One Syllable Names: Part 1

A new name with the potential for spanning across a far-reaching future. Bridges and Bridger are other possiblities.

Place-name and homonym of Bree, less popular than its enlargement, Brielle.

Having only entered the US Top 1000 in 2012, Briggs is yet another ends-in-s surname name for boys currently on the rise, along the lines of Brooks and Hayes.

Brighid is the original Gaelic form of the name of the mythological goddess of fire, poetry, and wisdom. More commonly found these days in any number of different guises: Bridget, Brigid, Brigitte et al. Whatever form it takes, Brighid is one of the most classic and enduring Irish names for girls.

Rare word name that works for either gender.

Brisk but rather brittle. Britt Eklund was a Bond Girl in the 1974 The Man with the Golden Gun. Britt is a contracted form of Birgit, but be aware that it does come with the strong possibility of being confused with Bret/Brett—or as a shortening of Brittany.

Brock is a rock solid name, with a touch of preppy sophistication. It ranked solidly in the 200s-300s from 1975 until 2014, but has since tumbled a bit.

Attached to one of the heroes of Christopher Paolini's megapopular fantasy novel Eragon, this name sounds strong yet sensitive.

Crisply appealing.

Rockers Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz put a new baby name on the map when they chose this downscale New York borough name for their son. The Bronx, the place, was named for early Dutch settler Jonas Bronck. Might Bronx become the next Brooklyn? We'd be surprised if it did.

Now that the popularity of Brooke is waning, and surname style variant Brooks is on the rise, Brook seems live a newly fresh nature-inspired option.

Brooke has long projected an aura of sleek sophistication, and can also be seen as a stylish water name.

A nature name, a word name, and a surname name, Brooks has plenty of cool factor. It gives off cowboy vibes and a sporty feel, while also maintaining a smart, collected image.

Bruce is a Norman place name made famous by the Scottish king Robert the Bruce, who won Scotland's independence from England in the fourteenth century. It's perennially popular in Scotland, but has been rarely used here for a generation -- though the impact of Bruces Lee, Springsteen, Dern and Willis, as well as Batman's Bruce Wayne -- still lingers. At one time Bruce was so widespread in Australia, it became a nickname for any Ozzie man. An interesting alternative is Brix, the Normandy place name where the Bruce family originated.

This spelling of Brice relates the name to Utah's spectacular Bryce Canyon -- and is much more popular for both genders than the original Brice. Basketball's LeBron James named his son Bryce Maximus James, and in one of his early movies, John Cusack played a Bryce in Sixteen Candles.

The simple and attractive Bryn is well used for boys in Wales, and does have a history as a male name in the US, although both Bryn and Brynn are currently far more popular for girls.