Names That Mean Little

More commonly a pet form of Dillon than an independent name, but Suzanne Collins used it as such for a female character in her series The Hunger Games.

Dill

Derived from the Irish M'Aodh Óg, making it a relative of Aidan. Saint Máedóc (also known as Áedán) of Ferns was a 7th-century Irish bishop.

Maedoc

One of the most common ancient Roman forenames, but extremely rare today. Other Roman names like Aurelius are trending upwards, so this could be an off-the-radar option.

Aulus

The name of the first dog in space is the quintessential Russian dog name, equivalent to Fido or Rover. Fittingly, it derives from the verb layat', meaning "to bark".

Laika

Tuulikki is a Finnish name meaning "little wind" -- tuuli means wind in Finnish -- and also the name of a forest goddess. Supermodel Else Hosk, whose mother is Finnish, chose this name for her daughter.

Tuulikki

Lunete

An attractive alternative spelling to Kellan, but the authentic Welsh "ll" sound may be hard to come by outside Wales.

Cellan

Spelled Géza in Hungarian, this is the modern form of Gyeücsa. It derives from a Hungarian noble title: gyeü, with a diminutive suffix. This was the name of a 10th-century leader of the Hungarians, father of the first king István.

 Fun fact: actor Ben Affleck's middle name is Géza.

Geza

Reinette was the childhood nickname of Madame La Pompadour, perhaps a cute short form for Regina or Reina but hardly worthy of the full name on the birth certificate today.

Reinette

This operatic Italian name -- it appears in Mozart's "The Magic Flute" -- is a more unusual route to the nickname Pam/Pammy. 

Pamina

You lose the zippy Z with the Nordic form of Zebulon, but the softer nickname Seb is nice.

Sebulon

The origin of the Anglicized Ryan, this Irish name feels like a brighter and fresher alternative.