Short last names are powerful and easy to remember. They are perfect for strong, non-nonsense characters in books, movies, and film scripts. Check out our lists of hand-picked short names that will be perfect for your character in progress.
What are Short Last Names?
A short last name gets straight to the point. Unlike longer and more complicated surnames, short last names seem more rugged and are perfect for edgy or simple characters, who need to make a strong impression. Short surnames are a lot more common than longer surnames, especially in places where languages have more monosyllabic words. Some of history’s greatest figures and most compelling characters have short last names.
Here you will find some of the most popular and recognizable short surnames, as well as an A-Z list of short last names.
Top 100 Short Last Names
The short names on this list are the most popular in the United States. Start your search for your perfect short name here.
- Lee
- King
- Hill
- Hall
- Diaz
- Cruz
- Cook
- Reed
- Kim
- Cox
- Ward
- Wood
- Gray
- Ruiz
- Long
- Ross
- Bell
- West
- Cole
- Tran
- Ford
- Chen
- Webb
- Shaw
- Hunt
- Boyd
- Rose
- Fox
- Rice
- Soto
- Ryan
- Dunn
- Hart
- Lane
- Ray
- Pena
- Rios
- Carr
- Vega
- Dean
- Sims
- Wong
- Reid
- Wang
- Park
- Yang
- Day
- Luna
- May
- Wade
- Beck
- Byrd
- Lowe
- Neal
- Holt
- Hale
- Leon
- Hail
- Pham
- Bush
- Mann
- Lara
- Page
- Love
- Lin
- Liu
- Paul
- Moss
- Chan
- Khan
- Gill
- Todd
- Tate
- Mack
- Wolf
- Rowe
- Wise
- Ball
- Cobb
- Pope
- Owen
- Lang
- Cain
- Ali
- Lamb
- Hess
- Beil
- Nash
- Shah
- Roth
- Mora
- Bass
- Lam
- Huff
- Hood
- Kirk
- Wall
- Meza
- Roy
- York
Cool Short Last Names
The coolest people don’t need to use a lot of time to show how cool they are, and these short last names give off cool energy in just a few letters. If you want to show your reader that your character is cool, calm, and collected, check out this list.
- Ace
- Ajax
- Ash
- Bale
- Bear
- Benz
- Blue
- Buck
- Burt
- Cade
- Case
- Cash
- Cato
- Clay
- Cody
- Colt
- Dior
- Drew
- Duke
- East
- Eddy
- Eden
- Finn
- Gage
- Gold
- Grey
- Guy
- Hawk
- Hugo
- Jay
- Jett
- Kade
- Kane
- Kent
- Kipp
- Kitt
- Knox
- Kobe
- Lake
- Law
- Link
- Lock
- Lord
- Mace
- Mars
- Maya
- Muse
- Nero
- Otto
- Pace
- Ram
- Reno
- Rock
- Rudy
- Rush
- Sage
- Saul
- Shay
- Snow
- Toro
- Troy
- Vail
- Vale
- Van
- Wild
- Wren
- Wynn
- Xie
- Zane
Two Letter Last Names
Here you will find a comprehensive list of common 2-letter last names. Here you will find the shortest last names in the United States.
- An
- Au
- Do
- Du
- Fu
- Ha
- He
- Ho
- Hu
- Ko
- Le
- Li
- Lo
- Lu
- Ly
- Ma
- Ng
- Oh
- So
- Su
- Ta
- To
- Tu
- Vo
- Vu
- Wu
- Xu
- Ye
- Yi
- Yu
A-Z of Short Last Names
This is our comprehensive list of short names from A to Z. We’ve researched last names in the United States to create this expansive list of short surnames.
