 |
| © Carol Anne Hartman Photography |
America loves lightning-quick names, especially to shorten a flowing formal name or to keep things simple and sweet on the birth certificate. As a mom, I can vouch for the fact that finding these names can be tricky. Parents need a list, and, um, THAT'S WHY I'M HERE!
Perfect Options for Middle Names
I created this post originally as a list of "one-syllable middle names," because I know a lot of you are on the lookout for quick options that fit your naming style. So many of us have longer surnames (three syllables over here!) and desperately need something less complicated in that middle spot. But I also want to point out these names make perfectly wonderful first names as well! (You already knew that.)
What You'll Find
One-syllable names have typically been dominated by boys, and it shows. Traditionally, the quick, simple words are associated more with the male sex. But you will find the girls' names listed here are elegant, sweet, and feminine; I only wish there were more.
I created this post originally as a list of "one-syllable middle names," because I know a lot of you are on the lookout for quick options that fit your naming style. So many of us have longer surnames (three syllables over here!) and desperately need something less complicated in that middle spot. But I also want to point out these names make perfectly wonderful first names as well! (You already knew that.)
What You'll Find
One-syllable names have typically been dominated by boys, and it shows. Traditionally, the quick, simple words are associated more with the male sex. But you will find the girls' names listed here are elegant, sweet, and feminine; I only wish there were more.
One more thing—I didn't include too many "nicknames" or shortened variants of longer names. Some examples are Bob (Robert), Mike (Michael), or Jan (Janet), though those would work too. Feel free to post any additional ideas in the comments section!
| Girls Ann or Anne Bea Belle Blake Bleu or Blue Blythe Bree Breeze Brooke Brynn Cate or Kate Claire or Clare Cree Dawn Dea Dove Drew Elle Eve Faith Fawn Fay or Faye France Gail or Gayle Grace Gray Hope Jade Jane Jean Jill Jo Joan Joy June Kay Lane or Laine Lark Leigh Love Lu or Lou Lynn or Lynne Mae or May Maeve Maude Nell Neve Paige Pearl Quinn Rae Rain or Raine Reese or Rhys Rogue Rose Ruth Sage Shae Sky or Skye Sloane Snow Swan Star Sue Tess Wind Wren Wynn or Wynne Yael | Boys Abe Ace Art Ash Beau or Bo Blaine or Blayne Blake Blaise or Blaze Boone Bram Brant Bray Breck Brent Brett Brock Brooks Bronx Bruce Bryce Brynn Cade Case or Kase Cash Chad Chance Chase Clark Clay Clive Cole Craig Cree Crew Dale Dax Drake Drew Earl Finn or Fynn Flint Flynn Fox Fred Fritz Gage Garth Gene Gent George Glen or Glenn Graham Grant Gray or Grey Guy Hank Hawk Heath Hugh Jace, Jase, or Jayce Jack Jake James Jax Jay Jazz Jett John Joel Jude Kai Kade Knox Kurt Lance Lane Lee Lloyd Luke Mark or Marc Max Miles Mitch Nash Neil or Neal Oz Park Paul Pax Penn Quinn Ray Reece, Reese or Rhys Reed or Reid Rhett Rome Ross Sean, Shaun, or Shawn Shane Seth Skip Sky or Skye Spence Steel Stone Tate Teague Trace Tre or Trey Trent Trig Troy Ty Vance Vaughn or Von Vince Wade Walt West Wolf Wray Yale York Zac, Zack, or Zach Zane |
I love your choices. I also like Kit (short for Katherine).
ReplyDeleteI don't see how any self-respecting parent could name their SON Skye. I think it's beautiful for a GIRL, but a boy named Skye would never make it through high school, nor should he be expected to!
ReplyDeleteI knew a boy in high school named Skye. He seemed to make it through alive...
Deletehaha I have to laugh at the person saying Sky not being a boy's name. I actually have a customer where I work whose name is Branson Skye. And he's a very handsome, tall teenager with charisma and confidence to boot. who says it can't be a boy's name? I've also known a little girl whose name was River.
ReplyDeleteOh, I needed to edit my post about my customer's name. He goes by Skye, and not many ppl know that it is is middle name rather than first. Just FYI, most names are unisex when you really think about it. Toodles!
ReplyDeleteMy little brother's name is Skylar and goes by the nickname Sky almost always. The only high school problem he has is academic :p
ReplyDeleteMy teenage son is Matthew Skye...I loved Skye as a middle name, and to boot he is tall,handsome and intelligent...
ReplyDeleteOur 2nd son has the middle name Levi..
I personally love both Skye and Levi as middle names for boys :)
I think Rhodes would be a great addition to the boys name list. We named our first son Rhodes because we both loved it since it wasn't very common, and it also happened to be a family name on my husband's side, as well as his middle name.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the name Skye for a boy. One of my swim coaches when I was growing up was Skye and all the girls were in love with him. He was very masculine and nobody ever said anything about his name being unusual.
ReplyDeleteYou can also add the name Ren to the boys list.
ReplyDeleteYou can also post Jude to both sides since it's considered unisex but mainly male.
ReplyDeletei really like the name tate as a middle for makenzi for my unborn daughter only i was going to spell it tayte. . . but dads not to into it
ReplyDeleteI love the name Skye as a middle name for a guy!! I know a few and they are not picked on!
ReplyDeleteBlake is one of my favorite names. And I guess next to that I would pick Ace.
ReplyDeleteI'm ending the Sky controversy once and for all, and adding it to the boys list in addition to girls. I do often dislike categorizing a name as male or female, especially for names that are unisex like Sky. It's a cute name either way. :)
ReplyDeleteWe have a Zane also but it can be spelled Zain as well. That's how it's spelled in the Bible. We also have a Trigg with 2 g's but it's original spelling is Trygg or Tryg (can't remember). It's Scandonavian though and means True, Faithful.
ReplyDeleteAnother name to add to the girl's list is Liv, it's a full girl's name. It's Scandinavian, meaning "Life".
ReplyDeleteI notice that Cian is with Sean...From my experience, Cian is pronounced "kee-an." Perhaps it should be moved up with the "C's." Just an observation. :) Loved the list!
ReplyDeleteRue would make a nice middle name for a girl. I like Bay too, for either boys or girls.
ReplyDeleteWhat about Bess for girls?
ReplyDeleteI love the name Kate too! It's a very strong name.. I'm naming my daughter Emery Kate.
ReplyDelete