Do you want to find a female baby name that's not crazy, but concise? If so, a single-syllable name might be just what you're looking for.

Currently, the most popular one-syllable names for baby girls born in the United States are Grace (ranked 17th in 2006), Brooke (44th), Faith (64th), Paige (76th), Claire (86th), Jade (111th) and Hope (200th).

Other (slightly less) popular names include:

Ann, Anne, Bree, Brynn, Clare, Elle, Eve, Flor, Jane, Joy, Joyce,
Kate, Luz, Maeve, Quinn, Reese, Rose, Ruth, Sage, Saige, Skye, Tess


Short names that are used less often nowadays for baby girls include Bea, Belle, Beth, Bjork, Blaire, Blanche, Cass, Dawn, Dee, Fawn, Faye, Fern, Fleur, Gail, Grayce, Gwen, Gwyn, Jan, Jayne, Jen, Jill, Joan, Joi, June, Kae, Kay, Kim, Lark, Liv, Lyn, Lynn, Lynne, Madge, Mae, Marge, Maud, May, Neve, Niamh, Noor, Page, Rue, Sky, Sloan, Sloane, Star and Sue.

So... now the important question: What are the pros and cons of one-syllable girl names?

On the pro side, these names are short and sweet, and most aren't hard to spell (though people may get mixed up by spellings like Clare/Claire and Page/Paige). They're also a great solution if you're looking to balance out a long surname (like Ashalintubbi, Papadopoulos, VanValkenburg or Wojciechowski :).

On the con side, many of these names aren't exactly "feminine" sounding (i.e., they don't end with the "-a" sound that typically denotes a female name). Of the 29 single-syllable girl names that ranked in 2006, for example, all but three end with a consonant sound -- the most popular sounds being S, N, J, and R. And certain one-syllable girl names (such as Quinn, Sage, and Sky) are used as often for boys as they are for girls.

If you don't mind the idea of (possibly) sacrificing femininity for the sake of simplicity, though, a single-syllable name might be a good choice for your baby girl.