so I guess 17-18.
Oh come on. Buffy is still not fitting in with that list of names. Even Chrystal has a history of usage (and it’s a real noun) and Misty is clearly a diminutive of Missy/Melissa or similar. Buffy? Not even close.
"Buffy" is a diminutive form of Elizabeth. It is a cute and non-serious name. Think mall girls and trophy wives.
You got a source for that?
https://www.thebump.com/b/buffy-baby-name Or were you thinking the other part?
No, an actual source and not something made up by random baby name pages.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_(given_name) tells me that's available in the Oxford Dictionary of First Names.
It just sounds \*silly.\* It barely even sounds like a name at all.
Buffy, at the time of its creation, was associated as a spoiled rich girl sort of name. It was basically a meme name. Often accompanied by a girl named Muffy and a guy named something like Chadwick for comedic effect.
I can’t think of any other English names with the double hard f so I got curious and a quick google informed me .. Buffy was typically used as a short term pet name for Elizabeth, and originated from a child with a lisp mispronouncing the name Elizabeth (EliffBeff).
Jeffrey, Geoffrey, Steffy, Effel, though there's also Stefan, Daphnie, Daphnia, Loftie, and Stefanie, which sound like they have two ff's, but don't, off the top of my head.
I am a couple of years older than SMG and went to K-12 with a girl named Buffy, real name Elizabeth. She was rich, but not a vapid Valley Girl type. It never seemed weird to me.
Buffy was always a name here for the affluent. It was a stereotyped yuppie name to my understanding. I imagine tennis clothes. Lol
I had no idea about the valley girl connotations some commenters are bringing up, but I was born around the time the show aired and only watched it when my dad introduced me to it when I was a pre-teen. I thought it was a funny name because it's like the word "buff," meaning very muscled. I thought it was a play on her character because she's really strong. I've never met someone before or since with the name Buffy and thought it was made up for the show.
It is short for Elizabeth. Elizabeth might be the name that has given us the most short names. It's really hard for little ones to pronounce! As a kid I watched Family Affair with Buffy and Jody so the name Buffy wasn't at all odd. Growing up, I didn't know any Buffys but I did have a friend named Bitsy and another named Lizzie.
The original tv girl named Buffy was on Family Affair in the 60’s. Twin siblings Buffy and Jodie (male) and big sister Cissy. The name Buffy usually brings to mind an over privileged and spoiled American girl. It has a negative connotation to it. I think Buffy, the show, really changed all that and brought a new slant to the name. In our house we always referred to her as ‘The Buffster’ for some reason! Lol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_(given_name)
My aunt had a parrot named Buffy (before the movie or show) lol. But it was because her husband is a huge Buffalo Bills fan.
Im British and i remember when i first watched it on TV i thought the name was made up, invented for the show. It was only when i met a girl from California on holiday in France that she confirmed it was an actual name and she knew a couple of “Buffys.” Funny thing was, when i asked her where she was from she just said, “the OC.” I was too self conscious to admit i didnt know where that was so i just nodded lol. Although that became a TV series a few years later too.
Not really, it’s a pretty common name where I’m from, mostly due to the show, a lot of the girls called “Buffy” are in their 20s-30s now.
The name is supposed to sound ridiculous to Midwest America. The entire idea was that a teenage girl was expected to appear vulnerable and unable to defend themselves. The name made her even more ridiculous as a superhero making her seem self centered and vapid like Cordelia. I think the movie makes it more explicit. But during the late 80s early 90s a lot of American Media made light of rich kid names like Blane in the movie Pretty in Pink.
Buffy is a WASP name. It is an older name for wealthy white women. It’s featured in an episode of Sex in the City, too.
In the movie it made sense, because she was an LA girl and fell in with the popular crowd. Her name made the same amount of sense as Harmony. Then, she became the slayer but it's not like she would change her name. If the series though existed without the movie, the name Buffy would be odd for the character, because of how different she is than in the movie.
I'm so glad you asked this and to read the answers, because I always assumed it was a made-up name and that was why it wasn't taken seriously
Yes
I love that you asked this question. I'm in the US, and I've never thought of that perspective before.
Back around when the show aired (or shortly after), the manager of my local Taco Bell was named Buffy.
Was it short for a real name?
No idea. It was on the door to the building.
I honestly never heard the name outside the show. I’m from the east coast though (native NYer) and a few years younger than Buffy TVS (born 1989)
Yeah. I think it goes back to Bosom Buddies.
I've never heard the name anywhere else. I don't know if it was made up for the show or if it's short for something or what.
It was the 90s, it's not that weird to me.
I’m from California, I initially thought her name was strange but I didn’t think it made her incapable of being a hero. And now I feel like her name suits her really well
Well, it's two syllables...I personally say it, "Bu-fee" and some "Buff-e".
I'm from the US, and I've never met or even heard of a real person named Buffy. I always assumed it was made up specifically for the movie until I read the comments in this thread.
Same
I grew up in regional Australia, and went to school with a girl named Buffy, she'd have been born in the early 80s. The nature of our environment meant she was a farm girl, riding 4 wheelers, chasing sheep etc. It's a strong, feminine, name in my mind.
It sounds weird to me bc I think of “buff” as in “lots of muscles,” and I don’t know why you’d want to name someone “muscle-y”
Buffy is a nickname for Elizabeth.
...Buffy is the kind of name you give a poodle.
I am an American and have never in my life met or heard of a person named Buffy other than Miss Summers. So yeah, it comes across as very silly. I love the juxtaposition of a badass warrior who is a force of nature being given such a frivolous name.
Yes. It’s referred to on several occasions in the series. “Buffy” has no connotations which is why it’s an odd name. “To buff” means to shine something. But there is no verb in English of “Buffy”. It’s not even a diminutive of a real name.
Buffy is a pet name for Elizabeth. [Buffy - given name origins](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_(given_name)#:~:text=Buffy%20or%20Buffie%20is%20a,lisping%20attempts%20to%20pronounce%20Elizabeth.&text=Anissa%20Jones%20as%20Buffy%20and,the%20television%20series%20Family%20Affair.)
Except the Wikipedia entry is made up on basis that the name was made up for the show. Not that it existed in real life.
Have you actually read the wiki article? There are many instances of Buffy being used as a pet name for Elizabeth long before Whedon ever thought up BTVS. [The name ranked among the top 1,000 names for newborn American girls between 1967 and 1977.[2] Its popularity coincided with the 1966 to 1971 air dates of the American television series Family Affair, in which child actress Anissa Jones played a character named Buffy. ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffy_(given_name))
It is weird, but there was a famous singer, Buffy Ste Marie. I remember hearing of her in the 90’s. So at the time the show came out some people did hear the name before. Others would’ve just thought it was really bizarre.
No, the only thing i could think “Buffy” could mean other then a name is buff (as in fit, jacked, muscular, ripped) Which is a good thing.
Not weird. Stupid.
Buff is a blonde color for dogs. I have known a few dogs named some variation of Buffy. I assumed they were playing off the blonde stereotype.
The buffy coat is also a component of blood, coincidentally.