Extremely popular in Wales, where it began as a nickname for someone with fair hair or a fair face, this bright and simple name is a winner by its very nature. Can also be spelled Wynn, Winn or the very literal Win.

While traditionally pronounced as a homonym for Lee, Glee actress Lea Michele pronounces her name like Leah, and it may also rhyme with Freya. Regardless of your preferred pronunciation, it's interesting to note that Lea has always charted in the US Top 1000, despite coming close to the bottom a few times, making it one of the girl names starting with L that both fits in and stands out.

Just the kind of old-fashioned nickname coming back into style.

Taj is a cool-sounding name reflecting the magnificence of the seventeenth-century Indian Taj Mahal, chosen by Aerosmith's Steven Tyler for his son.

The sidekick in almost every movie or TV show with an Italo-American setting, this once common name has now fallen onto the endangered list, given to fewer than 50 baby boys each year.

Ike, once the quirky one-person nickname of President Dwight Eisenhower, has morphed into a cool kid nickname of the early 21st century.

This short-but-strong name is popular for boys in The Netherlands. While Cass is usually a female name in the U.S., it feels just as right for boys.

Cool short form of Alexander, fresher than Alex and less trendy than Xander... for now.

Often stands alone in Israel, but rarely here.

Ron is a masculine name that functions both as a standalone name and as a shortened form of longer names like Ronald, Aaron, or Byron. Ronald, its most common source, derives from the Old Norse 'Rögnvaldr,' meaning 'ruler's advisor' or 'decision maker.'

Fiery but slight middle name choice; much more apt to be a redhead's nickname.

Streamlined version of the classic boys' names, sometimes a short form of Jonathan, which is in fact an entirely different name from John attached to a different Biblical personage. Jon feels more modern than the traditional John, but some may find it an overly slight variation on an already slim name. Jon Snow is a popular character on HBO's Game of Thrones.

One of the sweet simple unisex names balanced enough to stand on its own.

Old-time nickname that's following in the fashionable footsteps of cronies Jake and Sam. Abe feels both fresher and cuter -- which is maybe the same thing? -- than those choices right now. You can also get to Abe via Abel, which may prove a friendlier formal name than the gray-bearded Abraham.

Friendly but substantial.

Pronounced zheel, it's a dashing conquistador; as gill, it's the nice and slightly boring guy down the street.

As Theo and Thea get more popular, so do Teo and Tea, short forms of the Latinate variations of Theodore and Matthew -- which include Dorotea and Mattea. But like Theo and Thea, Tea can stand perfectly well on its own and blends seamlessly into any Anglophone or European culture, if that is your aim. Some may argue that the Tea version is the prettiest and it's certainly the sleekest.

Cameron is still more popular as a boy's name than a girls and this simple, snappy short form works well for either sex.

Short form of Alfred that had fallen out of favor, but could come back alongside Alfie and other clunky old-style nicknames like Gus and Ike.

Luc is the sleeker Gallic cousin of Luke, and if you want to know the difference between their pronunciations, just watch Kevin Kline's hilarious description in the film French Kiss. Peter Gabriel and Sean Patrick Thomas picked this version for their sons.