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

361 names, most popular first in United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Mattie Mattie serves two entirely unrelated names — Martha, which is Aramaic for a lady, and Matilda, which is Germanic for might in battle.
Girl English #1,006 in US
Carly Carly means free man, and the Germanic word named a free peasant rather than a lord — so a name that now reads as light and modern began at the bottom of the free classes.
Girl English #1,011 in US
Yusra Yusra is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "ease" or "prosperity."
Girl Arabic #1,017 in US
Dana Dana is a name with several unrelated sources — a Danish origin, a Hebrew feminine of Daniel, and an Irish mother goddess.
Unisex English #1,028 in US
Dua Dua is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "prayer" or "supplication."
Girl Arabic #1,061 in US
Ann Ann is a girl's name from the Hebrew Hannah, meaning grace or favor, and the spelling without the final e.
Girl Hebrew #1,077 in US
Randy Randy is a boy's name, the short form of Randall or Randolph, meaning shield-wolf.
Boy Germanic #1,088 in US
Larry Larry is a boy's name, the short form of Lawrence, from a Roman name meaning of Laurentum.
Boy Latin #1,090 in US
Kit Kit is a name of Greek origin meaning "bearer of Christ."
Unisex Greek #1,103 in US
Elsa Elsa is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," a German short form of Elisabeth.
Girl German #1,106 in US
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 #1,115 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 genuinely mixed — about 18 percent of the births in our records are female.
Unisex English #1,116 in US
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 #1,129 in US
Sally Sally is a girl's name meaning princess, a pet form of Sarah reached by medieval rhyming.
Girl Hebrew #1,152 in US
Ayat Ayat is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "signs" or "verses."
Girl Arabic #1,162 in US
Rafe Rafe is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
Boy Norse #1,165 in US
Bria Bria is a girl's name usually explained as a short form of Brianna, though an Italian source is also proposed.
Girl Irish #1,168 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.
Boy English #1,195 in US
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 #1,207 in US
Ezio Ezio is a boy's name of Italian origin meaning "eagle," from the Roman name Aetius.
Boy Italian #1,226 in US
Shay Shay is a unisex name of Irish origin meaning "hawk-like" or "stately," the phonetic spelling of the Irish Séaghdha.
Unisex Irish #1,227 in US
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 #1,230 in US
Mike Mike is a boy's name, the short form of Michael, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
Boy Hebrew #1,233 in US
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 #1,245 in US
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 #1,247 in US
Amal Amal is a name of Arabic origin meaning "hope" or "aspiration."
Girl Arabic #1,247 in US
Alba Alba is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "dawn" or "white."
Girl Latin #1,262 in US
Noam Noam is a unisex name of Hebrew origin meaning "pleasantness" or "delight."
Boy Hebrew #1,274 in US
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 #1,275 in US
Karen Karen is a girl's name, the Danish form of Katherine, and it inherits that name's genuinely unknown meaning.
Girl Danish #1,284 in US
Rita Rita is a girl's name meaning pearl, clipped from the end of Margarita rather than the front.
Girl Greek #1,290 in US
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 #1,294 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.
Boy Arabic #1,294 in US
Cian Cian is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "ancient" or "enduring."
Boy Irish #1,313 in US
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 #1,329 in US
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 #1,330 in US
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 #1,332 in US
Alya Alya is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "sky," "heaven" or "loftiness," from a root meaning to rise.
Girl Arabic #1,334 in US
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 #1,336 in US
Jad Jad is a boy's name from Arabic, generally read as generous or earnest.
Boy Arabic #1,356 in US
Jules Jules is a boy's name, the French form of the Roman family name Julius, traditionally explained as "youthful."
Boy French #1,395 in US
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 #1,422 in US
Zack Zack is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered," a short form of Zachary.
Boy 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.
Boy English #1,444 in US
Pia Pia is a girl's name from Latin meaning dutiful or devout, the feminine of Pius.
Girl Latin #1,455 in US
Nour Nour is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "light," from nur.
Girl Arabic #1,532 in US
Laya Laya is a girl's name with two unrelated sources: a Sanskrit word meaning "rhythm" and a respelling of Leah.
Girl Sanskrit #1,545 in US
Steve Steve is a boy's name, the short form of Steven or Stephen, meaning crown or garland.
Boy Greek #1,615 in US

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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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