Geezer Names for Girls

Boyish nicknames for girls are all the rage — just look at the success of Charlie, Frankie, Stevie, Billie, and Scottie in recent years. Andie has history as a nickname for Andrea, popularized by actress Andie Macdowell. This name has major cool girl appeal through Kate Hudson's portrayal of Andie Anderson in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Molly Ringwald's of Andie Walsh in Pretty in Pink.

In 2010, baby boys named Ari outnumbered baby girls 4 to 1; today, there are nearly equal numbers of boys and girls named Ari. And that's only counting the babies who receive Ari as a full name. Ari can also be short for not only Ariel but Aria, Arya, Ariana, and any other name starting with Ari. Ari entered the US Top 1000 for girls in 2016.

Percy is a traditional boys' name that could be cute and unexpected for a girl – perhaps as a short form for Persephone or Persis. Adventurous and literary Percy could follow in the footsteps of other boyish nicknames for girls, like Frankie and Charlie.

Winslow's most famous reference may be male painter Winslow Homer, but as a name it's beginning to be on the rise for girls. Adorable nickname Winnie may be the reason. Other unusual painterly possibilities for either sex: O'Keeffe, Hopper, and just plain Painter.

Most female Rays used to spell their names Rae, but now the Ray Charles, ray-of-sunshine way is cool for both genders.

Quincy is a Presidential surname name that actually sounds both cute and strong when used for a girl. For the first time ever, Quincy joined the Top 1000 roster for girls in 2023, given to over 250 baby girls that year.

Rudy hasn't yet enjoyed the comeback of cousin name Ruby, despite having been chosen by hip couple Sadie Frost and Jude Law, but it still could happen.

A spunky boyish diminutive in the vein of Frankie, Billie and Charlie, but far less popular in the US. Georgie could be a nickname for Georgia, Georgette, Georgina or Georgiana – or just use it as it is, as over 90 sets of American parents did in 2021.

Truly multi-cultural, Ira can be: a Russian short form of Irina, meaning "peace"; a gender-switch of the Hebrew male name Ira, meaning "watchful"; a modern Greek and Finnish form of Hera, meaning "hero" or "protectress"; a Sanskrit name meaning "earth" or "enjoyment"; and a Basque nature name meaning "fern", from the word iratzea.

In the age of Billie and Charlie, Eddie seems like a plausible option for a girl – short for Edwina, Edith, Eluned or any girl name containing the letters E and D.

Ollie is used less often as a nickname for the mega-popular Olivia or the stylish Olive than Ellie is for Eleanor or Allie for Allison. That may be because Ollie has a much longer use as a nickname for boys.

If Sam can make it as a girl's name, why not Max? Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's eldest daughter Maxima goes by Max, but you could also use it as a short form for Maxine, Maximilienne or even Margaux.

Maxwell may be thought of as one of the classic Scottish names for boys, but two celebrities have recently used Maxwell for their daughters - Jessica Simpson bestowed it upon her daughter, Maxwell Drew, in 2012, followed by Lindsay Sloane's daughter, also born in 2012, named Maxwell Lue. Sixty-six parents chose Maxwell for their little girls in 2017, but that's compared with over 3000 baby boys named Maxwell, so while this name is used for babies of both genders, it's not truly a unisex name.

Jules is one of the adorable boyish nicknames newly fashionable for girls. It's rarer than Billie, with a cool and casual feel. It's use in the popular TV series Euphoria - where the character of Jules Vaughn was portrayed by Hunter Schafer - brought this name into the spotlight.

This old man nickname feels remarkably fresh when applied to girls. Use it as a short form of Lena, Helena, Magdalena, Lennon or Lennox. The pan-European Leni is identical in sound yet feels a little lighter and fresher, and is a fashionable favorite in Germany.

We approve of this name for a girl, but prefer the au, Laura-Laurenish, spelling.

Rarely given as a full name for baby girls, but occasionally used as a nickname for names such as Harriet and Henrietta.

A male Biblical name meaning healer, Asa is also an international gem. In Japanese, it means "(born in the) morning". And in Scandinavia, where it's generally spelled Åsa or Ása and pronounced O-sa, it's a popular diminutive form of Old Norse names beginning with the element áss "god".

It may have a masculine sound and meaning, but Dawson is becoming increasingly popular for baby girls, too. Blame it on Dylan and Logan and the wider trend of surname names for both genders. Over 70 baby girls were given the name in 2020.

Theo has a girls' name is used for only a handful of babies today. As a short form of Theodora, Theo is used much less frequently than Thea or even Teddy. One notable appearance was as the younger daughter in Sofia Coppola's film On the Rocks in 2020.