One Syllable Names: Part 1

These days, it's more likely you'd call your daughter the popular Belle or Bella.

Belle has nothing but positive associations, from "belle of the ball" to "Southern belle" to the heroine of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. As if this weren't enough good things, Belle is also one of the most familiar and usable names that mean beautiful. Though it has been overshadowed by the Twilight-influenced Bella and longer forms like Isabella and Annabella, Belle has its own Southern charm and would make a pretty choice as a first or middle name.

Ben, the diminutive of Benjamin or Benedict, can easily stand on its own as a simple, strong, nice-guy choice, though it's somewhat attenuated. Ben is this generation's Bob or Bill.

Earthbound surname that few would make as first choice.

Hip short form of Bernard, also Swiss place-name.

A once-popular nickname for Albert and Bertram now being polished up by hip Brits, but still hibernating in the Land of Nerd over here.

Although she declared her independence as far back as the reign of Elizabeth I--Good Queen Bess, Bess now sounds less passé than Beth or Betsy.

The sweetest and most sensitive of the pet names for Elizabeth, now also one of the most dated.

The quintessential midcentury nickname, famously found in Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman."

The Biblical Abijah might be temporarily lost to time, but this antiquated short form could move with it into the modern era.