Many parents like long, traditional baby names that offer a slew of nicknaming options. The perennial favorite Elizabeth is a good example of one of these -- it can be shortened to Eliza, Elsa, Elsie, Liz, Lizzy, Libby, Betsy, Betty, Bette, Beth, and many other pet forms.

Other parents, though, don't want to bother with a long, formal name. They prefer something short and sweet. These parents tend to be drawn to the unassuming simplicity of super-short names, each of which has just a handful of letters.

The most extreme of these are 2-letter names, including boy names like Al and Ed and girl names like Jo and Lu. Most of these began as nicknames for longer names (such as Albert, Edward and Josephine), but they became familiar and popular enough in their own right to be used as stand-alone forenames. Today's most popular two-letter names are the boy names Ty (ranked #210) and Bo (#771).

Three-letter names aren't as extreme, but they're still quite short, and there are many more out there from which to choose. As with the two-letter names, most three-letter names began as humble nicknames. Here's a sampling of three-letter names for each gender (the ones in bold are currently ranked in the U.S. top 1,000):

BOYS
Abe, Alf, Ali, Ari, Asa, Ben, Bob, Bud, Cal, Dan,
Dax, Del, Don, Edd, Eli, Gus, Guy, Hal, Ian, Ike,
Ira, Jax, Jay, Jed, Jim, Joe, Jon, Kai, Ken, Kip,
Lee, Len, Leo, Les, Lex, Lon, Lou, Mac, Max, Mel,
Moe, Nat, Ned, Noe, Ray, Rex, Rey, Rob, Rod, Ron,
Roy, Sal, Sam, Sid, Sim, Sol, Tad, Ted, Tex, Tim,
Tod, Tom, Tre, Val, Van, Vic, Von, Wes, Zeb, Zed

GIRLS
Ada, Aja, Ala, Ama, Ami, Amy, Ana, Ann, Ara, Ava,
Bea, Bev, Deb, Dee, Dot, Eda, Ela, Ena, Eva, Eve,
Exa, Fae, Fay, Flo, Gia, Ida, Ila, Ima, Ina, Ira,
Isa, Iva, Ivy, Joi, Joy, Kay, Kia, Kim, Kya, Lea,
Lia, Liz, Lou, Luz, Lyn, Mae, Mai, May, Meg, Mia,
Mya, Nan, Nia, Nya, Ola, Oma, Ona, Ora, Osa, Ota,
Ova, Pam, Rae, Sky, Sue, Tai, Tia, Una, Zoa, Zoe


Names with 4 letters are (of course) not as short as the names above, but many are also good choices for parents who are attracted to minimalist monikers.