Names That Mean Short

Abbey might sound exactly like the popular Abigail nickname Abby or Abbie, but spelled this way it is also a churchy word name with a Gothic feel. But hearing it, no one will know the difference.

While the (male) French form is pronounced in English like the girls' name Michelle and the German form had a hard k-like sound in the middle, this variation of Michael is distinguished by being used evenly for girls and boys in the U.S. For either gender, though, pronunciation issues will dominate.

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

Star Wars fans may know the lore behind the origin of the word and the concept Jedi well enough to confidently choose their name for their child. It has to do with balancing the forces of the universe.

Ada, yes. Ida, maybe. But Oda, a Scandinavian version of Odelia, not really. To English speakers, it sounds too much like "odor".

Popular Dutch name Gijs, which rhymes with nice, originated as a short form of Gijsbert, which itself is a Dutch and Germanic form of Gilbert. Though in the Top 100 in The Netherlands, we don't see this emigrating beyond Amsterdam and environs.

The Hawaiian form of Gina or Tina (as well as the word for the country China), or in Swedish, a short form of Katharina or Kristina.

It's hard to believe, via a 21st-century sensibility, that Fannie was ever a Top 50 name. But Fannie was even more popular than Fanny in its late 19th-century heyday, and stuck around much longer, staying on the Top 1000 until the 1960s while Fanny fell off in 1940. Today, however, Fannie sounds antiquated at best, and rude at worst.

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.

The name recently given to their daughter by Susan and Robert Downey, Jr. is pronounced like Avery and may be seen as a kree8tiv spelling variation of that popular unisex name or a girlish short form of Avraham, the Biblical Hebrew form of Abraham.

A jaunty, traditional name in Sweden's Top 100. Famous bearers include actor Svante Thunberg (Greta's father) and the father of physical chemistry Svante August Arrhenius. The name Svante is short for Svantepolk, the name of a Slavic nobleman who settled in Sweden in the 14th century.

Courtland, with its added U, is an English form of the Dutch habitational surname Cortlandt. Cortlandt was a village near modern-day Wijk bij Duurstede, Netherlands. Its name was derived from the Dutch elements cort, meaning "short" or "narrow," and landt, "land."

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.

Coletta is a Latin relative of the better-known French Colette, which is derived from Nicole and is ultimately a feminization of Nicholas. Only a handful of baby girls are named Coletta or Nicoletta in the US each year, making this one of the rarest of the many forms of the name.

Finja Is a Josephine nickname that ranks among the Top 100 girl names in Germany.

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.

This is most familiar here as a musical name, via Indian Parsi conductor Zubin Mehta, but it certainly could be used by others.

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.

Meeri is kind of like Siri with an M. This unusual name is certainly cute and intriguing but would forever be mistaken for Mary.