Minimalist Baby Names

[Taverner]

One of our friends is pregnant, and being an artist who lives by minimalism - she wants to go with a minimalist baby name.

My interpretation of that is that it would probably have to be no more than one syllable, and simple for anyone to prononuce.

So the names I'm thinking are:

Sam
Tom
Kirk
Ann
Jen


Can you think of any others?

[ZombieHorde]

1. J, Q, Z, L, or D. nt

[rcrush]

2. That prince symbol?

[SoxFan]

65. !!!

[Sanity Claws]

3. Sue, Kay, Art, Jim, Jon, Sean, Belle, Bea, Jeff, May, June, Elle, Faye

I'm sure there are lots more.

[EndersDame]

4. Da or DaDa (pronounced like daww or daww daww )

Could be short for dadaism and sounds artsy .

[HopeHoops]

5. Newt

[Bucky]

12. sadly

it's not his actual name

Newton "Newt" Leroy Gingrich (born Newton Leroy McPherson; June 17, 1943) is an American politician who served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

[HopeHoops]

20. Yeah, but you don't get much more minimalist in the brain department than THAT fucker!

Okay, there is FOX and Limbaugh, but he's in the same basic "missing some genes pool".

[rcrush]

6. .

, + Q or shit.

[evlbstrd]

7. Untitled.

Then number sequentially.

[GreenPartyVoter]

75. +10!

[BurtWorm]

8. Line, Form, Fact

I won't be using any of those. She can have them free of charge.

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. Mep.

[Bucky]

10. Trig

Skype
Lol
Dvd

[Ivan Sputnik]

11. How about...

"Mars" or "Finn"? I know people who have bestowed these monikers on their progeny.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

13. Boys: Chad, Brad, Stan, Dirk, Kirk, Rock, Stone,

Girls:

Amy, Emma. Liz, Pam, Pat, Kat, Rose, Iris

[Tuesday Afternoon]

21. Chace, Paige, Eve.

[XemaSab]

43. Slate, Crag, Tor, Chert

n/t

[Kali]

67. ...

:rofl:

Tuff!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

14. How about "Baby" ? nt

(2 syllables but awfully minimalist.)

[Fire Walk With Me]

15. They'd have to wear white diapers with a blue line.

Edit: Oh man, no google images of that "generic product" time frame..

[Gidney N Cloyd]

17. (I'm also assuming they're planning a minimalist family andwon't need a 2nd baby name down the road)

[woo me with science]

24. Yeah, but they'd have to change it in a couple years.

"Person"?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. Bo, Lu, Di, Em, Jo, Mo, Si, Al

[TCJ70]

41. Mash that up: Boludiemjomosial...fun...

[eppur_se_muova]

72. Four of those are found in the Periodic Table of the Elements ... nt

[Turbineguy]

18. Max.

[Kickin_Donkey]

19. Tor

[Arugula Latte]

22. Gus, Rex. Will, Ben, Zoe, Cam (short for Camilla?), Cass, May/Mae

[gmoney]

23. A baby is not a pet, and not an accessory. It's a person who has to live with the name.

I'd suggest a name that might have a one syllable version, but with other versions as well for later in life - Tom, Tommy, Thomas. Bob, Bobby, Robert. Sue, Susie, Susan. Or am I being anti-minimalist?

Just try to picture the kid at age 25 applying for a job... "Interesting resume... what is your first name? I just see an asterisk?" "No, my name is Star." "Uh, don't call us, we'll call you..."

[Chan790]

29. That would be anti-minimalist.

Basically, it's name the kid with the short or shortest version of the longer name and options. Hence, Bob, not Robert or Bobby; Sue, not Susie or Susan.

Ideally, the perfect minimalist name is something like Elle or Vee or Dee. One syllable, sounds like a single character, doesn't lend or allow itself to a nickname or longer version.

I agree though, it's a person and should not be named like one names a pet fish.

[gmoney]

37. has to work with the last name

Naming it Dee when the last name is something like Von Furstenburg-Hoffephfeffer or Solzhenitsyn is kinda pointless.

[Deja Q]

25. Doh!

[PVnRT]

26. ~

[Schema Thing]

27. # _

[Amelie]

28. Fred

[Chan790]

30. Chan!

(So what if it's not my real middle name and it's short for Channing.)

It's a great, unique, simple, minimalist name.

[moggie]

31. Space

It's one syllable, the concept encompasses everything, it's the simplest character to type on a keyboard, and the result is clean, uncluttered, and culturally neutral.

[proteus_lives]

32. Von.

It would be an interesting twist on an old thing.

[Courtesy Flush]

33. I think Jill is a nice name. nt

[GoddessOfGuinness]

34. May, June, Tim, Bob, Fay, Ben, Paul

Off the top of my head...

