English pet name and diminutive derived from 'bunny,' used as an affectionate given name.
Bunnie belongs to the warmly American tradition of affectionate nicknames elevated into given names — a phenomenon that flourished from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth, when names like Birdie, Dovie, Kitty, and Bunnie moved from pet names into birth certificates with unapologetic tenderness. The underlying word connects to the Scottish dialectal "bun" (rabbit, hare), itself possibly of Celtic origin, though the affectionate diminutive "bunny" was already circulating in English as a term of endearment by the seventeenth century. In its heyday between roughly 1900 and 1950, Bunnie appeared most frequently in the American South and Midwest, often given to daughters as a genuine first name rather than a nickname.
It carried the warmth of a family's most affectionate register — the name whispered at the cradle rather than announced in the parlor. Several real women bore it with confidence, wearing it through careers, marriages, and long lives that gave it a sturdy, unsentimental dignity. Bunnie today occupies a peculiar charm.
It sits in the same category as Birdie, Blythe, and Bunny — names that sound almost too sweet on paper but carry genuine historical weight and a retro warmth that contemporary revival culture is beginning to appreciate. It is, at its heart, a name that says: you were so loved from the very beginning that only the softest word would do.