250 Short and Unique Baby Girl Names

When it comes to baby names, sometimes short is sweet. Think of all the times a person has to sign their name in their life, and how having fewer letters to write could be an advantage. Shorter names are often easy to pronounce and easy to spell (though not always). And parents don't have to worry about if their baby's name will fit when they get it personalized. Perhaps that's why, even back in 2018, Quartz noted the rise of the four-letter baby name.

For families who are on board, these 250 short baby girl names offer some quick-and-sweet inspiration. Some of them rank among the most popular girl names of the year, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA), meaning they're right on-trend. Others are still ranking outside the top 1,000 names, so they're still flying under-the-radar or are not yet overused. Try these on for size, and see how powerful they sound.

Unique Two-Letter Girls' Names

Two-letter names are a tough sell, to be honest. While there are many two-letter girl names that fit various naming trends—like Io, a Greek mythological name that's also a moon of Jupiter, and the unisex name Jo—none have made it on the SSA's list of the 1,000 most popular baby girl names. (There are two on the list of most popular boys' names—Bo and Ty—that could easily be snatched up for a girl.) Instead, two-letter girl names are most often shortened forms of longer names, like these:

Popular Three-Letter Girls' Names

The shortest girl names that have made the SSA list are at least three letters, which is almost as short as they come. Here's every one that made the top 1,000 this year, in order from most popular to least popular.

Mia
Ava
Zoe
Ivy
Eva
Lia
Ada
Noa
Ana
Amy
Gia
Joy
Mya
Mae
Eve
Ari
Aya
Nia
Ila
Sol
Luz
Lea
Emi
Liv
Sky

Some of these are as trendy as well as popular, landing themselves on the SSA's list of the fastest-climbing names. The most impressive is Emi, which jumped a whopping 114 places in rank between last year and the year before. Sol, is right on its tail, hopping up 99 places, followed by Eve (+48), Mae (+28), Noa (+27), and Joy (+21).

Rare Three-Letter Girls' Names

These didn't make the SSA's list of top 1,000 most popular names for girls (though some made the list for boys), so they're good ones to consider for families who want something under-the radar.

Ali
Ann
Ash
Bay
Bea
Dot
Fay
Gem
Ida
Isa
Jan
Kay
Kit
Lee
Lou
Lux
Max
May
Nyx
Paz
Pia
Pip
Poe
Rae/Ray/Rey
Ren
Rio
Rue
Sam
Sia
Taj
Teo
Una
Val
Wyn
Zia

a sleeping baby uses a pacifier while wrapped in a pink blanket

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The Trendiest Four-Letter Girls' Names

For many, four letters is the sweet spot: not too short, not too long. There are a lot of four-letter names on the SSA list, and many are climbing the charts at a rapid pace. These are the names that increased most in popularity between last year and the year before, plus how much they jumped in rank.

Romy (+230 places)
Romi (+189)
Tara (+173)
Yuna (+128)
Ayah (+94)
Naya (+86)
Yara (+75)
Vada (+72)
Demi (+71)
Kira (+70)
Rory (+57)
Siya (+55)
Xyla (+55)
Aura (+54)
Noor (+52)
Hana (+51)
Lara (+48)
Jane (+48)
Lyra (+47)
Mira (+45)

Esme, Etta, Iyla, Anne, Maia, Faye, Alma, and Zara are also increasing somewhat.

Popular Four-Letter Girls' Names

While those are the fastest climbers, there are plenty of other four-letter girls' names on the SSA list—this is the rest of them, listed in order of popularity, that haven't been mentioned already.