Attitude Nicknames for Girls

Lizzie was commonly used as an independent name in the last half of the nineteenth century. Today Lizzie is still one of the most stylish short forms of Elizabeth, but few U.S. parents put it on the birth certificate.

The protagonist of Toni Morrison's novel, the simple-yet-sensual Sula relates to the Old Testament Shulamit. Alternatively, it might be a short form of Ursula.

As a name, Prim is generally short for Primrose – as in the sweet younger sister of heroine Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. But a word of warning: it also coincides with the English word "prim", meaning "disapproving, overly correct".

Slavic diminutive of Anna

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.

A feminine multicultural nickname name perfectly able to stand on its own.

Zippy is a cute nickname that livens up the Biblical Zipporah. Too cute? Your call.

Though this may be thought of as a short form of the legitimate name Jetta, that one's gone to the cars. This sounds more modern if a bit supersonic. In the Netherlands, it's in the Top 100, originating as a short form of -ette ending names such as Henriette and Mariette.

This jazzy French diminutive of Isabelle was first made famous by the title character of Raymond Queneau’s novel Zazie dans le métro, which was adapted into a film in 1960. It could also work as a nickname for Elizabeth or Susannah.

Now that Theodora (and Dorothea) are back, the adorable Teddi might work again for a baby girl.

Yes, it's a word name, but Busy is also a rare pet form of Elizabeth. And yes, actress Busy Philipps was christened Elizabeth--she was given the nickname because she was such an active child. She must have been happy with the name, because she also gave her daughters adorable unique baby names, Birdie and Cricket.

This cutesy nickname is best known as that of Imogene Threadgoode in the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.

Before Beatrice there was Beatrix, which leads naturally to the short form Trix. Trixie is a wise-cracking gum-snapping waitress but Trix is sleek and mischievous -- tricks, get it?

Somewhat surprisingly, this old-school David nickname is now used for baby girls in the US more than 80% of the time. In fact, Davie is really heating up for baby girls, in the same style as Frankie and Scottie and Stevie.

Chani, which rhymes with Johnny, is famous as the name of the character played by Zendaya in the Dune books, video games, and movies. Another force driving the name's use is Canadian astrologer Chani Nicholas.

You may be tempted to scoff at Mint as another wacky celebrity baby name — it was used by Dutch model Romee Strijd for her daughter in 2020 — but it's a far more legitimate choice than many would guess. Minty baby names for girls are having a style moment in Nordic countries — Mynte is a Top 50 name in Denmark, and Minttu ranks in Finland's Top 50. It's ultimately not so surprising that a well-traveled international star would choose to use the English variation of these names for her daughter.

Musical choice that may be a short form of Jasmine or Jazlyn, or might stand on its own like this or as Jaz, the spelling used by tennis duo Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.

While this version of the name has never made it into the US Top 1000, it is nonetheless slowly on the rise. In 2015, 162 girls were given this name. The related Hattie is the highest it's ever been, currently at Number 488. This spelling could also supply an accessible nickname to the rising Jewish appellation Hadassah.