One-Syllable Baby Names
Baby names with one syllable, ranked by current U.S. popularity. Compare counts, trends, and the history of this name length.
- Girls, 2025
- 4.9%
- vs 4.0% in 2000
- Girls' names in use
- 784
- 2,953 recorded since 1880
- Girls' peak
- 1933
- at 11.4% of names
- Boys, 2025
- 13.9%
- vs 12.8% in 2000
- Boys' names in use
- 1,699
- 4,726 recorded since 1880
- Boys' peak
- 1881
- at 38.8% of names
How this name length has fared since 1880
Share of published U.S. births, year by year.
| Save name | Name & meaning | History 1926–2025, yearly counts; individually scaled | Babies 2025 · rank | 5-year rank movement | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Traditionally supplanter, through Jacob | 11,945#6 | Steady | 1947 | ||
Yahweh is gracious | 8,027#23 | Up 4 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Man, through Karl; alternative army derivation | 5,898#48 | Down 2 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Farmer; earth-worker | 2,848#126 | Up 6 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Small | 1,316#262 | Down 10 rank positions in five years | 1957 | ||
Form of Latin Marcus | 1,416#245 | Down 10 rank positions in five years | 1960 | ||
Probably female friend; companion | 1,781#173 | Up 46 rank positions in five years | 1920 | ||
Yahweh is gracious, through John | 8,748#15 | Up 6 rank positions in five years | 1927 | ||
Grace; favor, with virtue and religious associations | 5,127#38 | Down 10 rank positions in five years | 2003 | ||
Rose flower; an older name also has Germanic roots | 2,386#114 | Down 2 rank positions in five years | 1917 | ||
God is gracious | 1,380#221 | Up 43 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
God is gracious in Spanish and Manx; beautiful or graceful for Chinese 娟 | 2,318#159 | Down 14 rank positions in five years | 2005 | ||
Grace in the Anna family; eagle in the Frisian masculine name | 472#619 | Up 7 rank positions in five years | 1959 | ||
Probably from Lucania | 6,948#33 | Down 2 rank positions in five years | 2014 | ||
Bright; clear | 3,487#68 | Down 10 rank positions in five years | 2016 | ||
The month of June, associated with Juno | 1,978#150 | Up 32 rank positions in five years | 1925 | ||
Brook; small stream | 972#313 | Down 77 rank positions in five years | 1996 | ||
Valley or dean, from two surname traditions | 2,876#125 | Up 51 rank positions in five years | 1961 | ||
Black or pale, from Old English surname roots | 1,080#316 | Down 107 rank positions in five years | 2012 | ||
Chase, hunt | 1,904#192 | Down 69 rank positions in five years | 2009 | ||
Greatest; also a short form of Maxwell | 2,025#180 | Down 33 rank positions in five years | 2009 | ||
Pearl, the gemstone | 350#777 | Steady | 1918 | ||
Charcoal; also victory of the people through Nicholas | 2,003#182 | Down 49 rank positions in five years | 2002 | ||
Faith; trust or belief | 1,212#254 | Down 120 rank positions in five years | 2003 | ||
Page or young attendant | 884#346 | Down 69 rank positions in five years | 2003 | ||
English word name: joy | 747#419 | Down 23 rank positions in five years | 1957 | ||
Farmer or earthworker, through George | 1,069#323 | Down 47 rank positions in five years | 2006 | ||
Big, large | 1,555#228 | Down 15 rank positions in five years | 1997 | ||
Possibly gracious or dear; historically associated with soldier | 6,072#44 | Up 15 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
May month name; also a short form of Mary, Margaret, or Mabel | 594#501 | Up 75 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Jade gemstone | 2,658#95 | Up 2 rank positions in five years | 2002 | ||
Hope; expectation of something good | 868#352 | Down 149 rank positions in five years | 2000 | ||
Manly, in the Andrew family | 1,744#200 | Up 19 rank positions in five years | 2007 | ||
Healer, through Jason | 3,083#114 | Down 18 rank positions in five years | 2013 | ||
Short form of Katherine, traditionally associated with “pure” | 576#522 | Down 110 rank positions in five years | 2007 | ||
Fairy; also a familiar form of Faith | 579#515 | Up 173 rank positions in five years | 1943 | ||
Sea in Hawaiian; other meanings depend on the naming tradition | 3,768#93 | Steady | 2022 | ||
Beautiful or handsome | 5,165#60 | Up 49 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
English form of Miles, meaning uncertain; separate Greek name probably means mill | 3,511#100 | Up 24 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Good mother in the Maia family; emerald in Burmese | 697#444 | Down 201 rank positions in five years | 2009 | ||
Probably gravelly homestead | 2,967#120 | Up 66 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Near a brook | 4,877#64 | Up 28 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
English surname of uncertain meaning; lily in the Latvian tradition | 1,051#324 | Down 66 rank positions in five years | 2018 | ||
Probably praise; Jewish woman when short for Judith | 2,384#155 | Down 1 rank positions in five years | 2015 | ||
Descendant of Conn; deeper meaning disputed | 2,634#97 | Down 13 rank positions in five years | 2016 | ||
Green shoot | 1,149#272 | Down 111 rank positions in five years | 2010 | ||
Probably a Gaelic speaker | 3,860#86 | Up 26 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Lane, path | 1,383#250 | Up 6 rank positions in five years | 2019 | ||
Healer | 2,199#167 | Down 17 rank positions in five years | 2015 | ||
Probably ardor or enthusiasm | 1,631#192 | Down 46 rank positions in five years | 2012 |
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Sources & methodology
Meaning summaries use Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and referenced name histories. Each name’s detail page includes its sources.
Syllables use recorded Wiktionary pronunciations when available and spelling estimates otherwise; pronunciations can vary. The list shows the most popular names for each sex. Historical shares are measured over published names only. Rankings and counts come from official SSA birth records. “—” means fewer than five published applications for that sex and year.