Some Like it Short: Names with Great Nick Names A-M

There are parents out there—whose numbers are growing constantly—who hate nicknames. They stand adamantly in the “Name your baby what you will call him or her” camp. And then there are the other people, like me who love nicknames. I love the versatility. I love the romantic possibilities of more than one name. I love the Victorian feel of knowing Meg is probably Margaret.

One of my kids has a nickname that we call her consistently. She hardly associates with her formal name. The other child has a series of pet names and short forms but insists that her legal name is the one and only. We’ve given her options and she can use them as she likes.

This is a list of suggestions for parent like me who want options, romance, and versatility. I’ve picked through and selected a few of my favorite names and their possible nick names. It’s no where near an exhaustive list–even for the letters A-M. Hopefully it will be just enough to spark a new idea or remind of forgotten favorite.

A

Adele: Addie, Della, Del

Alessandra: Alice, Ally, Sandra, Sandy, Sasha

Annika: Annie, Ann, Anna, Nikki, Nika, Nina

Abraham: Abe, Abram, Bram

Alfred: Fred, Alfie

Andrew: Drew, Andy, Anders

B

Belinda: Bella, Linda, Lindy

Beverly: Bevy, Lila

Bethany: Bette, Betty, Annie

Bennet: Ben, Nat, Nate

Byron: Ron

Bernard: Bernie

C

Celandine: Celia, Lana, Dina

Camille: Camie, Millie

Claudia: Cloudy, Dea, Dee Dee

Charles: Chase, Chuck, Charlie

Caspian: Cas, Case, Ian

Calvin: Cal, Vinny

D

Desdemona: Desy, Mona

Diana: Di, Nan, Anna

Dorothy: Dora, Dot, Thea

Dashiel: Dash, Eli

Dalton: Dal, Tony

E

Elaine: Ellie, Laine, Aina

Eleanor: Ellie, Lena, Nora

Eugenie: Gina, Gigi

Edward: Ed, Ward, Ted

Ernest: Ernesto, Ernie

Erickson: Eric, Rick

F

Felicity: Lissa, Tia

Fiona: Fifi, Ona, Fae

Francesca: Fran, Nan, Frankie

Finlay: Finn

Felix: Fox

G

Gloria: Glory, Lea, Lori

Georgia: Georgie, Gia, Gigi

Genevieve: Vivi, Gena, Jenny, Neva

George: Geo

Gideon: Gid, Dean, Ian

Gilbert: Gil, Bertie

H

Harriett: Hattie, Etta

Helena: Helly, Lena, Nell

Honora: Honey, Nora, Ona

Henry: Harry, Hank

Harold, Harry, Hal

Hadrian: Hayden, Had

I

Imogen: Immy, Gina, Jenny

Indira: Indy, Dea, Dira

Isadora: Issy, Dora, Addy

Isaac: Ike, Zack

Ian: Johnny

Inigo: Nico

J

Jessamine: Jessie, Mina, Mia

Josephine: Josie, Posey, Phina, Nina

Joanna: Joey, Joy, Anna, Annie

Julian: Jules, Jude

Jonah: Jo, Nat

K

Katerina: Kat, Katya, Rina

Kiersten: Kiera, Kiki

Kimberly: Kim, Lea

Kiernan: Kenny, Ky

Kenneth: Kenny, Ken, Kent

Kyle: Ky, Lee

L

Lorraine: Lori, Rainy

Lenoa: Lea, Ona, Leonie

Louisa: Lou, Lucy, Issy

Leander: Lee, Andy, Anders

Leopold: Leo, Lee, Polo

Lucas: Luca, Luke

M

Margaret: Margot, Meg, Greta

Marianna: Maren, Anna, Mary

Melinda: Mel, Lindy

Maxwell: Max, Mac, Well

Marcos: Mark, Mars

Matthew: Matt, Matteas, Mats