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

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

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

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
Sammy Sammy means God has heard, or possibly name of God — the Hebrew admits both readings, and the Bible's own explanation of Samuel uses a pun on asking that fits neither.
Boy Hebrew 110 in 2025
Judy Judy is a girl's name, the pet form of Judith, from a Hebrew word meaning a woman of Judea.
Girl Hebrew 105 in 2025
Susie Susie means lily, shortened from Susan, and the Hebrew word was borrowed from Egyptian — where it may have named a lotus rather than a lily, which changes the flower entirely.
Girl English 101 in 2025
Lou Lou is a girl's name in France, a short form of Louise and Louis meaning "famous warrior."
Girl French 146 in 2025
Cindy Cindy is a girl's name, a pet form of Cynthia, which was a title of the moon goddess Artemis.
Girl Greek 100 in 2025
Lula Lula has no single parent — it shortens Louise, Lucille and Tallulah alike, and it is reviving, ranking 1,306th in England and Wales against 1,938th in the United States.
Girl English 100 in 2025
Kari Kari descends from the same unexplained Greek root as Kaitlin in this group, but by a Scandinavian route — through Karen and Katarina rather than through Irish, and the pure gloss is equally unproven on both paths.
Girl Scandinavian 113 in 2025
Jackie Jackie is the third most evenly divided name on this site — 48.9 percent of recorded births are female, behind only Emerson and Riley among names with more than 50,000 births.
Unisex English 148 in 2025

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