Names That Mean Short

Trini is best known as the name of the (male) singer Trini Lopez, who sang "If I had a Hammer", but Trini is a gender neutral name that works equally well for girls or boys.

There were no baby boys named Cay born in the US last year, but there's no reason why there couldn't be, especially with the rise in popularity of the similar Kai as well as the nouveau proper names Cayden, Cayson and so on. Cay Dose was an 18th century German architect and Christian Cay Lorenz Hirschfeld was a German garden historian of the same era.

Walter is an old school boys' name that is gently on the rise again. Short forms include Walt (as in Disney) and Wally, but Wat was once commonly used in England as a diminutive of Walter.

If you're looking for an honor name for grandpa Tom, this could be a good choice. It's also used as a male short form of the name in Eastern Europe.

Scilla are little woodland flowers in a beautiful bright blue color. Scilla can also be a short form of Priscilla, from Prisca "ancient".

This name boomed in the 1940s and 50s thanks to the glamorous singer Risë (pronounced REE-sa) Stevens, who inherited her name from her Norwegian grandmother. It's rare nowadays, but when used it's more likely to be the uplifting vocabulary word, rhyming with "eyes". The latter was chosen by Nick Cannon and Brittany Bell for their son, born in September 2022.

Finja Is a Josephine nickname that ranks among the Top 100 girl names in Germany.

Kamma is an appealing Danish name signifying a combination of Katherine or Karen and Maria or Margaret. It may also be a short form of Kamilla, the usual Scandinavian spelling of Camilla.

Actress Kirstie Alley popularized this short form that's been off the popularity register for a decade.

Cute tomboyish diminutive that's popular in Germany but has not spread far. An interesting choice for the parent who wants an elaborate feminine proper name with a modern short form.

This Dutch version of Jules is used for both girls and boys. The association with the vaping product of the same name (but different pronunciation) makes this one a no-go in the US.

Many C forms of this name are becoming more popular, from Cassia for girls to Cassian, Cassius, and Caspian for boys, so Kass feels more possible today too. And Kassia and Kassiani are both intriguing longer forms.