[Patiod]

35. One of my friends dated a guy we called "5-letter Ed"

His name was Ed Fus. Doesn't get much more minimalist than that, but it helps to have a 2- or 3-letter last name.

[gmoney]

36. There was Ed Ott, a catcher for the Pirates back in the 70s and 80s

I think has the record for shortest name in the major leagues, but that's probably his only record.

[hibbing]

47. funny!

Hi,
Thanks for that one, that is funny as heck.

Peace

[kwassa]

38. Boy, Girl. Great names.

and then there is Undecided.

[Roon]

39. My nic name for Jason

Jay.

[pokerfan]

40. ~

A beautiful name for a boy or a girl:

7

It's also Mickey Mantle's number so not only is it an all round beautiful name, it's also a living tribute.

[Fastcars]

42. Tons of 3 letter names...

Abe, Arn, Art, Bob, Bec, Rob, Roc, Mat, Kim, Cin...
Max is a great one, my buddy has a son named Max.

If you go up to four letter names the choices are almost endless.

[nolabear]

44. How about Io?

You pronounce it...uh...Io.

[kwassa]

45. Ur. Uh. Da. Eh. Po. De. Ma. Oo. Ga. Hu. Er. Po.

[madeline_con]

50. You already said Po. Are Ur and Er pronounced the same way? n/t

[redwitch]

46. Syd or Sid

:-)

[hibbing]

48. I like Sam

Hi,
Seems like a name I never come across here. I do however work with some young hipster who is named Sam. I like it.

Peace

[madeline_con]

49. Og, Tam and Pu n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

51. Sean.

[mwdem]

52. Simon

It's my newly one year old grandson's name. It's simple and to the point. And when people ask his name, they're kind of thoughtful.

[fortyfeetunder]

53. Fe (as in Santa Fe)

I thought that would be a cute name for a girl!

[JCMach1]

54. Ana

My oldest daughter's name

[Heidi]

55. ø (nt)

[cherish44]

56. Two letter is about the smallest you can go and have it be a real name

Ty
Bo
Jo
Al

That's about all I can come up with...

[struggle4progress]

70. A. B.

It's easy to spell

Also it rhymes with "baby" so there's opportunities for minimalist poetry:

Baby
A. B.

[CreekDog]

57. How about a name that would be better for the child rather than for her?

this isn't about her.

:rant:

[applegrove]

58. Jack is a great name.

[Mojambo]

59. Joe. n/t

[Shell Beau]

60. Jane, Claire, Matt, John

[NOW tense]

61. Ted?

[greendog]

62. Grid, Line, Dot, There, Pane, Still, Void, Jump, Fly, Wane, Mild, Fade, Dim

[SoxFan]

63. ^

:redbox:
:bluebox:
:weekly:
:daily:

[AngryAmish]

64. schwa

[Red State Rebel]

66. B

[old mark]

68. Og.

Og Mandingo is supposedly the world's greatest salesman.....


mark

[wickerwoman]

69. I

That would be a pretty spooky first name.

Seriously though, she could probably go the initial route too... D.J. T.J. A.J., J.J. etc. and then if the kid hated it he or she could use the full version as adults.

[Burma Jones]

71. I call my three Kids Jake, Boo and Sook

for:

Jacob
Annabel - My son called her Annieboo when she was a newborn
Susannah - Went from Sookie to Sook

I am a lazy lazy man.......

[Arkansas Granny]

73. I've known a couple of men who had initials only, no name attached.

[MajorChode]

74. Most here have completely missed the point of minimalism

The point is not to be as short as possible, but one must be short and creative at the same time. The name should inspire one to think.

While Sam, Tom, etc. might be short, they certainly don't inspire much thought. No one is going to ask, gee I wonder what that name means?

Here's a few suggestions to ponder...

He, She, It.

This is an excellent example. Anyone who discovers that child's name and realizes it really isn't a joke is going to immediately ask themselves, "Why?" and/or "What does it mean?"

Does it mean that names are really just labels and can never fully express the complexity of a human being? Does it mean that we are all really the same deep down inside? Does it mean the parents were fucking idiots? Does it mean the parents were really fucking smart? Whatever the question, one just isn't going to know the answer until they take the time to meet the children and the parents and if they don't take that time, they will spend the rest of their lives thinking about it.

Here's a couple of more...

Ma or Pa.

At first thought, someone is going to think, what a stupid fucking name for a kid. But then you have to look at the practical side and think, gee someday these kids are going to grow up and have kids of their own. Then their names will make perfect sense and will be ingenious in their forethought.

The possibilities are endless here. Hopefully I've inspired some to think outside the box and come up with some better suggestions.