Nickname Names

This somewhat boisterous Celtic name would be at home in a noisy pub or out walking on the moors. In Scotland, it was originally a nickname for someone with dark hair or a swarthy complexion.

You can call your baby "babe," but don't name her that.

A bit slight to put directly on the birth certificate, but Dom is a pleasant nickname for a boy or a girl.

Francie is one of the most neglected nicknames for Frances, despite having more style value than Franny and Fanny and being more unique than Frankie. We'd love to see it get more use, whether as a Frances short form or as an independent name.

The cute short form gained prominence when it was used for young Prince William of England.

This is a name you get stuck with, not (we hope) one your parents choose for you.

If Frances and Fran are too serious for you, and Fanny too saucy, you might like Franny, still identified by some with J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey stories.

Babs is an old-fashioned nickname for Barbara, itself an old-fashioned name that was hugely popular in the 20th century but that's not (yet) on its way back in. If you really want a vintage-y nickname name with a lot of attitude that bucks the current friends, go for Babs instead of Betty or Bea.

Zippy diminutive of Germanic names containing the element os, meaning "god".

Baby is rarely seen as a given name — or even nickname — these days, although it did rank in the Top 1000 from 1989 to 2003. These instances can be accounted for in two ways. Firstly, infants whose birth certificates are not filled out on time are given generic placeholders for registration, such as Infant, Unknown, or Baby. But more influential during this decade was the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing, starring Jennifer Grey as Frances "Baby" Houseman. It's the origin of the famed line, "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."

A Desi variation that moves the name away from Lucy -- though it's just as dizzy. TV star Jaime Pressly used it for her son.

Dougie is one of those names that spotlights the huge gulf that can exist between US and UK naming trends. In England and Wales, Dougie is a trendy nickname-name, ranking all the way up at Number 315. In the US, on the other hand, Dougie was used for a grand total of zero baby boys last year. Same thing for short form Doug. Only the father name Douglas ranks in the US Top 1000.

Simple short form Shiv can be used as a nickname for names from a variety of cultures, from the Irish Siobhan to the Hindi Shivani.

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.

Diminutive of Andre. Associated with the rapper Dr. Dre.

A once-popular nickname for Albert and Bertram now being polished up by hip Brits, but still hibernating in the Land of Nerd over here.

One of the old-school nicknames -- think Ray, Vince, Frank -- that's on the brink of coming back into style. Name him Stanislav or Constantine and he'll have a groovier long form to fall back on.