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in Baby Names

150 Cool Short Boy Names: The Ultimate Guide

Are you looking for some inspiration for short boy names? You’ve come to the right place!

Struggling with finding the perfect name to pair with your last name?

In this ultimate guide, we’ll share with you 150 short boy names, complete with their meaning and origins. Since we’ll be featuring short names for boys, all of the name ideas you’ll find on our list will range from three to five letters long.

We’ve broken these short baby names out into a few different categories listed below.

Table Of Contents – Click to Scroll Ahead
  • Classic and Historical Short Boy Names
  • Popular Culture Short Boy Names
  • Cool Boy Names That Are Short and Unique
  • One Syllable Cute Short Boy Names
  • Unique Boy Names Inspired by Faith
  • Modern Baby Boy Names Inspired by Nature
  • Space-Inspired Short Baby Boy Names
  • Simple Boy Names Inspired by Art
  • Short Names for Boys That Are Inspired by Music
  • Cute Short Boy Names Inspired by Books
  • Final Words on Short Boy Names

There’s nothing more important than picking out baby’s first name!

Read on to find the perfect sweet boy name for your little boy…

Classic and Historical Short Boy Names

Let’s start with classic names and historical boy names. These short boy names are based on historical thus have stood the test of time.

Whether you’re looking for an old school name or a more traditional boy name, there’s likely a baby name for you on this list.

1. Aiden

  • Origins: Irish and Celtic mythology 
  • Meaning: This cute boy name came from Aodh, the name of the Celtic God of sun and fire.

2. Amir

  • Origins: A popular name for Middle Eastern, Arabic, and Muslim historical figures
  • Meaning: Putting an accent mark over the letter “I” will translate the name into “prince.” Meanwhile, placing the mark over the letter A will change its English version to “prosperous.”

3. Cesar

  • Origins: Cesar Chavez was a Mexican-American civil rights activist. This name is also known by its alternate spelling, Caesar, due to another historical figure: Gaius Julius Caesar’s Roman emperor.
  • Meaning: Thick head of hair

4. Frank

  • Origins: French origin; various historical figures. This includes those who went by its alternate forms, such as Franklin and Francis.
  • Meaning: Free and from France  

5. Henry

  • Origins: Germanic word “Heimeric”
  • Meaning: House ruler

6. James

  • Origins: Hebrew origin; the name of kings. Since one of the apostles is named James, it is also highly considered a biblical name.
  • Meaning: Supplanter

7. Karl

  • Origins: German origin. It was made popular by historical figures Karl Marx and Karl Jung.
  • Meaning: Free man

8. Liam

  • Origins: Irish origin or roots; originally spelled as Uilliam
  • Meaning: Resolute protection

9. Mason

  • Origins: Old French. Historically, Mason is more commonly associated with the oldest fraternal organization in the world, the Freemasons. Their most popular members include George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Winston Churchill, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. 
  • Meaning: An artisan who works in stone or stone worker

10. Nicco

  • Origins: Greek origin and Italian origin. Niccolo Machiavelli is definitely one of the greatest thinkers in history. 
  • Meaning: People of victory 

11. Nolan

  • Origin: Irish name
  • Meaning: Noble or Champion

12. Rah

  • Origin: Egyptian
  • Meaning: It came from Ra, the Egyptian God of the sun.

13. Rowan

  • Origins: Irish and Arabic
  • Meaning: Its Irish translation is “red-haired.” Meanwhile, the Arabic translation is “a river in paradise.”

14. Plato

  • Origin: Greek word. It also refers to the great Greek philosopher and student of Socrates.
  • Meaning: Strong, broad shoulders

15. Wyatt

  • Origin: It came from the Old English name Wigheard before it gradually evolved to Wiot during the Middle Ages.
  • Meaning: Brave man of war
short boy names from popular culture

Related: 50 Cute Ideas for a Baby Boy Nursery

Popular Culture Short Boy Names

Not everyone loves old, historical names. Geek parents and fans of popular culture might want to name their children after their favorite characters instead. Instead of sharing the origins and meanings of these famous names, we’ll share the pop-cultural references that have inspired these short boys names.

16. Damon

  • Inspiration: Damon Salvatore of Vampire Diaries, a character portrayed by Ian Somerhalder.

17. Daryl

  • Inspiration: Daryl Dixon of The Walking Dead, played by Norman Reedus.

18. Dean

  • Inspiration: Dean Winchester from the television series Supernatural, performed by Jensen Ackles.

