Names That Mean Small, Little, or Tiny

Excellent candidate for use as an undiscovered surname name. Niven is the Anglicized spelling of the Irish name Naomhan, a diminutive of the word naomh which means saint. This handsome but unusual name was given to only six boys in the US last year. Your parents may be familiar with actor David Niven.

Brogan is a cheerful Irish surname that would fit right in with the Logans and Br-starting names now trendy for boys. It's been on the pop list for the past three years, though it's sliding again. Its history includes Saint Brogan (Broccan in Gaelic), who was Saint Patrick's nephew and scribe.

The name of the son of the legendary Finn McCool is often Anglicized to Ossian, but the original has recently been revived in Ireland and is currently among the most popular boys' names there.

Ossian, or Osian, from the Old Irish name Oisin, was the son of Finn in Irish legend that was transformed into a Scottish hero in the Ossianic poems of James Macpherson in the eighteenth century--which also popularlized Oscar, Fingal, Selma and Malvina.

Intriguing Old Welsh name being revived there, but would have major pronunciation problems here.

Could there be a more poetic name than Sonnet? Actor Forest Whitaker was inspired to choose it for his daughter.

This variation of Rowan, which is also a color name rhyming with Joan, is more popular for boys than girls, as are the other variations of the name. Rowan is the most popular spelling of the name for both genders, followed by Rowen, and then there's Rohan, Rohen, and so on.

Although this surname name is closely related to the more common Irish name Kieran, Kiernan is also a well used family name, tied to thirty-three ancient chieftains. It has on a few occasions been used for girls.

Although this surname name is closely related to the more common Irish name Kieran, Kiernan is also a well used family name, tied to thirty-three ancient chieftains. It has on a few occasions been used for girls.

This cross-cultural name is a spelling variant of two different popular names: the Irish Aidan and the Hebrew Idan. While Idan is a Top 100 choice in Israel, Aidan - and Aiden - in a number of English speaking countries. Pleasingly simple and concise, Edan may however be mistaken for Eden.

Mime Marcel Marceau actually had two versions of the same name. Marcel, Marceau, Marcella, Marcus, Mark -- all are variation of the Roman mythological name Mars, the god of war.

Long-standing French name that retains a feminine, fragile, and shell-like image.

Pauline had its moment of glory almost a century ago, when movie audiences were thrilling to the silent serial The Perils of Pauline; it's a sweet and gentle name that just might be due for reconsideration. Off the list since the late 1990s, Pauline was a Top 50 name from around 1908 to 1930.

Mythological water spirit with the more common spelling of Ondine, heroine of an Edith Wharton novel.

A spelling variant of presidential surname Regan that briefly entered the Top 1000 for boys in the 1960s, but hasn't rejoined the list since. Shakespeare also used the name for a daughter of King Lear, inspired by an ancient king of the Britons in accounts of the medieval scribe Geoffrey of Monmouth.

Odhran, Anglicized as Oran, was the name of an ancient saint. Today, Odhran is among the Top 100 Irish names for boys in Ireland.

The Narellan is the name of a river in New South Wales. From this name comes this quasi-French girls' name, which is quite common in Australia.

A jovial and jaunty Irish name, the title of a long-gone TV crime drama, this would make an appealing choice. Slight downside: Maddy is already a mega-popular nickname for Madeline/Madelyn and Madison, so this Mad- name might not feel as distinctive as the stats would suggest.

Also spelled, Piran, this Cornish saint's name is also a village. Perran is thought to be analogous to the Irish name Ciaran.

An unusual, energetic surname choice that would make a good Madison alternative. Madigan was a typical police detective series of the 1970s, starring Richard Widmark.