'Nickname' names

Joining the likes of Coco and Fifi, Gigi has a style but some may feel it lacks substance. Model and TV personality Gigi Hadid (born Jelena) has likely drawn attention to this name, while designer Cynthia Rowley may have inspired parents to use it as a given name by choosing it for her daughter.

Lula is one of the livelier nickname-names with the fashionable double-L sound: It joins Lulu, Lila, Lily, and Lou among the trendiest names today. Lula might be short for Talula and sisters or for Lucy or Louise, or may stand on its own two adorable feet. Lula was actually a Top 50 name in the late 1880's and continued in the Top 100 for a couple of decades more.

Any number of Fitz names -- Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick, Fitzroy, Fitzwilliam -- have been used as Christian names, in fact Fitzwilliam was the given name of the dashing Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Fitz can be a short form of any of them and is often, like Mac, a nickname drawn from a surname.

Sweet and cosy with a touch of sass, this nickname-y choice was a familiar option up until the sixties in the US. Then, for a while, it was a bit of a one-person name, associated with singer Dolly Parton, but more recently, it's been singing a fashionable note again along with sisters Dottie and Millie.

Posey is fashionable in England, a country of gardeners, but this pretty bouquet-of-flowers name is only starting to be heard here.

Introduced by model Emme (born Melissa) and now a legitimate member of the Em-starting girls' name group, especially since it was chosen by Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony for their twin daughter.

Introduced via Sopranos star Drea (born Andrea) de Matteo, and catching on with a wider audience.

Wheezy short form of lovely name, featured in the movie "Steel Magnolias", spelled as Ouiser. Similar, literary Ouida is less breathy, while Lou, Lulu, Lula, Lissy or Whizz might appeal instead.