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

Mindy Mindy has no source of its own — it shortens Melinda, whose second half is transparent and whose first half nobody has explained, so the name inherits half a meaning.
Girl English #2,404 in US
Lino Lino is a boy's name of Greek origin from Linus, a figure Greek myth killed off twice in different stories.
Boy 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.
Boy 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.
Boy Hebrew #2,502 in US
Orla Orla is a girl's name of Irish origin meaning "golden princess."
Girl Irish #2,537 in US
Nyx Nyx is a unisex name meaning "night," from the Greek word nyx.
Unisex Greek #2,575 in US
Sandro Sandro is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "defender of mankind," the Italian short form of Alessandro.
Boy Italian #2,585 in US
Rowe Rowe is an English surname used as a unisex first name.
Unisex English, Norman #2,620 in US
Carrie Carrie is a girl's name, a pet form of Caroline meaning free man through Charles.
Girl English #2,731 in US
Emy Emy is a girl's name, a French respelling of Emy or Emmy that functions as a short form of Emma, Emilie and Amelie.
Girl French #2,749 in US
Tina Tina is a girl's name that serves as the tail end of several unrelated names — Christina, Martina, Valentina and Bettina — so its meaning depends entirely on which one a family had in mind.
Girl Latin #2,804 in US
Lya Lya is a girl's name, a French respelling of Léa and so of the Hebrew Leah.
Girl French #2,849 in US
Lora Lora means from Laurentum, and the laurel is one step removed — the Roman town was named for its bay trees, and the personal name says which town you came from rather than which plant crowned you.
Girl Latin #2,927 in US
Jae Jae is a unisex name with two separate origins. In Korean it's a syllable with Chinese-character meanings such as "talent" or "wealth," often part of a two-syllable name, and in English it's a spelling of Jay, used alone or as a middle name.
Unisex Korean, English #2,974 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.
Boy 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.
Boy 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.
Boy 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."
Boy English #3,192 in US
Leyna Leyna is a girl's name with no single source, read as a form of Lena, of the Arabic Lina, or as a modern coinage.
Girl French #3,194 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.
Boy English #3,221 in US
Kathy Kathy is a girl's name, the pet form of Katherine, and it inherits that name's unknown meaning.
Girl Greek #3,262 in US
Essie Essie shortens two names with nothing in common — Esther, whose root is probably Babylonian, and Estelle, which is the Latin for a star.
Girl English #3,334 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.
Boy English #3,351 in US
Beth Beth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," a short form of Elizabeth, and the seven in the Hebrew is the same idea as the oath.
Girl English #3,441 in US
Trisha Trisha is the fourth spelling of Patricia on this site, and England now ranks it above America — 1,123rd in England and Wales against 3,484th in the United States, having set its English peak this year.
Girl English #3,484 in US
Nikki Nikki means victory of the people, and both halves of the Greek are collective — nike is the victory and laos is the citizen body, so it describes a public triumph rather than a personal one.
Girl English #3,510 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.
Boy Arabic #3,535 in US
Sacha Sacha is a boy's name in France, the French spelling of the Russian diminutive of Alexander, meaning "defender of mankind."
Boy French #3,659 in US
Tadhg Tadhg is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "poet" or "storyteller."
Boy Irish #3,677 in US
Tammy Tammy is a girl's name meaning palm tree, a pet form of Tamara.
Girl Hebrew #3,678 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.
Boy Italian #3,679 in US
Ora Ora has three unrelated sources — the Latin imperative meaning pray, the Hebrew for light, and an Albanian word for hour — and it is reviving across three markets.
Unisex Latin #3,744 in US
Tanya Tanya is a Russian pet form of Tatiana, whose meaning is not known — the Roman family name behind it may be Sabine rather than Latin, and the Sabine language is barely attested at all.
Girl Russian #3,778 in US
Kay Kay serves two unrelated sources — the initial of Katherine, and Sir Kay of Arthurian legend, who is Arthur's foster brother and one of the oldest figures in the whole cycle.
Girl English #3,916 in US
Sohan Sohan is a boy's name of Sanskrit origin meaning "handsome" or "charming."
Boy Sanskrit #3,926 in US
Becky Becky means to bind, shortened from Rebecca, and the Hebrew is uncertain — a knotted cord and a snare are both proposed, and the reading has never been settled.
Girl English #4,024 in US
Jo Jo is a name serving as the short form of Joanne, Josephine and Joan for women and Joseph for men.
Girl Hebrew #4,053 in US
Jodi Jodi serves Judith, Joseph and Jude at once, which is why the wider Jody family never settled on one sex — three unrelated Hebrew parents pulling in different directions.
Girl American #4,057 in US
Vicky Vicky means victory, and it is one of the clearest cases on this site of a monarch making a name — Victoria was rare in English before the queen and ordinary for a century afterward.
Girl English #4,078 in US
Fionn Fionn is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "fair" or "white," and by extension bright or blessed.
Boy Irish #4,179 in US
Brad Brad means broad clearing, shortened from Bradley — and the broad element is the same word as the modern English broad, one of the few Old English place-name terms still transparent.
Boy English #4,260 in US
Kim Kim is a name that arrives from three unrelated directions — an English place name, Kipling's 1901 novel, and the most common Korean surname in the world.
Unisex English #4,263 in US
Mandy Mandy means she who must be loved, and the grammar matters — Amanda is a Latin gerundive, a form expressing obligation, so the name is closer to an instruction than a description.
Girl English #4,488 in US
Adem Adem is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "earth" or "man," the Turkish, Bosnian and Albanian form of Adam.
Boy Turkish #4,491 in US
Greg Greg means watchful, and the Greek is a command rather than a description — gregorein means stay awake, which early Christians took as an instruction about the second coming.
Boy English #4,784 in US
Kristy Kristy is the seventh spelling of this name family in this group, and the count itself is the finding — one Latin word has produced seven separate pages on this site through American respelling alone.
Girl American #5,178 in US
Debbie Debbie is a girl's name meaning bee, a pet form of Deborah.
Girl Hebrew #5,246 in US
Bill Bill comes from William, and the B is the point — medieval English made pet names by rhyming, which is why Will became Bill, Rob became Bob and Rick became Dick.
Boy English #5,272 in US

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