One Syllable Names for Girls
- Ita
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"thirst"Description:
The name of one of the most famous medieval Irish saints, who was known as "the foster-mother of the saints," and founded a nunnery in the county of Limerick. Might be of interest to someone looking for an unusual 3-letter name.
- Soul
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"soul, spirit"Description:
A charming addition to the ever-growing crop of virtue names.
- Prue
Origin:
Short form of Prudence, English virtue nameMeaning:
"caution"Description:
After a long time in limbo, Prudence is now so clunky it'a cool, and it's starting to make a comeback, along with other Puritan virtue names like Mercy, Patience, and Constance.
- Fig
Origin:
Fruit nameDescription:
Fig was the unlikely name of a beautiful character in Curtis Sittenfeld's Man of My Dreams. Better bets: Plum, Quince, or even Apple. Still, you might consider Fig as an unusual nickname for any more formal F-starting name, from Frances to Fiona.
- Ora
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"prayer"Description:
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.
- Bryce
Origin:
Scottish surnameMeaning:
"speckled, freckled"Description:
Bryce is the preferred spelling over Brice for both genders, with nearly 70 girls named Bryce in one recent year vs. only five called Brice. But note that there were over 3000 boys named Bryce and 240 named Brice, making this a predominantly male name. Actress Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of director Ron, is the most notable female bearer of this name.
- My
Origin:
Swedish diminutive of MariaMeaning:
"bitter; wished-for child"Description:
Although the sound is pretty, "my" is too common of an English word for My to be usable as a baby name.
- Storm
Origin:
Word nameDescription:
The name of one of the most powerful Marvel superheroes — and the first major black female comic book heroine — is certainly a big one to live up to! Portrayed in the live-action X-Men movies first by Halle Berry and then by Alexandra Shipp, Storm is a mutant descended from a long line of African witch-priestesses, who can bend the weather and atmosphere to her will.
- Ona
Origin:
Lithuanian variation of Anna, Catalan diminutive of MarionaMeaning:
"grace; wave; bitter; wished-for child"Description:
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".
- Midge
Origin:
Diminutive of MargaretMeaning:
"pearl"Description:
Sixties-style nickname which is also the name of a small biting insect, particularly prevalent in Scotland.
- Theo
Origin:
Diminutive of TheodoraMeaning:
"divine gift"Description:
Theo has a girls' name is used for only a handful of babies today. As a short form of Theodora, Theo is used much less frequently than Thea or even Teddy. One notable appearance was as the younger daughter in Sofia Coppola's film On the Rocks in 2020.
- Flynn
Origin:
IrishMeaning:
"descendant of the red-haired one"Description:
A winning last-name-first Celtic choice, Flynn is still mostly used for boys, such as the son of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr. Though Flynn is definitely one of the Irish surname names, from Quinn to Flannery to Makenna, that makes one of the trendy boy names for girls".
- Wade
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"at the river crossing"Description:
An established male name that might cross over to the girls' side -- though if it's a water name you're after, there are so many prettier choices.
- Mayar
Origin:
ArabicMeaning:
"moonglow"Description:
Mayar is one of those names that has a host of different meanings across cultures. It's the name of a tribe and several places near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. It's a mountain in Scotland. It's a variant spelling of Hebrew Mayer. It's an Arabic name apparently meaning "moonglow." It's a Spanish verb meaning "to meow."
- Dionne
Origin:
Greek, feminine variation of DionMeaning:
"divine"Description:
Dionne is an Americanized version of the Greek Dione, with many sub-versions of its own, identified with singer Dionne Warwick. It was also the surname of the Canadian quintuplets born in 1934, who gained worldwide fame as the first kown quints to survive to adulthood.
- Lethe
Origin:
GreekMeaning:
"oblivion"Description:
In Greek mythology, Lethe was the name of one of the five rivers in Hades, the underworld. Lethe was also the name of the Greek spirit of forgetfulness and oblivion, with whom the river was often identified.
- Poet
Origin:
English word nameDescription:
A recently entered name on the roster, Poet was used for her daughter by Soleil Moon (Punky Brewster) Frye, who obviously appreciates the advantages of an unusual name. This is a possible middle name choice for verse-loving parents who want to skip specifics like Auden or Poe or Keats or Tennyson and go with the generic.
- Dulce
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"sweet"Description:
Popular Portuguese and Spanish name that refers to "dulce nombre de Maria" -- the sweet name of the Virgin Mary. English variant Dulcie has a different pronunciation.
- Defne
Origin:
Turkish variation of DaphneMeaning:
"bay tree, laurel tree"Description:
Defne is one of the most popular names for baby girls in Turkey, ranking at the top of the list along with Zeynep and Elif. This is one girls' name that makes an easy transition to English-speaking countries or that could work for a family with roots in both cultures.
- Brie
Origin:
French, place-name of cheese-producing regionDescription:
Place-name and homonym of Bree, less popular than its enlargement, Brielle.