Short Baby Names

Guns 'n' Roses musician Axl (born William) Rose created this name by dropping a vowel, a la Barbra Streisand. The traditional Axel is more popular, though celebrity parents Fergie and Josh Duhamel deliberately chose the Axl spelling to honor her rock hero.

Kim was the coolest name... of the 1960s. Kim was popularized by actress Kim Novak, and its energy is still maintained by rapper Lil' Kim, but it holds lil' or no appeal for new babies. Parents who like Kim's short, sweet sound might look to a choice such as Sam, Lou, or Belle.

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

Xen and Zen, both pronounced the same way, are two hip new spiritual word names from Buddhist practice. Among the celebrity set, Corey Feldman has a Zen and Tisha Campbell Martin's son is Xen.

Ala is the Igbo earth goddess whose symbol is the crescent moon. In a very different vein, Ala can be a diminutive for Alicja or Alexandra or really any other name with an A at both ends and an L in the middle. Ala is also an Arabic name meaning "excellence, supremacy"; could be confused as a homonym for Allah, or as part of a phrase like a la mode.

A unisex Hebrew name often found in combination with others, as in Tal-El and Tal-Or.

Meg, perennially one of the Little Women, is a Margaret short form that manages to be neither quite in nor quite out of style. Meg is sleeker and more sophisticated than Maggie, more contemporary than Peg, more stylish than Megan, and still one of the best diminutives of Margaret.

Meg Ryan was born Margaret Mary Emily Anne.

An alternative transcription of Tzvi, the latter of which is a Top 100 pick in Israel. It's a cool, sharp-sounding micro name which would make for a great distinctive alternative to Levi.

A bit slight to put directly on the birth certificate, but Dom is a pleasant nickname for a boy or a girl.

May be the most modern, stylish Catherine nickname: more unusual than Kate or Cate, with an animal and word name edge. Cat Power is a trendy folksinger.

An interesting and attractive bicultural choice--the Hebrew version is used for babies born in spring, when turtledoves arrive--especially as a middle.

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

Often stands alone in Israel, but rarely here.

Doe is a soft and gentle-eyed middle name possibility and, like Fawn, one of the few animal names open to girls.

We're hearing Kat more and more being used by Katherines who are tired of Kathy, Kate and Katie. Katti or Kattie is another possibility.

Bas is a fashionable name in its own right in the Netherlands, where it's been in the Top 10. Used throughout Europe, it may have a future here as a straightforward-but-charming nickname name. Baz is another, similar and more appealing possibility.

A girl named Liz on her birth certificate could feel deprived of her full identity. Call her Liz, but name her Elizabeth -- or at least Lizbeth or Eliza.

Flo is an antiquated nickname not often used these days, possibly because "Aunt Flo" is a euphemism for a period.