Syllable boy names: a concise orientation before we get practical.
I can’t give you 100 one-syllable girl names without a list for boys too! And, well, I did marry one of the most popular monosyllabic names of all time: John. Short boy names have been popular for centuries. Think Gods (Zeus), Gospels (Mark, Luke), Founding Fathers (George, James, Ben), all the way to modern TV characters (Ross, Zack, Bart). They can feel strong, timeless, charming, unique, or all of the above. So today I’m sharing 100 of my favorites.
This list can be useful if you’re trying to balance out a longer last name or simply seeking something easy for your child to spell and pronounce. This might also spark an idea for a middle name, or the nickname you’ll use instead of their longer, legal name (Ben instead of Benjamin).
Popular One-Syllable Boy Names
We scoured the annual list of Top Baby Names put out by the Social Security Administration (this is 2024 info, as 2025 hasn’t been released). Almost 15% of the Top 500 boys names were one syllable. That’s 3x as many on girls’ list! And that’s not to mention several top names that have common one-syllable nicknames (like Lucas, William, Daniel, etc).
Here are the Top 25 one-syllable baby boy names, along with their rank on the overall list:
- James (#5)
- Jack (#15)
- John (#21)
- Luke (#34)
- Miles (#37, also see Myles below)
- Reece (#45)
- Brooks (#67)
- Beau (#69)
- Kai (#76)
- Myles (#99, also see Miles above)
- Jace (#114, also see Jayce below)
- George (#124)
- Graham (#129)
- Juan (#137)
- Dean (#142)
- Jude (#156)
- Hayes (#160)
- Jett (#161)
- Cole (#162)
- Ace (#165)
- Jayce (#169, also see Jace above)
- Chase (#173)
- Rhett (#174)
- Max (#175)
- Finn (#198)
And although they’re not in the Top 25, I have to give a shout-out to Zayn (#249), Zain (#306), and Zayne (#447) for appearing 3 times in the Top 500 under different spellings.
As for our favorite 100 options, here is the full list of 100 one-syllable names, sorted alphabetically. Personally, my favorites are Beau, Clark, Dean, Cal, George, Graham, Finn, Jack, Kent, Luke, and Wells.
- Ace
- Art
- Banks
- Beau
- Beck
- Bo
- Blake
- Briggs
- Brooks
- Bruce
- Bryce
- Burke
- Cade (or Kade)
- Cain (or Kane)
- Cal
- Cash
- Chance
- Charles
- Chet
- Chuck
- Clark
- Clay
- Clint
- Clive
- Clyde
- Cole
- Crew
- Cruz
- Dale
- Dash
- Dax
- Dean
- Don
- Duke
- Drew
- Finn
- Flint
- Flynn
- Ford
- Frank
- Fred
- George
- Graham
- Grant
- Gray
- Guy
- Hank
- Hayes
- Heath
- Hugh
- Jace (or Jayce)
- Jack
- Jake
- James
- Jay
- Jett
- Joe
- Joel
- John
- Juan
- Jude
- Kai
- Keith
- Kent
- Kit
- Knox
- Kurt
- Kyle
- Lance
- Lane
- Lee
- Lev
- Lex
- Luke
- Mac
- Mark
- Max
- Miles (or Myles)
- Nash
- Nate
- Neil
- Pete
- Pierce
- Quinn
- Ralph
- Ray
- Reece (or Rhys)
- Reed (or Reid)
- Rex
- Rhett
- Rome
- Royce
- Saul (or Sol)
- Scott
- Sean (or Shawn)
- Seth
- Shane
- Steve
- Tate
- Todd
- Tom
- Trace
- Trent
- Trey
- Troy
- Vic
- Vince
- Wade
- Walt
- Wells
- Wes
- Will
- Wynn
- Zane (or Zain or Zayne)
More Naming Resources
Need more name ideas? Maybe even some for your pets! Take a look at these other posts below for more names, including boys, dogs, and cats too.
More posts from Young House Love
We reference Syllable boy names briefly to keep the thread coherent.
