Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas, in the home of her maternal grandfather, Alfred Gideon Otis—a former judge, president of the Atchison Savings Bank, and one of the town’s most prominent citizens.
She was the second child of Samuel "Edwin" Stanton Earhart and Amelia "Amy" Otis Earhart, and she came from a family of mixed heritage, including German ancestry. Amelia’s namesake came from both of her grandmothers—Amelia Josephine Harres and Mary Wells Patton—in keeping with family tradition.
From an early age, Amelia stood out as strong-willed and independent. She often took the lead over her younger sister, Grace Muriel Earhart (affectionately called "Pidge"), who was born in 1899 and tended to be more compliant.
Amelia herself was nicknamed “Meeley” or “Millie”, and both sisters kept these nicknames well into adulthood. The Earhart household was anything but conventional. Amy Earhart believed in giving her daughters the freedom to explore and develop their own interests, rather than conforming to traditional expectations of “proper young ladies.”
While their maternal grandmother disapproved of the bloomers the girls wore, Amelia enjoyed the sense of freedom they gave her—even if she was aware that other neighborhood girls were dressed more traditionally.