19. Elric

  • Inspiration: The Elric brothers from the anime and manga series, The Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

20. Finn

  • Inspiration: The protagonist from the hit cartoon series Adventure Time.

21. Iroh

  • Inspiration: Uncle Iroh; the former Crown Prince and General of the Fire Nation. He’s also the wisest character in the cartoon series Avatar, The Last Airbender.

22. Jax

  • Inspiration: Jackson “Jax” Teller, the main protagonist of the television series Sons of Anarchy.

23. Jules

  • Inspiration: Jules Winnfield, the character played by Samuel L. Jackson from the movie Pulp Fiction.

24. Kirk

  • Inspiration: Captain Kirk of the starship USS Enterprise, in the hit TV series Star Trek.

25. Kylo

  • Inspiration: The son of Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa turned Sith in the movie Star Wars, played by Adam Driver.

26. Levi

  • Inspiration: Levi Ackermann is the one-person army in the anime and manga series Attack on Titan.

27. Rick

  • Inspiration: The greatest scientist of popular culture from the cartoon series Rick and Morty.

28. Saul

  • Inspiration: The ace attorney Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad TV series.

29. Troy

  • Inspiration: Troy Barnes from the comedy series Community and Troy Bolton from the hit Disney franchise, Highschool Musical.

30. Wes

  • Inspiration: Wes Anderson, the film genius known for his unique visuals and narrative styles.

Related: 15 Boy Baby Shower Themes to Inspire You

Cool Boy Names That Are Short and Unique

Want to give your son a cool boy name that will set him apart from others? Here are a few unique baby boy names to consider.

31. Logan

  • Origin: Scottish origin
  • Meaning: Little hollow

32. Chase

  • Origin: Old French
  • Meaning: Skilled huntsman

33. Flash

  • Origin: America
  • Meaning: Bright light

34. Forge

  • Origin: French
  • Meaning: An occupational name inspired by master artisans of the forge or smithy

35. Haru

  • Origins: Japan and Korea
  • Meaning: In Japanese, this name means “the season of spring.” In Korean, Haru has an English version of “day.”

36. Hiro

  • Origin: Japan
  • Meaning: Abundance and generosity

37. Jace

  • Origins: Greek origin and Hebrew origin
  • Meaning: It translates to “healer” in Greek. Meanwhile, it also means “lord of salvation” in Hebrew.

38. Kaden

  • Origin: American
  • Meaning: Fighter

39. Mylo

  • Origin: Slavic
  • Meaning: Merciful soldier

40. North

  • Origin: English origin
  • Meaning: One of the four cardinal directions

41. Rogue

  • Origin: English origin
  • Meaning: Savage

42. Scout

  • Origin: American
  • Meaning: First explorer

43. Shiva

  • Origin: Indian
  • Meaning: Kind and beautiful

44. Soren

  • Origin: Scandinavian
  • Meaning: Strict, serious, and severe

45. Truth

  • Origin: English origin
  • Meaning: As in the virtue. As Henry David Thoreau so adequately puts it: rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.
monosyllabic short boy names

One Syllable Cute Short Boy Names

Where’s the charm of short baby boys names if they’re going to be multiple syllables (or polysyllabic)? For us, nothing beats the straightforwardness of one syllable names. Don’t you think? Here are some cool short first name ideas…

46. Ace

  • Origin: Old French
  • Meaning: One or expert

47. Blaze

  • Origin: English
  • Meaning: Flame

48. Cal

  • Origin: Hebrew
  • Meaning: Devotion

49. Cole

  • Origin: Middle English
  • Meaning: Coal-black, charcoal

50. Jude

  • Origin: Hebrew
  • Meaning: Praised

51. King

  • Origin: English
  • Meaning: Ruler

52. Lee

  • Origin: English 
  • Meaning: Clearing in the woods

53. Nash

  • Origin: English
  • Meaning: By the ash tree

54. Rex

  • Origin: Latin
  • Meaning: King

55. Sean

  • Origin: Irish origin
  • Meaning: Gracious and a gift from God

56. Steve

  • Origin: America
  • Meaning: Crown or victorious

57. Tru

  • Origin: Germanic
  • Meaning: Strength of the spear

58. Van

  • Origin: Welsh
  • Meaning: God is gracious

59. Zack

  • Origin: Hebrew origin, a shorter version of Zachariah
  • Meaning: Laughter

60. Zane

  • Origin: Hebrew
  • Meaning: God is gracious

Related: 80+ Modern One Syllable Boy Names

Unique Boy Names Inspired by Faith

Biblical names don’t just show your devotion – they can serve as a lifelong blessing you can give your child. What better way to honor the word of God than with these old testament and new testament baby names.

