Names That Mean Small

Now that the popularity of Brooke is waning, and surname style variant Brooks is on the rise, Brook seems live a newly fresh nature-inspired option.

Pauline had its moment of glory almost a century ago, when movie audiences were thrilling to the silent serial The Perils of Pauline; it's a sweet and gentle name that just might be due for reconsideration. Off the list since the late 1990s, Pauline was a Top 50 name from around 1908 to 1930.

This tailored Welsh surname is an attractive option for girls, fitting in with other single-syllable prepster girl names such as Sloane and Quinn.

It's interesting how names imported to the US from other countries and cultures have fashion cycles of their own. Paulette along with cousins Annette and Claudette were the most fashionable French imports in the middle of the last century, only to sink from sight and be replaced by such current French favorites as Charlotte, Sophie, and Eloise. In general, feminizations of male names have faded in favor of gender-neutral choices, and Paul itself is off its own fashion peak. But Paulette has the same vintage charm as names like Margot and Josephine that are very much a la mode. And far from being extinct, Paulette hits that sweet spot of names that are familiar but not over-used. It was given to about 130 baby girls in the US last year, on par with May, Avalon, Jolee, Liza, and Vivianne. This is three times as many baby girls as were named Paulette in 2000, so while the name may still lie well beneath the Top 1000, it's very much on the way up.

Rarely used on its own and irrevocably tied to former House Speaker Gingrich -- who was christened Newton.

The kind of name last found in northern Wisconsin in the 1950s, and even then it was probably a nickname for Delbert.

Possibly a derivative variation of Yara, a popular name in Spanish-speaking countries meaning butterfly, Yareli was given to more than 400 baby girls in the US last year.

Short and feminine, Ria has a rhythmic flow.

Iara rhymes with Yara, an Arabic name of which it can be a variation. More commonly it's associated with Iara of Brazilian myth — a water nymph, sometimes mermaid, of Tupi and Guaraní legend. In the legends, Iara seduces men to the river to accompany her in her immortal life.

Currently gender-neutral in the US, although boys have the edge, as they do with Lane. The Y spelling makes it a bit more feminine.

Spiritual word names are a hot trend and ever-expanding category of baby names. Chapel was notably used in 2020 by Josh Brolin for his daughter. He said of her name, "Chapel Grace is, to us, a manifestation of that celestial feeling that was always felt as we meandered and knelt."

Although the single-named singer is male, this might be a girl's nickname name or a sleek nature name that's perfect in the middle.

This familiar but never popular Welsh surname name might be a good Sean alternative-- and we're starting to hear some berrybuzz about it. Vaughn is an alternate spelling.

Your little Pasha will rule the roost. In Russia, Pasha is traditionally given to a boy born on Good Friday.

If you want a truly unusual name with authentic roots, this one certainly fits on both counts. Pronunciation may prove a stumbling block, however.

Pavel may be widespread in the former Soviet Union, but it has a somewhat impoverished image here.

More stylish than either Paula or Pauline, it was given a glamour gloss by model Paulina Porizkova in the nineties.

Rilla dropped out of the US Top 1000 in 1915, but it's starting to feel like an intriguing possibility again in this age of short, sweet, a-ending names for girls. It is traditionally a short form for names ending in -rilla, like Marilla from the Anne of Green Gables books (Anne's youngest daughter is Bertha Marilla, called Rilla for short). Rilla may also derive from the German word Rille, meaning "brook; stream".

Isla is a contemporary gem, so why not Isle? As an English word name, it takes you straight to the literal definition — a small island — which could have an appealing, aspirational ring to it, for those wanting to raise independent children.

This rare spiritual word name could see a boost now that Josh Brolin used it for his daughter, born in December of 2020. Like many of the new additions to this category, Chapel is appropriate for a baby of either sex.