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

385 names, most popular first in the United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Drew Drew shortens Andrew, meaning manly, and there is a second unrelated Drew from a Germanic word for a ghost or phantom.
Unisex English #554 in US
Della Della has no single parent — it shortens Adela, Delia and Adelaide alike, and it is reviving, at 563rd in the United States and 1,010th in Scotland.
Girl English #563 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.
Boy English #565 in US
Zain Zain is a boy's name of Arabic origin meaning "beauty" or "grace".
Boy Arabic #567 in US
Allie Allie means noble, and it serves three different names at once — Alice, Allison and Alexandra all shorten to it, so which one a given Allie belongs to cannot be read off the name itself.
Girl English #570 in US
Lina Lina is a girl's name with two separate sources: an Arabic word for a young palm tree, and a European short form of names ending in -lina such as Carolina and Angelina.
Girl Arabic #572 in US
Cali Cali is a girl's name with several possible sources.
Girl Greek, American #575 in US
Cleo Cleo is a name of Greek origin meaning "glory" or "fame."
Unisex Greek #577 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.
Boy Hebrew #581 in US
Mara Mara is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "bitter," and it is the name Naomi asks to be called after losing her family.
Girl Hebrew #589 in US
Tru Tru is a unisex name, a respelling of the English word true, from the Old English treowe — which meant faithful and loyal rather than factually correct.
Unisex English #591 in US
Mina Mina is a girl's name with several independent origins.
Girl German, Persian, Sanskrit #596 in US
Lexi Lexi is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "defender of men," a diminutive of Alexandra taken from the middle of the name rather than the start.
Girl English #629 in US
Zayd Zayd is a boy's name of Arabic origin meaning "growth" or "abundance."
Boy Arabic #632 in US
Indie Indie is a girl's name with no single origin.
Girl Disputed #632 in US
Rhea Rhea is a girl's name of Greek origin borne by the Titan who was mother of Zeus.
Girl Greek #639 in US
Aya Aya is a girl's name with separate Arabic and Japanese origins: in Arabic it means "sign" or "verse" of the Quran, and in Japanese "color" or "woven silk."
Girl Arabic #644 in US
Chris Chris shortens two unrelated Greek names — Christopher, which means bearing Christ, and Christine, which means belonging to Christ.
Unisex Greek #646 in US
Sam Sam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has heard," a short form of Samuel.
Boy Hebrew #647 in US
Hana Hana is a girl's name with three unrelated origins: the Japanese for "flower," the Arabic for "happiness," and a Slavic and Czech form of Hannah, meaning "grace."
Girl Disputed #657 in US
Noor Noor is a name of Arabic origin meaning "light."
Girl Arabic #659 in US
Layne Layne is a unisex name meaning "a small road," from the English surname Lane, which described someone living by a narrow path.
Unisex English #662 in US
Jenna Jenna is a girl's name that began as an elaboration of Jenny and is now used independently.
Girl English #679 in US
Lara Lara is a girl's name of Russian origin, a short form of Larisa, and its meaning is unresolved — most often given as "citadel," after the Greek city of Larissa.
Girl Russian #691 in US
Dax Dax is a boy's name from an English surname, which came either from the town of Dax in southwestern France or from the Old English personal name Dæcca, whose meaning is unknown.
Boy French, English #693 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.
Boy Scottish #696 in US
Romy Romy is a girl's name of Latin origin, a pet form of Rosemarie or Rosemary.
Girl Latin #697 in US
Angie Angie means messenger, and the Greek root behind it named someone carrying news — the wings and choirs of later Christianity all grew from an ordinary occupational word.
Girl English #705 in US
Sol Sol is a unisex name meaning "sun," from Latin and Spanish sol and Old Norse sól.
Unisex Latin, Spanish, Hebrew #722 in US
Abby Abby means my father is joy, and France ranks it 322nd — ahead of Scotland at 359th, Ireland at 453rd and the United States at 731st, which is not where an English diminutive of a Hebrew name should lead.
Girl English #731 in US
Noé Noé is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "rest" or "comfort," the French and Spanish form of Noah.
Boy French #755 in US
Ayan Ayan is a name with two unrelated origins.
Unisex Arabic #762 in US
Tony Tony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning has never been established.
Boy 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.
Boy 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.
Boy English #811 in US
Romi Romi is a unisex name with no single source, arriving separately from Hebrew, Japanese and European naming, where it serves as a short form of Romy and Romina.
Unisex uncertain #817 in US
Livia Livia is a girl's name of Latin origin, a Roman family name usually connected to livere, meaning to be blue or envious, though the olive tree is often given instead.
Girl Latin #819 in US
Erin Erin is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "Ireland."
Girl Irish #835 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.
Boy Hebrew #845 in US
Jimmy Jimmy is a boy's name, the pet form of James, meaning supplanter.
Boy Hebrew #846 in US
Léa Léa is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the French form of Leah, the elder sister of Rachel in Genesis.
Girl French #848 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.
Boy Latin #859 in US
Eddie Eddie is a boy's name, the pet form of Edward or Edwin, meaning wealth.
Boy English #860 in US
Ayah Ayah is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "sign" or "miracle."
Girl Arabic #870 in US
Liv Liv is a girl's name of Old Norse origin meaning "protection," which modern Scandinavian speakers reinterpret as "life" because it now resembles that word.
Girl Norse #897 in US
Linda Linda is a girl's name usually read as beautiful in Spanish or as a Germanic element meaning soft or tender.
Girl Spanish #902 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.
Boy English #907 in US
Etta Etta is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
Girl Germanic #931 in US

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