Names That Mean Short

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.

Gerard, Gerry, and Jerry may be so far out they may never come back in the U.S., but Jerry-equivalent Jurre is a Top 100 name in The Netherlands.

Trini is a nickname-name that's gender neutral. It was made famous by singer Trini Lopez whose big hit was "If I Had A Hammer".

Benthe is a popular Dutch abbreviation of the feminine for Benedict.

Tassos makes this venerated Greek name more earthy and approachable.

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

This Corey variation is getting a fresh shot of style juice thanks to young It Girl Cory Kennedy (not to be confused with RFK daughter, filmmaker Rory Kennedy).

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.

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.

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.

Cay is a rare respelling of the retro nickname Kay but one that may gain ground as a name that's both simple and unique. Like Kay, it can be a diminutive for any of the hundreds of Catherine variations that start with a C or of more modern names such as Caylee or Cadence. Or it can stand on its own as a sleek contemporary nickname-name.

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.

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.