Roses and Cellar Doors

Yes, yes, I know: Rory isn't a nickname; it's a full boys' name. But, thanks at least partially to Gilmore Girls , Rory is incre...

I know, it seems weird to group those together. But, Dolly & Dotty were nicknames for Dorothy thanks to that R-to-L/T/D shift that Middl...

Despite the fact that Etta  rose higher than any of her long forms, I still think of her as a nickname. I'm not sure why--because -etta ...

What begins with A? Lots of smallish girls' names, and they also end that way: Abha  (ahb-hah, Hindi)--"light, luster" Ac...

Poor Molly . Is she a nickname, or a full given name? I guess the answer is 'both': Molly was originally a regional pronunciation of...

Did you know there're no D-names for girls in the Top 100? Destiny  is the highest-ranked, at #113, followed by Delilah , Daniela , Dais...

I haven't done this one yet? Really?? *hangs head in shame* Originally short for Millicent , Mildred , and other musty Germanic names, ...

Clara/Klara  (KLEHR-ah, KLAH-rah) Claire  (KLEHR, French) Chiara  (KYAH-rah, Italian) Clarisse  (klah-REES, French) Emma  (EM-mah) ...

Poor Lenny . The go-to nickname for old-man Leonard , he's probably out of general favor for another generation or so, since boys' n...

One of the biggest trends in girls' names right now is the unisex name. As a result, a couple (often overlapping) counter-trends have em...

May flowers! Happy, uh, May Day? We'll go with that. On the heels of my bird-themed post, a flower-themed post also seemed like a fun i...

Christian is an interesting case. Originally used for both males and females, in the last 100 years or so, it's become almost completely...

With all the names that Nell  is historically short for, it's surprising it's not more popular. The usual suspects include Helen , E...

I admit, sometimes I come across fun new names, and have to come up with a way to work them into a post (without being ridiculously obvious,...

Poor Minnie . Once at the top, she was toppled by a certain animated mouse. Of course, the fact that Minnie  was originally short for the c...

(or in rare cases, a boy-version). Most names that you can think of likely have both an established male & female version, or are consi...

George . It's one of those names where the consensus is split pretty evenly--some think it's purely boring, stodgy old-man, and some...

Like J & K, Xs are relatively rare in English words, and so they're memorable & eye-catching. Unlike J & K, however, it'...

What can you say about John ? Thanks to a pair of admirable Bible characters, it's one of the most popular boys' names of all time, ...

Mia . At just three letters, it's easily the shortest female name in common usage today. That's probably why, despite it's overw...