Names That Mean Small

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

Most ella names are hot, but this is one that won't catch fire because of the disagreeable connotations of prunes.

A male character in The Chronicles of Narnia, but could conceivably be used for a girl.

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.

Isla is newly popular, so why not Isle?

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".

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.

Unisex Lane is a hit for boys in the last few decades, remaining around the 200s in popularity. Laine may lean a bit more feminine, but still has that unisex feel.

The name of a small yellow bird that hasn't taken off in the way that some of its avian sisters – like Robin, Wren or Lark – have.

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.

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.