Three Letter Boy Names

Russian-born actor Yul (christened Yuliy) Brynner gives this short name a strong, steely image.

Simple and sweet name for a son that feels on-trend in this era of Kai.

Old-school nickname with serious charm.

Tim is a boyish short form very rarely given on its own.

Simple Biblical name with an auspicious meaning. There are two men named Gad in the Old Testament — one the first son of Jacob and Zilpah, and the other a prophet of King David.

The sidekick in almost every movie or TV show with an Italo-American setting.

A very common name in Catalonia, in the northeast of Spain, in no small part because it translates as "peace" in the Catalan tongue. Alec and HIlaria Baldwin used it as one of the middle names for their son Eduardo.

Pronounced hwee, this common Vietnamese name would be difficult to translate to an English-speaking culture.

The surname of enterprising journalist Nellie Bly and poet Robert Bly makes a simple, modern, and upbeat sounding choice for either a boy or a girl.

Simple, friendly, distinctive name heard in several cultures. The a ending may feel more feminine in the US than Ole, though both variations are acceptable in Scandinavia.

Vowel names are popular, but this word-name possibility takes it to an extreme.

There's Zan and there's Xan--take your pick. Both of these are the latest generation of Alexander nicknames, Xan having been noticed first as a character on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (a rich source of names), and soon phoneticized into Zan.

A mini name that could be short for names such as Reverie, Revel, or Revon.

Russian form of Eli mainly used today by families with Russian Jewish heritage.

For older generations this still summons silent horror star Chaney; for others it's a pleasant if slight nickname name.

Short and strong multicultural option for a son. Nev Schulman (born Yaniv) is the creator of the MTV series Catfish.

Tau, rhyming with cow, is a simple straightforward name with roots in two languages and cultures, the Kaurna language spoken by indigenous Australian people or the African Tswana language, a Bantu language spoken by five million people.

Also a synonym for the Hebrew month of Iyar, which usuually falls in May, would work and play well with others like Zev and Lev.