Nickname boy names
One rule gets a name onto this list: it began as a short form or pet form of a longer name, and it is now handed out on its own as the whole thing. Jack from John, Theo from Theodore, Bram from Abraham.
- JackJAKEnglish
Medieval England made Jankin out of John, then wore it down to Jack. It now sits above its own parent in the U.S. rankings, #15 to #23.
- LeoLEE-ohLatin
Lion, and a real Latin name in its own right long before it was short for anything. Most modern Leos, though, are the front of Leonardo, Leonard or Leopold. #19.
- TheoTHEE-ohGreek
Gift of God, clipped from Theodore. Both are in the current U.S. top 100 at once, Theodore at #4 and Theo at #82, which almost never happens to a pair.
- MaxMAKSLatin
Greatest, from Latin maximus. Two long forms sit behind it and they are unrelated: Maximilian is the Latin one, and Maxwell is a Scottish place name. Outside the current U.S. top 100.
- CharlieCHAR-leeEnglish
The everyday form of Charles, with the same free man behind it. Outside the current U.S. top 100 for boys, and increasingly given to girls as well.
- FinnFINIrish
Fair, bright. Genuinely its own name, borne by the legendary Fionn mac Cumhaill, but in America it doubles as the short form of Finnegan and Finley.
- ArchieAR-cheeScottish
The Scottish pet form of Archibald, genuine and bold. Far commoner in Britain than in America, where it is still heard as a nickname first.
- TobyTOH-beeEnglish
God is good, inherited from Tobias. English took the Greek ending off and kept the rest, and the result has been a standalone name since the Middle Ages.
- BramBRAMDutch
Father of a multitude, by way of Abraham. Dutch has registered Bram as a full name for generations. Dracula's author was christened Abraham Stoker and signed himself Bram.
- HankHANKEnglish
Traditionally treated as a short form of Henry through the old diminutive Hankin, though some trace it instead to Dutch Hanke, from Johan. Either way it stopped being short a long time ago.
- XanderZAN-derGreek
Defender of men, taken from the back half of Alexander rather than the front, which is unusual: clippings normally keep the beginning.
- NicoNEE-kohGreek origin
Victory of the people. The Italian, Spanish and Dutch short form of Nicholas, now standalone across most of Europe.
- EliEE-lyeHebrew
A priest in the book of Samuel carries this name on its own, where it means ascent or height. Most American Elis, though, are standing in for Elijah, which is #7.
- PerryPERR-eeEnglish
A dweller by the pear tree as a surname, and a clipping of Peregrine as a first name. Perry Como carried it through mid-century America.
- OzOZHebrew
Strength in Hebrew, and in English whatever Os- name it stands for: Oswald, Osborne or the biblical Ozias. Short, blunt and almost unspellable wrongly.
- BenceBEN-tsehHungarian
The Hungarian short form of Benedek, Benedict, and one of the most-given names in the country. Nobody in Hungary reads it as informal.
- Yannickyah-NEEKBreton
A Breton pet form of John built from Yann plus the diminutive -ig. Standard on French birth certificates since the middle of the last century.
- JędrekYEN-drekPolish
The Polish pet form of Andrew, clipped out of Andrzej. Manly, as the Greek root has it.
- KeesKAYSSDutch
The Dutch everyday form of the Roman family name Cornelius, and a full legal name in the Netherlands for centuries rather than a familiarity.
- BasBAHSSDutch
Dutch keeps the tail of Sebastian and throws the rest away. One syllable, and it travels into English without an explanation.
- ThijsTICEDutch
Gift of God: the Dutch clipping of Matthijs, the northern form of Matthias. The spelling frightens English speakers more than the sound does.
- XaviSHA-veeCatalan
The Catalan clipping of Xavier. The footballer Xavi Hernandez made it legible worldwide under six letters.
Do you put the short form on the birth certificate?
The case for the short form. It is what he will be called, so putting anything else on the certificate creates a permanent gap between the legal name and the lived one, and a lifetime of correcting forms. Short names are easy to spell, easy to say in more than one language, and safe from being cut down into something you did not choose: nobody is going to shorten Bram. And the argument that these are not real names does not survive contact with the record. Jack has been an English name since the fourteenth century, Kees and Bram have been on Dutch registers for generations, and Leo, Max and Theo are now given far more often than the long names they came from.
The case against. The long form is optionality, and it only runs one way. A boy registered as Theodore can be Theo at six, Ted at twenty and Theodore on a contract at fifty; a boy registered as Theo cannot go the other way without a deed poll. Some fields still read a diminutive as casual on a masthead or a nameplate, and while that is unfair, it is not imaginary. There is also a rhythm problem worth listening for: a one-syllable first name in front of a one-syllable surname gives you nothing to work with, and Max Brand has less music in it than Maximilian Brand.
The workable middle. Split the decision across the two slots rather than agonising over one. Register the long form and use the short one from the first day, which is what most families who choose Theodore actually do; or register the short form and give him a long, formal middle name to fall back on, which is what Jack Alexander and Finn Sebastian are for. Either way, decide before he arrives which name goes on the school list, because whichever one the teacher reads out in September is the one that sticks. The middle names guide has more on balancing the two halves, and the classic names list is where most of the long forms live.