Names That Mean Short

All baby names can be made more "creative" by putting a Z at the beginning instead of what's conventionally there: B or C or H, for instance. Zaley is an adorable entry in this group, also spelled Zailey or Zayley or Zalee. The Zaley spelling attains a measure of authenticity when seen as a feminine form of Zale, a Greek name with an ocean-related meaning.

Zaley

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.

Juul

An lesser-known member of the John-Joan family, though popular in its native habitat, has never emigrated, possibly due to its non-intuitive pronunciation.

Oana

Fiete is an extremely popular <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/805/german-names-for-boys">German name for boys</a> that has not migrated to the English-speaking world. But it ranks among Germany's Top 100 boy names.

Fiete

Rust is one of the few color names for boys, sometimes short for Russell. As a diminutive for Russell, it's much more modern and cooler than Rusty. Whether you use it as a nickname or it stands on its own, the meaning refers to the color red.

Rust

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.

Raz is one of the many modern Israeli unisex names. It's simple and sleek and translates easily to English.

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.

Toma

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

Scilla

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.

Basil and all his brothers and sisters have a meaning related to royalty, sometimes cited as king, queen, royal, regal.

Vasil

Tassos makes this venerated Greek name more earthy and approachable.