Nickname Names

The currently preferred replacement for Becky, sometimes used on its own.

Rust is one of the few color names for boys, sometimes short for Russell. As a diminutive for Russell, it's much more modern and cooler than Rusty. Whether you use it as a nickname or it stands on its own, the meaning refers to the color red.

A relic of the midcentury Mandi-Sandi-Andi era.

Cameron is still more popular as a boy's name than a girls and this simple, snappy short form works well for either sex.

Giovanni is the Italian form of John, and Gio is its dashing nickname. A lot cooler than Johnny, no?

An interesting and attractive bicultural choice--the Hebrew version is used for babies born in spring, when turtledoves arrive--especially as a middle.

Nickname sometimes heard on its own, sort of an updated Sally and playmate of Hallie.

In the Divergent series, Tris was used as a short form of Beatrice, but it could also be given as a nickname for names like Tristan, Patricia, or Demetris.

As this word is less often used to mean derriere, it becomes more possible to view Fanny as the kind of appealingly quaint nickname name, like Josie and Nellie, that many parents are favoring now.

The Spanish and Portuguese word for "sea" is a Top 100 name in Spain. In America, it's sometimes used as a nickname for names like Martina and Marina, but it could also plausibly stand on its own.

See TERRY.

Frisco is a frisky, roguish semi-place-name (San Francisco natives never call it that) that could make a lively, unusual o-ending choice.

Mauve-tinted nickname with vintage charm that could just follow in the footsteps of ABBIE. More prominent now as the nickname for the Texas A&M sports teams.

An Anglicized form of Medb borrowed by both Shakespeare and Percy Bysshe Shelley for the of queen of the fairies. Perfect if you want something both adventurous and simple - though you could use it as a nickname for Mabel, Mirabel, Mabli, or Amabel too.

Androgynous nickname for Veronica, Rhonda or Rona.

An energetic, charmingly retro nickname, Suzy and all her sisters are off their fashion peak but will rise again around the middle of this century.

A sweet Bobbsey-twin era nickname, fluffy and floral.

This sassy, spunky name was used for the mostly Irish jump-roping pigtailed girls of the thirties and forties -- and some Irish and Italian boys as well. Its most noted bearer was iconic country music singer Patsy Cline (born Virginia), and was sighted most recently in the Ab Fab movie. After reaching Number 52 in the late thirties, it dropped off the list completely in 1970--and we're not anticipating a return.