Short-ish Names for Girls

An alternative to the no-longer-fresh Molly, the initial 'P' gives Polly a peppier sound, combining the cozy virtues of an old-timey name with the bounce of a barmaid.

Attractive name popular in the Latino community, long identified with half-Bolivian actress Raquel Welch. Similarly to the Hebrew form Rachel, Raquel is past its peak. Nonetheless, it retains a certain sparkle and would feel newly refreshing for a baby today.

An appellation for the Virgin Mary, "Queen of the apostles." After three years off the US popularity charts, Reina rejoined the list in 2014, though it lags behind alternate spellings Raina, Rayna, and Reyna. It is also used in Yiddish and in Japanese.

Pretty but slight.

Roxy, also spelled Roxie, is one of those high-stepping showgal names with plenty of moxie, among the many sassy nickname names on the U.K. popularity list--currently Number 398.

Vibrant, sassy, and bubbly, Ruby is a vintage gem that hasn’t lost any of its sparkle. Currently popular in a number of English-speaking countries, Ruby is proof of the 100 Year Rule, trending again for the first time since its heyday in the 1910s.

Rue has gone from Golden Girls actress to Hunger Games heroine. This botanical name is also a coincidental double word name, meaning "regret" in English and "street in" French. Despite these unfortunate secondary meanings, Rue has real potential to be one of the most popular new middle names for girls.

With vintage names on the rise and recent data suggesting that the US is following the UK trend of nicknames-as-given-names, Ruthie joined Goldie, Daisy, and Nellie on the US Top 1000 list in 2023.

Sabrina is the Latin name for the Severn, Britain's longest river. Drop the final syllable and you get a streamlined, French-esque name that's just as elegant, but without the Teenage Witch association. Sabrine has been used in the USA since 1970, but never for more than 18 girls a year — that makes it a rare gem.

If you're ready to move beyond Anna and Hannah, consider this traditional Scandinavian short form of Susanna, historically very popular in its native lands.

Sasha, largely male in Russia--and also spelled Sascha and Sacha--is an energetic name that has really taken off for girls here, chosen by Jerry Seinfeld (using the alternate Sascha spelling) and other celebs. The Barack Obamas use it as the nickname for their younger daughter, whose proper name is Natasha. But in line with a trend toward softer-sounding boys' names like Asher and Joshua and thanks to Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen, Sasha also still has life as a boys' name too--it's popular in France for boys and girls almost equally.

With its sassy, old school vibes, its cheerful, snappy sounds, and its fresh, unisex image, Scottie was one of the fastest rising names for girls in 2023.

Part of a group of similar midcentury names rarely given to babies today.

A common surname in Ireland that projects a complex image for a short-one-syllable name, combining spirit and substance.

Sky may be a bit hippie-ish, but it's bright and sunny nonetheless. Sky rejoined the Top 1000 in 2013 after spending many years off the list. Sky was the choice of magician David Copperfield for his daughter, born in 2010.

Most parents today would prefer the softer-sell Stella. But Star has symbolic power related to Christmas, so this could make one of the perfect names for December babies.