One Syllable Names for Boys

Popularized in Scotland by Tam O'Shanter, the hero of one of Robert Burns' most famous poems, it's associated in the U.S. with the plaid cap he gave his name to.

More commonly seen as a girl name, where it has roots in both Arabic and Dutch. The masculine variation of Noor is Arabic and used in Islamic communities.

More of an abbreviation than a short form that can stand on its own.

Shyam is one of the alternate names of Hindu God Krishna.

Better to stick with the Neil spelling in the US, where the word "nil" also means "zero." But this is a Top Ten name in Catalonia.

Wian, oe of the most popular of all Afrikaans names, has seldom been heard outside South Africa. It would doubtless prompt countless pronunciation issues, but might just be warm and friendly enough to be worth it.

The name of the main protagonist of Avatar: The Last Airbender was coined for the movie from Chinese characters meaning "peaceful" and "rise; raise". Aang is also used as a given name in Indonesia, where it derives from akang — a word used to refer to one’s elder brother or one of his peers.

This variant of the Arabic Zayd actually ranks higher than the original in the US. In the contemporary American culture, however, this name could be viewed as an alternative to recently invented name Zade.

Often stands alone in Israel, but rarely here.

A cool and straightforward Vietnamese name, which resembles the increasingly popular Hawaiian name Koa.

Soan is a variation of Sohan, an invented French name that may be related to the masculine Jean. Both names rank in France’s Top 100, with the original Sohan pulling slightly ahead. The Soan version was popularized by a French singer Julien Decroix, who performs by the name Soan. He won the 2009 season of a music competition called Nouvelle Star.

The Old Norse god Óthinn was also known by the epithet Grímr — translated into Middle English as Grim.

Seems destined to be the preferred short form of this old French name, with its brief, modern, word name feel.

The name of Sarah Palin's youngest son might also be good for the child of a mathematician. Trig Palin's middle name is Paxson, after a popular snowmobiling area in Alaska.

It's tempting to think of Gui as the Spanish form of Guy, but it's short for Guillermo.

A unisex Chinese and Vietnamese with an appealingly simple, vowel-rich spelling.