Below are several ideas for unique boy names inspired by faith. Since most of them have a biblical or Hebrew origin, we’ll be sharing just the meanings of each baby name instead.

61. Adam

  • Meaning: Son of the red earth

62. Caleb

  • Meaning: Faithful

63. Cohen

  • Meaning: Priest

64. David

  • Meaning: Beloved

65. Elias

  • Meaning: The Lord is my God

66. Ethan

  • Meaning: Strong

67. Gabe

  • Meaning: Hero of God

68. Isaac

  • Meaning: One who laughs

69. Jacob

  • Meaning: Supplanter

70. Jesus

  • Meaning: From the Hebrew name Yeshua that means “to deliver or rescue”

71. Jonah

  • Meaning: Dove

72. Mark

  • Meaning: Shining; although it means “consecrated to the God, Mars” in other cultures.

73. Mateo

  • Meaning: Gift of God

74. Peter

  • Meaning: Rock

75. Seth

  • Meaning: Appointed

Modern Baby Boy Names Inspired by Nature

Do you dream of having a son who loves nature and travel? Maybe giving him an earthy name will help set him down this path!

Since these names for boys all originated from the natural world, most readers probably know the meanings of these cool names already. Let’s just enumerate them instead!

  • 76. Birch
  • 77. Cloud 
  • 78. Cliff
  • 79. Colt
  • 80. Fjord
  • 81. Flame
  • 82. Flint
  • 83. Frost
  • 84. Fox
  • 85. Glade
  • 86. Glenn
  • 87. Leaf
  • 88. Onyx
  • 89. Storm
  • 90. Thorn

Space-Inspired Short Baby Boy Names

Boys names inspired by outer space belong to dreamers and adventurers. If you think that’s going to be perfect for your little one, any of the cool short boy names below will make a good choice.

91. Aries

  • Origin: Latin
  • Meaning: It stands for the astrological sign of the Ram.

92. Astro

  • Origin: Greek origin
  • Meaning: Of the stars

93. Atlas

  • Origin: Greek
  • Meaning: Enduring

94. Buzz

  • Origin: American
  • Meaning: It is inspired by the American pilot and astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

95. Comet

  • Origin: Greek
  • Meaning: From the word kometes that means “long-haired star.”

96. Halo

  • Origin: Greek
  • Meaning: Divine aura or circular aura of light

97. Jett

  • Origin: English
  • Meaning: An aircraft

98. Leo

  • Origin: Latin
  • Meaning: It stands for the astrological sign of the Lion.

99. Mars

  • Origin: Greek
  • Meaning: God of war. Mars is also the fourth planet in our solar system.

100. Moon

  • Origin: Old English word
  • Meaning: To measure, as back then, people used the moon to measure months.

101. Neil

  • Origin: Irish origin
  • Meaning: This name has a lot of meanings, such as cloud, honor, passion, and victory. It became more popular in recent decades due to Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on our moon.

102. Orion

  • Origin: Greek
  • Meaning: Rising in the sky, one of the most popular constellations.

103. Rigel

  • Origin: It is the name of the seventh brightest star in the heavens and the brightest one in the Orion constellation.
  • Meaning: It means foot and is used for the star since it marks Orion’s left foot.

104. Sky

  • Origin: Scandinavian
  • Meaning: The heavens

105. Solar

  • Origin: English
  • Meaning: Of the sun
short boy names inspired by space

Simple Boy Names Inspired by Art

Let’s take a look at these cool boy names inspired by famous artists. For these names, we’re just going to share the names of each influential person, instead of the names root origins and meanings. You may find some of these to be a common name, but plenty are considered an unusual name.

106. Andy

  • Inspiration: The American Pop Art artist Andy Warhol. 

107. Blake

  • Inspiration: The English poet and Romanticist painter Willian Blake.

108. Bosch

  • Inspiration: The Dutch Renaissance painter Hieronymous Bosch.

109. Claude

  • Inspiration: The French Baroque painter, etcher, and draughtsman Claude Lorrain.

110. Dali

  • Inspiration: The Spanish Surrealist painter and photographer Salvador Dali

111. Diego

  • Inspiration: The Mexican muralist Diego Rivera

112. Ernst

  • Inspiration: The German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, poet Max Ernst.

113. Greco

  • Inspiration: The Greek Spanish Renaissance painter, sculptor Domenikos “El Greco” Theotokopoulos.

114. Hans

  • Inspiration: The German Northern Renaissance painter Hans Holbein the Younger.

