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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Red | 1,150#293 | Up 23 rank positions in five years | 2014 | ||
Advice or counsel | 1,936#188 | Down 29 rank positions in five years | 2021 | ||
White or fair in Irish; Sámi or Finn in the Norse tradition | 1,702#206 | Down 27 rank positions in five years | 2017 | ||
Surname name with several proposed origins | 1,392#248 | Up 128 rank positions in five years | 2001 | ||
Uncertain (Leah form) | 321#848 | Down 97 rank positions in five years | 1970 | ||
White, blessed | 384#725 | Up 98 rank positions in five years | 1959 | ||
Clear; bright; famous | 283#924 | Down 93 rank positions in five years | 1998 | ||
Cross | 1,025#331 | Down 28 rank positions in five years | 2013 | ||
Wise person; also the sage herb | 1,853#160 | Up 63 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Hill or mound | 767#407 | Down 74 rank positions in five years | 2011 | ||
Intoxicating | 3,153#76 | Up 98 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Life or breathing | 577#519 | Down 49 rank positions in five years | 2017 | ||
Light | 324#839 | Up 171 rank positions in five years | 1999 | ||
Young male horse | 1,188#285 | Down 64 rank positions in five years | 2019 | ||
Box maker, from an occupational surname | 1,181#287 | Down 23 rank positions in five years | 2013 | ||
Probably happy or glad | 1,862#194 | Up 159 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Jet aircraft or deep black | 2,167#169 | Up 109 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Highest rank in English; Aleksandar diminutive in Macedonian | 2,239#164 | Up 35 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
From an Irish name associated with raids or mobilization | 2,077#141 | Up 40 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
The Isle of Skye; also associated with the sky | 569#532 | Down 66 rank positions in five years | 2014 | ||
Round hill | 1,836#196 | Up 42 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Plain, field, or battlefield | 1,806#169 | Up 166 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Italian short form of Gianna | 1,069#287 | Up 44 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
At the ash tree | 1,357#255 | Down 15 rank positions in five years | 2021 | ||
Enclosure or fence; also descendant of Aodh | 2,240#162 | Up 83 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Sweet | 352#771 | Down 34 rank positions in five years | 2007 | ||
Black or pale, from Old English surname roots | 1,035#295 | Down 73 rank positions in five years | 2021 | ||
She; also a short form of El names | 668#461 | Down 91 rank positions in five years | 2019 | ||
Variant of Cash | 1,183#286 | Down 31 rank positions in five years | 2021 | ||
Wren, the small songbird | 1,331#231 | Up 129 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Beauty or adornment | 1,381#253 | Up 59 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
A group working together; weir in the surname branch | 1,352#256 | Up 28 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Wise person; also the herb sage | 640#480 | Up 118 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Motion in Hebrew; other meanings depend on naming tradition | 1,348#226 | Up 239 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Probably esteemed; also short for Esmeralda; derivation partly unconfirmed | 1,032#298 | Up 97 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Manly, through Andrew; also a medieval form of Drogo | 399#706 | Up 236 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Variant of Zaire | 1,077#317 | Up 127 rank positions in five years | 2024 | ||
Variant of Sloane | 324#840 | Down 175 rank positions in five years | 2021 | ||
Possibly bane, ruin or male | 1,157#290 | Up 306 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Light | 435#659 | Up 228 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Variant of Raine | 293#906 | Down 138 rank positions in five years | 2019 | ||
Sovereign rule or a monarch's period of rule | 682#452 | Down 95 rank positions in five years | 2021 | ||
Field, plain, through Blair | 802#384 | Up 289 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
English word name: dream | 718#432 | Down 28 rank positions in five years | 2022 | ||
Warrior, courage; koa tree | 1,281#269 | Up 313 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Holy, saintly | 1,286#267 | Up 304 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition | 296#896 | Down 230 rank positions in five years | 2017 | ||
English surname transferred into given-name use | 1,099#310 | Up 443 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Sun; also a short form of Solomon | 389#722 | Up 504 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Variant of Dream | 578#518 | Up 745 rank positions in five years | 2025 |
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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.