Nickname Names

Diminutive of Andre. Associated with the rapper Dr. Dre.

As Huxley and Huck become more popular and accepted, so does Hux, either as a full name or a diminutive.

Christy was one of the coolest girls in the class of '73, still cute but not quite as youthful.

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.

Commonly heard as a nickname for Alejandro, but a rare sight on the birth certificate. Ale has only made the US charts for boys twice, once in 2005 and again in 2018.

Diminutive of Imogen, rarely given as a standalone even in the UK, where Imogen is a Top 50 pick.

A Colonial-era nickname for Joan.

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.

A heck of a lot cooler than Larry.

Appealing, lively, and distinctive.

Diminutive of Alvina, and a cute boyish retro nickname we can see making its way back onto a few birth certificates today.

Mattie ranked among the Top 1000 for boys a century ago, in the heyday of the nickname-name. Today, few parents would dream of putting it on the birth certificate, preferring it as a short form for the perennially-popular Matthew. Mattie is in the Top 1000 in the U.S. for girls.

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.

This is a Scottish pet form of John, the equivalent of Jack in England. Has long been used as a generic name for a Scotsman, here it's a generic name for a--well--jock.

Despite the voluptuous doll's various career choices, from astronaut to doctor, her name still remains a euphemism for "bimbo".

Eula is a slightly sweeter and more compact version of Eulalia. Currently, neither name is given to more than a handful of girls each year. Eula was fairly popular in the US during the early twentieth century, and she last ranked in the Top 1000 in 1960.

So far out it's almost ready to be let back in.

Dougie is one of those names that spotlights the huge gulf that can exist between US and UK naming trends. In England and Wales, Dougie is a trendy nickname-name, ranking all the way up at Number 315. In the US, on the other hand, Dougie was used for a grand total of zero baby boys last year. Same thing for short form Doug. Only the father name Douglas ranks in the US Top 1000.

Introduced via Sopranos star Drea (born Andrea) de Matteo, and catching on with a wider audience.