115. Max

  • Inspiration: the German-American Pop Art painter Peter Max.

116. Monet

  • Inspiration: The French Impressionist painter Claude Monet

117. Pablo

  • Inspiration: The Spanish Cubist painter and sculptor Pablo Ruiz Picasso

118. Rodin

  • Inspiration: The French Impressionist sculptor Francois Auguste Rene Rodin

119. Vince

  • Inspiration: The Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh

120. Vinci

  • Inspiration: The Italian High Renaissance painter, engineer, draughtsman, scientist, theorist, architect, and sculptor Leonardo da Vinci

Short Names for Boys That Are Inspired by Music

Just like how we featured the name ideas above, we’ll be listing down the musicians that inspired the short boys names below, unless the name wasn’t derived from a music icon, of course.

121. Angus

  • Inspiration: The Australian co-founder and lead guitarist of the band AC/DC Angus Mckinnon Young

122. Bowie

  • Inspiration: The English singer and songwriter David Bowie

123. Corey

  • Inspiration: The American singer, musician, songwriter, and frontman of Slipknot and Stone Sour: Corey Todd Taylor

124. Dylan

  • Inspiration: The American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.

125. Elton

  • Inspiration: The English singer-songwriter Sir Elton John

126. Iggy

  • Inspiration: The American Musician Iggy Pop

127. Jazz

  • Origin: American 
  • Meaning: A style of music

128. Jimi

  • Inspiration: The American singer, musician, songwriter Jimi Hendrix

129. Kurt

  • Inspiration: The American singer, artist, musician, and Nirvana frontman Kurt Donald Cobain

130. Ozzy

  • Inspiration: The English singer and Heavy Metal icon Ozzy Osbourne

131. Riff

  • Origin: English
  • Meaning: Riff refers to the repeated chord progression that is commonly played using an electric guitar. It can also be a shortened term for refrain.

132. Ringo

  • Inspiration:  The English drummer of the band The Beatles: Ringo Starr

133. Slim

  • Inspiration: The American rapper, Marshall Bruce Mathers III, more popularly known as Eminem or Slim Shady

134. Stan

  • Origin: American
  • Meaning: It’s a term that refers to a devoted celebrity fan, more specifically a musician.

135. Tempo

  • Origin: Latin word
  • Meaning: Time; also a term that refers to the timing or speed of a musical piece.

Cute Short Boy Names Inspired by Books

Finally, here are some ideas for baby boy names that book-loving parents will definitely want to consider.

136. Aslan

  • Inspiration: Aslan, the Great Lion, the God figure, in C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia series

137. Byron

  • Inspiration: The English poet, George Gordon Byron, more popularly known as Lord Byron

138. Conan

  • Inspiration: The British writer, Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, author of the legendary crime fiction series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

139. Cullen

  • Inspiration: A family name in the popular novel series, Twilight, written by Stephenie Meyer

140. Dante

  • Inspiration: The Italian poet Dante Alighieri who wrote The Divine Comedy

141. Darcy

  • Inspiration: Fitzwilliam Darcy, the romantic hero in Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice

142. Godric

  • Inspiration: Godric Gryffindor, a legendary character in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series

143. Homer

  • Inspiration: The ancient Greek epic poet, Homer. His most notable works are the Iliad and the Odyssey.

144. Hugo

  • Inspiration: Victor Hugo, the French writer most known for Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

145. Kafka

  • Inspiration: Franz Kafka, the Bohemian Modernist novelist

146. Khal

  • Inspiration: A leadership title in the popular epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire. It was the base material of the TV series, Game of Thrones.

147. Oscar

  • Inspiration: The Irish poet Oscar Wilde. He is most known for his work, The Picture of Dorian Gray.

148. Poe

  • Inspiration: The American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe

149. Rhett

  • Inspiration: The male protagonist in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind: Rhett Butler.

150. Roald

  • Inspiration: The British novelist Roald Dahl. He is most known for his works Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda.

Final Words on Short Boy Names

We understand how hard it can be to think of the perfect baby boy name for your son. After all, it’s a decision that will impact the rest of his life!

We hope you found the perfect short name from this list of short boys names. Remember: If you’ve chosen your child’s name out of love, hopes, and dreams, you really can’t go wrong.

Need More Baby Name Inspiration?

Check out our great baby name posts…

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111 of the Top Gender Neutral Names

100+ Hippie Girl Names for Your Flower Child

175+ Southern Girl Names You’ll Love

115+ Sophisticated Girl Names

45 Beautiful B Girl Names

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