Hipster one syllable names

Vaughn, also commonly spelled Vaughan, has been used quietly over the years, reaching a peak of Number 349 in 1949. It is now in the process of rediscovery, being seen as a good Sean alternative or an updated way to honor an ancestral Paul (which also means small).

Until recently, Vernon and its short form Vern seemed like grandpa names not ready for revival, but now we can see it happening. Never the popular, Vern works particularly well as a middle name.

Vibrant and vital noun name chosen by actress Shawnee Smith for her daughter.

Vogue has been in rare use as a personal name, mostly since the last century. It doesn’t show up in current US data, but has been rising in the UK since 2013, influenced by Irish model Vogue Williams, whose grandmother suggested her name after an encounter with someone named Vogue.

Voss is a German name, that is seen in Norway and Australia (in the former it is associated with a region, in the latter it is associated with the protagonist of Patrick White's novel by the same name). Voss is an interesting alternative to Fox.

Until recently Ward was, like Wally, a Cleaver name, but today's parents are seeing it as a cooler nickname for Edward than Eddie, and are also beginning to use it on its own.

This pleasant single-syllable surname might be especially appealing to someone involved with the internet (and who isn't?)--even if some others might see it as a drawback.

Wells is a newly-famous baby name thanks to pregnancy guru Rosie Pope, who uses it as the short form of the buttoned-up Wellington, name of her youngest child.

Short and cool with rugged charm, Wes is a rising star in the US, climbing the charts along side Wesley and Weston and joining other one syllable options such as Mack, Jett, Tate, and Brooks. Filmmakers Wes Anderson and Wes Craven lend the name a stylish and creative air, but it also has Old Western undertones thanks to its literal meaning, "west".

In the old days, this might have been a short form for Dewitt, but today it's more likely to appear as a witty word name. We approve.

Wolf is a name with a split personality. It can be seen as one of the fierce animal names, like Fox and Bear and Puma, with a touch of the werewolf, or it can be viewed as a quieter, Wolf Blitzer kind of name, fairly common in German (where is pronounced Vulf) and Jewish families, sometimes as a short form of Wolfgang, or even Wolfram or Wolfhart.

Wynn is an attractive Welsh name, originally male but now also used for girls outside of Wales. The authentic feminine version would be Gwen, which derives from the same very productive gwyn element, making it a relative of all Welsh names ending -wyn or -wen, as well as the Irish Fin- names.

Admirers of the haunting works of esteemed Irish poet and playwright William Butler Yeats might consider this, especially as a middle name.

Brisk, preppy York is an underused classic with the potential to really shine in the 21st century. It's most familiar as a place name — York is a city in England — and surname. New York City and State were named after the Duke of York.

Yu the Great founded China's first dynasty, but in this country "Hey, you!" would make this name utterly confusing, in an Abbott and Costello way.

In the Bible, Joram and "all his chariots" pass over Zair.

There's Zan and there's Xan--take your pick. Both of these are the latest generation of Alexander nicknames, Xan having been noticed first as a character on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (a rich source of names), and soon phoneticized into Zan.