Names by Nickname

This quirky Old Testament name has potential, as parents are digging deeper into the Bible to find names for their children. It has also been used as a nickname for Obediah.

Ocie is yet another antiquated ie-ending short form that was popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s and now has almost dropped from sight.

Ocie is an antiquated nickname name, fairly popular for both genders in the US a century or more ago.

A futuristic-sounding nickname for Octavia.

Ada, yes. Ida, maybe. But Oda, a Scandinavian version of Odelia, not really. To English speakers, it sounds too much like "odor".

If Story and Poet and Sonnet can be names that work as well for girls as for boys, why not Ode?

Simple, friendly, distinctive name heard in several cultures. The a ending may feel more feminine in the US than Ole, though both variations are acceptable in Scandinavia.

Down-home nickname name once associated with the friendly dragon on kids' TV. As Oliver rises, we may well hear more Ollies.

Ollie is used less often as a nickname for the mega-popular Olivia or the stylish Olive than Ellie is for Eleanor or Allie for Allison. That may be because Ollie has a much longer use as a nickname for boys.

Makes the intriguing Olga even more so.

One of those names with a wide array of meanings across different cultures; it's the Lithuanian form of Anna, for instance, and William Blake used it as the name of one of his mysterious, godlike characters. But it's found major popularity in Spain, where it's just outside the Top 50. It makes the Top 10 in Catalonia, being both a diminutive of Mariona and the word for "wave".

Opal is on the verge of a repolishing, following other jewel names like Ruby and Pearl. A Top 100 name during the first two decades of the twentieth century, the opalescent Opal has a good chance of coming back as another O-initial option.

Short and slight, with great potential now that names like Ava, Ida and Orla are popular. Ora Beach is a tourist destination on Seram Island, Indonesia.