They’re the miniest of appellations, beloved by novelists and children first learning to write their names. A handful just two letters long, these are names that get right to the point.
Some are short – very short – forms of more elaborate names. Bea from Beatrice, for instance, or Jed from Jedidiah. Others are merely their short and sweet selves: Fay, Tai, Rex.
With a few exceptions, we skipped the obvious short forms: There’s no Jim, Ben, or Pam here. Also skipped some trendy favorites – Ava and Zac, for instance – that get so much play. We tried to be democratic, but to present a collection of names you might actually want to use.
But we’ve been talking long enough. Here, the shortest names in the book:
Two-letter Names
girls
BEACAMDOTDRUKAYSAM (obviously, for boys too)
boys
ARTASHCALGIGGUSHALIKEJEBJEDJOEKITLOUMAXNATNEDRAYTOMWESThree-letter names
girls
ADAAMYANNEVEFAYFIGIDAIVYJOYLUZMAE or MAYNOAPIATAIZOE
boys
Pamela Redmond
Pamela Redmond is the cocreator and CEO of Nameberry and Baby Name DNA. The coauthor of ten groundbreaking books on names, Redmond is an internationally-recognized baby name expert, quoted and published widely in such media outlets as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, CNN, and the BBC. She has written about baby names for The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, and People.
Redmond is also a New York Times bestselling novelist whose books include Younger, the basis for the hit television show, and its sequel, Older. She has three new books in the works.