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

104 names, uncommon — 100 to 499 a year, in United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Larry Larry is a boy's name, the short form of Lawrence, from a Roman name meaning of Laurentum.
Boy Latin 198 in 2025
Kit Kit is a name of Greek origin meaning "bearer of Christ."
Unisex Greek 403 in 2025
Elsa Elsa is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," a German short form of Elisabeth.
Girl German 216 in 2025
Betty Betty is a girl's name that began as a short form of Elizabeth and is now used in its own right.
Girl Hebrew 212 in 2025
Terry Terry is a name serving as a short form of Terence and of the Germanic Theodoric, two unrelated names, and it is genuinely mixed — about 18 percent of the births in our records are female.
Unisex English 202 in 2025
Dara Dara is a unisex name that arrives from at least three unconnected languages — Irish, Hebrew and Persian — and the reading depends entirely on which one a family has in mind.
Unisex uncertain 255 in 2025
Sally Sally is a girl's name meaning princess, a pet form of Sarah reached by medieval rhyming.
Girl Hebrew 201 in 2025
Ayat Ayat is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "signs" or "verses."
Girl Arabic 200 in 2025
Rafe Rafe is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
Boy Norse 179 in 2025
Bria Bria is a girl's name usually explained as a short form of Brianna, though an Italian source is also proposed.
Girl Irish 199 in 2025
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.
Boy English 170 in 2025
Sandra Sandra is a girl's name that began as an Italian short form of Alessandra and became independent in the twentieth century.
Girl Italian 188 in 2025
Ezio Ezio is a boy's name of Italian origin meaning "eagle," from the Roman name Aetius.
Boy Italian 165 in 2025
Shay Shay is a unisex name of Irish origin meaning "hawk-like" or "stately," the phonetic spelling of the Irish Séaghdha.
Unisex Irish 261 in 2025
May May has three separate sources that English cannot tell apart — the month, the hawthorn blossom that opens in it, and a short form of Mary and Margaret.
Girl English 183 in 2025
Mike Mike is a boy's name, the short form of Michael, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
Boy Hebrew 163 in 2025
Jana Jana ranks 223rd in France and 1245th in the United States, and its French peak of 485 births came in 2019 — a Slavic form of John that is currently doing better in France than in any English-speaking market.
Girl Slavic 181 in 2025
Rian Rian is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "little king," from the Old Irish rí, king, with a diminutive ending.
Unisex Irish 189 in 2025
Amal Amal is a name of Arabic origin meaning "hope" or "aspiration."
Girl Arabic 197 in 2025
Alba Alba is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "dawn" or "white."
Girl Latin 177 in 2025
Noam Noam is a unisex name of Hebrew origin meaning "pleasantness" or "delight."
Boy Hebrew 163 in 2025
Addie Addie shortens Adelaide and Adeline alike, and both descend from the Germanic word for noble — the same adal that sits inside Alice, Allison and Albert.
Girl English 176 in 2025
Karen Karen is a girl's name, the Danish form of Katherine, and it inherits that name's genuinely unknown meaning.
Girl Danish 175 in 2025
Rita Rita is a girl's name meaning pearl, clipped from the end of Margarita rather than the front.
Girl Greek 174 in 2025
Nelly Nelly charts in five markets and England ranks it highest at 353rd — ahead of Scotland 486th, Ireland 640th, France 726th and the United States 1294th.
Girl English 182 in 2025
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.
Boy Arabic 151 in 2025
Cian Cian is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "ancient" or "enduring."
Boy Irish 148 in 2025
Cara Cara is a girl's name with two independent sources: the Italian cara, meaning "dear" or "beloved," and the Irish cara, meaning "friend."
Girl Irish 168 in 2025
Dina Dina is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "judged" or "vindicated," borne by Jacob's daughter in one of the harshest stories in Genesis.
Girl Hebrew 168 in 2025
Janie Janie means God is gracious, shortened from Jane — and Jane is the English feminine of John, which makes it part of the largest name family in Europe by a considerable margin.
Girl English 168 in 2025
Alya Alya is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "sky," "heaven" or "loftiness," from a root meaning to rise.
Girl Arabic 167 in 2025
Tori Tori means victory through Victoria, and a separate Japanese tori means bird — the two are unrelated, and the shrine gates called torii are a third word again.
Girl English 174 in 2025
Jad Jad is a boy's name from Arabic, generally read as generous or earnest.
Boy Arabic 139 in 2025
Jules Jules is a boy's name, the French form of the Roman family name Julius, traditionally explained as "youthful."
Boy French 219 in 2025
Freddy Freddy is far stronger in England than in America — 328th in England and Wales on 135 births against 1422nd in the United States on 127, despite the two countries being nowhere near comparable in size.
Boy English 127 in 2025
Zack Zack is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered," a short form of Zachary.
Boy Hebrew 126 in 2025
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.
Boy English 124 in 2025
Pia Pia is a girl's name from Latin meaning dutiful or devout, the feminine of Pius.
Girl Latin 148 in 2025
Nour Nour is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "light," from nur.
Girl Arabic 148 in 2025
Laya Laya is a girl's name with two unrelated sources: a Sanskrit word meaning "rhythm" and a respelling of Leah.
Girl Sanskrit 137 in 2025
Steve Steve is a boy's name, the short form of Steven or Stephen, meaning crown or garland.
Boy Greek 105 in 2025
Asma Asma is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "loftier" or "more eminent," borne by the woman who carried food to Muhammad in hiding.
Girl Arabic 129 in 2025
Nell Nell is a girl's name that reached its modern form through a medieval habit of mishearing, from "mine Ellen" run together.
Girl English 128 in 2025
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.
Boy French 103 in 2025
Lois Lois is a girl's name that appears once in the New Testament, in a letter naming Timothy's grandmother, and its meaning has never been established.
Girl Greek 124 in 2025
Issa Issa is a boy's name of Arabic origin, the Quranic name of Jesus.
Boy Arabic 157 in 2025
Lori Lori is a girl's name, a short form of Laura meaning laurel.
Girl Latin 118 in 2025
Tess Tess is a girl's name of Greek origin, a short form of Theresa whose meaning has never been established despite centuries of attempts.
Girl English 113 in 2025

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A style is our reading of a name. A decade is the register — the names children were actually given, in order, with the counts.

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