by Pamela Redmond Satran

　　A friend of ours recently named his baby Jake.  Not Jacob, just Jake.

　　Why name the kid Jacob, he and his wife reasoned, when they weren’t really crazy about it and intended to call the little boy Jake all the time anyway?

　　Nickname names have become increasingly popular and fashionable for children of both sexes over the past handful of years, in both the U.S. and the U.K.  They’re evidence of a new informality along with a rebellion against putting a formal name on the birth certificate just because you’re supposed to.

　　Popular nicknames names for boys in the U.S. include the following, all in the Top 350:

　　Liam (6 — originated as a short form of William)

　　Jack (46)

　　Jace (86)

　　Alex (98)

　　Max (105)

　　Jake (153)

　　Andy (274)

　　Johnny (281)

　　Drew (282)

　　Jax (305)

　　Beau (311)

　　Frank (319)

　　Ty (349)

　　In Britain, where nickname names are even more popular than in the U.S., the Top 100 list for boys for 2012 includes the following nickname names (with their standing in parentheses):

　　[column1]

　　Harry (1)

　　Jack (3)

　　Charlie (4)

　　Alfie (7)

　　Max (18)

　　Archie (23)

　　Jake (33)

　　Freddie (38)

　　Theo (44)

　　[/column1]

　　[column2]

　　Toby (49)

　　Liam (50)

　　Tommy (55)

　　Bobby (57)

　　Jamie (63)

　　Frankie (66)

　　Ollie (73)

　　Louie (79)

　　[/column2]

　　Other cool nickname names for boys you might want to consider include:

　　[column1]

　　Ace

　　Ari

　　Art

　　Ben

　　Cy

　　Gus

　　Hank

　　Joe

　　Mack

　　Moe

　　[/column1]

　　[column2]

　　Monty

　　Nate

　　Ned

　　Ray

　　Rudy

　　Sam

　　Theo

　　Van

　　Will

　　Zeb

　　Zeke

　　[/column2]

　　Names that sound like nicknames but really aren’t include:

　　[column1]

　　Casey

　　Cody

　　Corey

　　Finn

　　Harvey

　　Jay

　　[/column1]

　　[column2]

　　Jesse

　　Jude

　　Kai

　　Leo

　　Luke

　　Rory

　　[/column2]

　　For a guide to the best nickname names for boys, check out our brand new book, The Nameberry Guide to the Best Baby Names for Boys, available now in our store as both an ebook and a paperback.