Names that are One Syllable

A variant spelling of either Irish Shea or Hebrew Shai, Shay feels at once vintage and modern.

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.

Sloane is a sleek, sophisticated surname name that has gradually morphed over to the girls' side. With its distinctive and intriguing sound, Sloane has been in the US Top 1000 since 2009, and in 2022, it made its first appearance in the UK charts, jumping more than 400 places in a single year.

There's definitely a cold front of names for winter babies moving in, with Summer, Spring and Autumn giving way to Winter--plus North, January, Frost--and Snow. This name feels brisk, fresh, pure, evocative -- and magical. A haunting middle name choice.

This steely surname has a macho image that might feel more appropriate for a romance novel than a baby. But on the upside, it's also sleek and modern, familiar yet unusual, given to only around 100 boys per year in the US.

Especially for parents of Scandinavian descent, Sven is an accessible and attractive name with an appealing mix of strength and swagger. It comes from the ancient Swedish tribe, the Sviars, who gave their name to Svealand, which later morphed into Sweden.

Tai, which rhymes with Kai, is a unisex name with a range of international references. It means the equivalent of "too much" in Chinese but is also used as a Maori name meaning "the tide" and in Romanian means "yours." While it's only ever ranked in the U.S. Top 1000 as a girls' name, during the height of the popularity of Olympic skater Tai Babilonia, Tai makes a simple intriguing modern choice for either gender.

Skater Tai Babilonia brought this sleek modern name to the world's attention. Pronounced "tie."

Taj is a cool-sounding name reflecting the magnificence of the seventeenth-century Indian Taj Mahal, chosen by Aerosmith's Steven Tyler for his son.

A strong single-syllable surname with a joyful meaning, Tate is finding a place on more and more birth certificates.

If you like the idea of Tadhg but don't feel like the spelling works where you are, Teague might work as an alternative. It could also fit the bill if you're seeking a unique single-syllable first or middle name for your son.

Teal is one of the prettiest and most straightforward of the new color names -- an ideal middle name choice.

With its solid Thomas Hardy background, Tess has a lot more substance, strength, and style than most single-syllable names, with an efficient yet relaxed image.

This early Scottish title -- known to us via Shakespeare's Macbeth -- has recently surfaced as a baby name possibility, familiar sounding through its similarity to names like Zane and Wayne.

Traditionally a short form for Patricia — or in the Addam's family, Morticia.

A 1970s beach boy surfing buddy of Scott, Brad, and Chad, Todd is given to relatively few babies these days.

Troy shot to popularity as a first name in tandem with that of 1960s heartthrob Troy (born Merle) Donahue; its image has now, thanks in part to the Brad Pitt-starring epic, Troy, receded back to conjuring up the ancient site of the Trojan wars.

Many parents seeking a return to more basic values and a simpler lifestyle are turning to such virtuous girls' names as Grace, Faith, and Hope, but there are a handful that work just as well on boys, including True.