Nickname Names

A relic of the midcentury Mandi-Sandi-Andi era.

Diminutive of the Italian Giovanna, or sometimes Vanessa or Ivanna.

Giovanni is the Italian form of John, and Gio is its dashing nickname. A lot cooler than Johnny, no?

Nickname sometimes heard on its own, sort of an updated Sally and playmate of Hallie.

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

See TERRY.

The Spanish and Portuguese word for "sea" is a Top 100 name in Spain. In America, it's sometimes used as a nickname for names like Martina and Marina, but it could also plausibly stand on its own.

Short form of Martin.

An energetic, charmingly retro nickname, Suzy and all her sisters are off their fashion peak but will rise again around the middle of this century.

A sweet Bobbsey-twin era nickname, fluffy and floral.

Mauve-tinted nickname with vintage charm that could just follow in the footsteps of ABBIE. More prominent now as the nickname for the Texas A&M sports teams.

Frisco is a frisky, roguish semi-place-name (San Francisco natives never call it that) that could make a lively, unusual o-ending choice.

An Anglicized form of Medb borrowed by both Shakespeare and Percy Bysshe Shelley for the of queen of the fairies. Perfect if you want something both adventurous and simple - though you could use it as a nickname for Mabel, Mirabel, Mabli, or Amabel too.

Cameron is still more popular as a boy's name than a girls and this simple, snappy short form works well for either sex.

Androgynous nickname for Veronica, Rhonda or Rona.

In the Divergent series, Tris was used as a short form of Beatrice, but it could also be given as a nickname for names like Tristan, Patricia, or Demetris.

This spelling seems to be taking off as a result of media appearances as characters in first "Gilmore Girls" and then as Sookie Stackhouse, the Anna Paquin character in "True Blood," based on "The Southern Vampire Mysteries" series of books by Charlaine Harris.

As this word is less often used to mean derriere, it becomes more possible to view Fanny as the kind of appealingly quaint nickname name, like Josie and Nellie, that many parents are favoring now.