Short Boy 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

163 names, most popular first in the United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

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
Larry Larry is a boy's name, the short form of Lawrence, from a Roman name meaning of Laurentum.
Latin #1,090 in US
Terry Terry is a name serving as a short form of Terence and of the Germanic Theodoric, two unrelated names, and it is mixed — about 18 percent of recorded births are female.
English #1,116 in US
Rafe Rafe is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
Norse #1,165 in US
Ash Ash is a boy's name, also used for girls, meaning "ash tree," from the Old English word æsc. It works both as a nature name and as a short form of Ashley, Asher or Ashton.
English #1,179 in US
Will Will means will-helmet, and the compound is stranger than it looks — the Germanic joins desire to a piece of armor, so the name reads as protection by determination.
English #1,195 in US
Ezio Ezio is a boy's name of Italian origin meaning "eagle," from the Roman name Aetius.
Italian #1,226 in US
Mike Mike is a boy's name, the short form of Michael, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
Hebrew #1,233 in US
Noam Noam is a unisex name of Hebrew origin meaning "pleasantness" or "delight."
Hebrew #1,274 in US
Anas Anas is a boy's name of Arabic origin meaning "friendliness" or "companionship," borne by one of the closest companions of the Prophet Muhammad.
Arabic #1,294 in US
Cian Cian is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "ancient" or "enduring."
Irish #1,313 in US
Zeus Zeus is a boy's name from Greek mythology, the king of the gods and ruler of the sky on Mount Olympus.
Greek #1,349 in US
Jad Jad is a boy's name from Arabic, generally read as generous or earnest.
Arabic #1,356 in US
Freddy Freddy is far stronger in England than in America — 328th in England and Wales on 135 births against 1,422nd in the United States on 127, despite the two countries being nowhere near comparable in size.
English #1,422 in US
Zack Zack is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered," a short form of Zachary.
Hebrew #1,428 in US
Nick Nick means victory of the people, and the compound is political rather than personal — the Greek joins victory to the citizen body, so it describes a public triumph and not an individual one.
English #1,444 in US
Steve Steve is a boy's name, the short form of Steven or Stephen, meaning crown or garland.
Greek #1,615 in US
Guy Guy is a boy's name from a Germanic word probably meaning wood or wide, and one of very few names to have become an ordinary English noun — through Guy Fawkes, whose effigies gave the word its modern sense.
French #1,643 in US
Naïm Naïm is a boy's name of Arabic origin meaning "ease," "comfort" or "bliss," and in the Quran the name of paradise itself.
Arabic #1,691 in US
Chad Chad is a boy's name from a seventh-century English saint, and it has since become an American internet stereotype and, separately, the name of a country and a disputed ballot.
English #1,700 in US
Josh Josh is a boy's name, the short form of Joshua, from a Hebrew name meaning the Lord is salvation.
Hebrew #1,704 in US
Don Don is a boy's name shortened from Donald, meaning world ruler.
Scottish #1,794 in US
Donnie Donnie ranks 563rd in Ireland and 1,804th in the United States, so the country with a fraction of the births ranks it three times higher — a pattern we see when a name goes home.
Scottish #1,804 in US
Eesa Eesa is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, the Arabic form of Jesus.
Hebrew #1,856 in US
Neal Neal has no agreed meaning — champion, cloud and passionate are all proposed for the Irish Niall and none is established.
Irish #1,909 in US
Fred Fred is a boy's name, the short form of Frederick meaning peaceful ruler.
Germanic #1,939 in US
Dan Dan means he judged, and it is a full Hebrew name in its own right before it is short for Daniel — one of Jacob's twelve sons, and the tribe that gave its name to the northern border of Israel.
Hebrew #1,972 in US
Tom Tom is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," a short form of Thomas used as a full name across Europe.
Aramaic #2,186 in US
Gene Gene means well-born, shortened from Eugene — and it has nothing at all to do with genes in biology, which is a separate word coined in 1909 from a different Greek root entirely, by a Danish botanist.
English #2,232 in US
Pete Pete means rock, and it began as a joke about a man's character — Jesus renames Simon as Cephas, the Aramaic for a stone, and the pun works in Greek but not in English.
English #2,371 in US
Lino Lino is a boy's name of Greek origin from Linus, a figure Greek myth killed off twice in different stories.
Italian #2,412 in US
Dave Dave ranks 2,217th in England and Wales and 2,469th in the United States, so the short form outranks its American peak market in a country that never recorded more than fifteen in a year.
Hebrew #2,469 in US
Zach Zach is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered," a short form of Zachary that has become a full name in its own right.
Hebrew #2,502 in US
Sandro Sandro is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "defender of mankind," the Italian short form of Alessandro.
Italian #2,585 in US
Rick Rick means brave ruler, shortened from Richard — and the medieval habit of rhyming pet names is why Rick also produced Dick, which is the same name with a different first letter.
English #3,075 in US
Jim Jim is a boy's name meaning supplanter, shortened from James — which is the same name as Jacob, split into two by Latin.
English #3,160 in US
Zac Zac is a boy's name, the short form of Zachary, from a Hebrew name meaning the Lord has remembered.
Hebrew #3,187 in US
Ted Ted is a boy's name that serves two unrelated names at once, and it exists because medieval English moved the n from "mine Edward."
English #3,192 in US
Tim Tim means honoring God, and France ranks it 277th — far above the United States at 3,221st, which is the reverse of what an English short form would normally do.
English #3,221 in US
Jeff Jeff means peace, shortened from Geoffrey — but the first element of that compound is disputed between three different Germanic words, so only the peace half of the name is agreed on by the sources.
English #3,351 in US
Kaïs Kaïs is a boy's name of Arabic origin, borne by the poet of the Layla and Majnun story, one of the most famous love legends of the Islamic world.
Arabic #3,535 in US
Tadhg Tadhg is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "poet" or "storyteller."
Irish #3,677 in US
Nino Nino is a boy's name in France and Italy, a short form of names ending in -nino such as Giovannino and Antonino.
Italian #3,679 in US
Sohan Sohan is a boy's name of Sanskrit origin meaning "handsome" or "charming."
Sanskrit #3,926 in US

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