Short Names

Four letters or fewer, or one syllable. Short names pair well with long surnames and badly with short ones, which is the single most reliable thing anyone can tell you about choosing on sound.

Rankings for

153 names, most popular first in United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Wells Wells is a boy's name of English origin meaning someone who lived by a spring.
English #347 in US
Kade Kade is a boy's name of English origin, a modern respelling of Cade.
English #349 in US
Briggs Briggs is a boy's name of English origin meaning someone who lived by a bridge.
English #356 in US
Elio Elio is a boy's name of Italian origin meaning "sun," from the Greek helios.
Italian #388 in US
Iker Iker is a boy's name of Basque origin meaning "visitation".
Basque #390 in US
Jay Jay is a name serving as an initial-letter shortening for any J name, as a bird name, and as an Indian name meaning victory.
English #392 in US
Zander Zander is a boy's name of Greek origin, a short form of Alexander meaning "defender of men".
Greek #396 in US
Kylo Kylo is a boy's name invented for Star Wars in 2015.
Invented #402 in US
King King is a boy's name taken from the English title, from the Old English cyning.
English #405 in US
Koda Koda is a boy's name with more than one claimed source.
Disputed #412 in US
Hank Hank is a boy's name of Germanic origin, a short form of Henry meaning "home ruler".
Germanic #413 in US
Reed Reed is a boy's name of English origin meaning "red" — a nickname for someone with red hair or a ruddy complexion.
English #418 in US
Boone Boone is a boy's name of Norman French origin.
English #423 in US
Lucca Lucca is a boy's name taken from the walled Tuscan city, and used as a variant spelling of Luca, the Italian form of Luke.
Italian #425 in US
Prince Prince is a boy's name taken from the title, from the Latin princeps — literally "the one who takes first place".
Latin #447 in US
Bo Bo is a boy's name of Scandinavian origin meaning "to live" or "to dwell".
Scandinavian #450 in US
Kane Kane is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "battle", from Ó Catháin.
Irish #451 in US
Rome Rome is a boy's name taken from the city, whose own name has no agreed derivation.
Latin #452 in US
Jake Jake is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter," a short form of Jacob that became a name in its own right.
English #457 in US
Johnny Johnny is a boy's name, the pet form of John, meaning God is gracious.
English #458 in US
Mack Mack means son of, and on its own it is only half a name — the Gaelic mac is a prefix, so using it alone is like naming a child Junior with nothing in front of it.
Scottish #463 in US
Soren Soren is a boy's name of Danish origin, from the Latin Severinus meaning "stern" or "serious".
Danish #464 in US
Ayaan Ayaan is a name with two distinct origins. In Arabic it means "time" or "era," from ayn; in Somali it is a well-established girl's name meaning "bright" or "lucky" — and both are in current use.
Arabic #465 in US
Zayne Zayne is a boy's name with two unrelated sources and no agreement about which it descends from.
Arabic #473 in US
Asa Asa is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "healer" or "physician".
Hebrew #483 in US
Odin Odin is a boy's name of Old Norse origin meaning roughly "the frenzied one".
Norse #502 in US
Kobe Kobe is a boy's name best known from the Japanese city, whose name means "door of the gods".
Japanese #519 in US
Roy Roy is a boy's name with two independent sources — the Gaelic ruadh, meaning red-haired, and the French roi, meaning king.
Scottish Gaelic #525 in US
Andy Andy means manly, and the Greek root is the ordinary word for a man — so Andrew is one of the few apostles carrying a Greek name rather than a Hebrew or Aramaic one.
English #565 in US
Zain Zain is a boy's name of Arabic origin meaning "beauty" or "grace".
Arabic #567 in US
Seth Seth is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "appointed" or "placed," given to Adam and Eve's third son after Cain killed Abel.
Hebrew #581 in US
Zayd Zayd is a boy's name of Arabic origin meaning "growth" or "abundance."
Arabic #632 in US
Sam Sam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has heard," a short form of Samuel.
Hebrew #647 in US
Mac Mac is a boy's name from the Gaelic word for son, which appears in every Mc- and Mac- surname there is.
Scottish #696 in US
Noé Noé is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "rest" or "comfort," the French and Spanish form of Noah.
French #755 in US
Tony Tony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning has never been established.
Latin #783 in US
Ray Ray is a boy's name that serves as a short form of Raymond and as the English word for a beam of light.
Germanic #792 in US
Ty Ty has no source of its own — it shortens Tyler, Tyrone and Tyson, three names with nothing in common, so which one a given Ty belongs to cannot be read off the name.
English #811 in US
Ben Ben is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "son," used both as a short form of Benjamin and as a name in its own right.
Hebrew #845 in US
Jimmy Jimmy is a boy's name, the pet form of James, meaning supplanter.
Hebrew #846 in US
Rex Rex means king, and it is the plain Latin nominative — which makes it the pair to Regis, the genitive meaning of the king.
Latin #859 in US
Eddie Eddie is a boy's name, the pet form of Edward or Edwin, meaning wealth.
English #860 in US
Jerry Jerry is a name that serves as the short form of at least three unrelated names — Jeremiah from Hebrew, Gerald and Gerard from Germanic — so its meaning depends entirely on which one a family had in mind.
English #907 in US
Ricky Ricky is a boy's name, the pet form of Richard or Ricardo, meaning strong ruler.
Germanic #949 in US
Jon Jon is a boy's name meaning God is gracious, and it is both an English shortening of Jonathan and the standard Scandinavian and Catalan form of John — two routes to the same three letters.
Hebrew #951 in US
Alec Alec means defender of men, and France ranks it 536th — above the United States at 979th, which is not where a Scottish short form of a Greek name would be expected to lead.
Scottish #979 in US
Joe Joe is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," a short form of Joseph that has become the English word for an ordinary person.
Hebrew #995 in US
Randy Randy is a boy's name, the short form of Randall or Randolph, meaning shield-wolf.
Germanic #1,088 in US

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