- Abel
- Adam
- Ade
- Afu
- Agee
- Ahn
- Ajak
- Akin
- Alam
- Alba
- Ames
- Amin
- Amos
- Arce
- Ashe
- Atha
- Ault
- Babb
- Baca
- Bach
- Back
- Baer
- Baez
- Bahr
- Bail
- Bain
- Bair
- Bare
- Barr
- Baty
- Baum
- Bay
- Beal
- Beam
- Bean
- Belt
- Berg
- Bess
- Best
- Betz
- Bieg
- Bird
- Blum
- Bobo
- Bock
- Body
- Bohn
- Boix
- Bolt
- Bond
- Bone
- Boss
- Box
- Bray
- Budd
- Buhr
- Bui
- Bull
- Bunn
- Burk
- Burr
- Buss
- Cady
- Cage
- Cai
- Call
- Camp
- Cano
- Cao
- Card
- Carl
- Caro
- Cary
- Cass
- Cave
- Ceja
- Cha
- Chao
- Chau
- Chew
- Chi
- Chin
- Chiu
- Cho
- Choe
- Choi
- Chou
- Chow
- Chu
- Chun
- Clem
- Coe
- Cohn
- Cone
- Conn
- Coon
- Cope
- Cota
- Cote
- Coy
- Crow
- Crum
- Culp
- Cupp
- Cyr
- Dahl
- Dale
- Daly
- Dang
- Dao
- Dark
- Das
- Deal
- Deas
- Dees
- Dell
- Deng
- Dent
- Derr
- Dial
- Dias
- Dick
- Dill
- Dinh
- Dion
- Diop
- Dix
- Doan
- Dodd
- Doe
- Doll
- Dong
- Dorn
- Doss
- Doty
- Dove
- Dow
- Dowd
- Dube
- Duff
- Dye
- Dyer
- Dyke
- Eads
- Ealy
- Earl
- Eck
- Edge
- Effa
- Egan
- Elam
- Ely
- Elzy
- Eng
- Enos
- Epps
- Erb
- Fain
- Fair
- Falk
- Fall
- Fan
- Fang
- Farr
- Fay
- Feng
- Fier
- Fine
- Fink
- Fish
- Fisk
- Fitz
- Flor
- Fong
- Fort
- Foss
- Foy
- Free
- Frey
- Fry
- Frye
- Fung
- Funk
- Furr
- Gale
- Gall
- Gann
- Gant
- Gao
- Gary
- Gay
- Gee
- Geer
- Getz
- Gil
- Ginn
- Goad
- Goff
- Good
- Gool
- Gore
- Goss
- Graf
- Grim
- Grob
- Guan
- Gunn
- Guo
- Haag
- Haas
- Hahn
- Hair
- Ham
- Hamm
- Han
- Hand
- Hare
- Haro
- Harp
- Hay
- Hays
- Head
- Heck
- Heil
- Heim
- Hein
- Held
- Helm
- Her
- Herr
- Heun
- High
- Hipp
- Hite
- Hitt
- Hoff
- Hogg
- Hoke
- Holm
- Hong
- Hook
- Hope
- Horn
- Hose
- How
- Howe
- Hoy
- Hoyt
- Hsu
- Huey
- Hull
- Hung
- Hurd
- Hurt
- Hyde
- Ibeh
- Ibis
- Irby
- Isom
- Ives
- Ivey
- Ivy
- Jack
- Jain
- Jang
- Jank
- Jara
- Jean
- Jin
- Jobe
- Joe
- John
- Jose
- Joy
- Juan
- Judd
- Jung
- Kahn
- Kang
- Kapp
- Karr
- Katz
- Kaur
- Kay
- Kaye
- Keck
- Kee
- Keel
- Keen
- Keim
- Kemp
- Kern
- Kerr
- Key
- Keys
- Kidd
- Kish
- Koch
- Kohl
- Kohn
- Kolb
- Kong
- Kopp
- Koss
- Krug
- Kuhn
- Kunz
- Kuo
- Kwan
- Kwon
- Kyle
- Lacy
- Ladd
- Lai
- Land
- Lapp
- Lau
- Laws
- Lay
- Lazo
- Lea
- Leal
- Lear
- Leet
- Legg
- Lei
- Lenz
- Leo
- León
- Leos
- Levi
- Levy
- Lew
- Liao
- Lidy
- Lim
- Lima
- Lind
- Ling
- Linn
- Lira
- Lor
- Lott
- Low
- Loy
- Loya
- Loyd
- Loza
- Luce
- Lugo
- Luis
- Luke
- Luly
- Lum
- Lund
- Lung
- Luo
- Lusk
- Lutz
- Luu
- Lyle
- Lynn
- Lyon
- Maas
- Macy
- Mai
- Main
- Maki
- Mark
- Marr
- Marx
- Mast
- Mata
- Matz
- Mayo
- Mays
- Mead
- Mech
- Meek
- Mei
- Melo
- Mena
- Mesa
- Metz
- Mims
- Mize
- Mock
- Moe
- Moen
- Mohr
- Mole
- Moll
- Monk
- Moon
- Mota
- Mott
- Moua
- Moy
- Moya
- Moye
- Mraz
- Muir
- Mull
- Munn
- Muro
- Nagy
- Nail
- Nair
- Nall
- Nava
- Neel
- Neff
- Neil
- Neri
- Ness
- New
- Ngo
- Nino
- Nix
- Noah
- Noe
- Noel
- Noll
- Nunn
- Nutt
- Nye
- Oaks
- Oden
- Odom
- Ogle
- Olds
- Omar
- Ong
- Orji
- Orr
- Orta
- Orth
- Otis
- Ott
- Pack
- Paez
- Pahl
- Pak
- Palm
- Pan
- Pang
- Parr
- Pate
- Paz
- Peak
- Peat
- Peck
- Pedi
- Peek
- Pene
- Peng
- Penn
- Phan
- Pike
- Pina
- Pino
- Pitt
- Plum
- Poe
- Polk
- Pond
- Pool
- Popp
- Post
- Puga
- Pugh
- Puoy
- Pye
- Pyle
- Rae
- Rana
- Rand
- Rao
- Rapp
- Rash
- Rau
- Raya
- Razo
- Rea
- Read
- Redd
- Rees
- Reis
- Repp
- Rey
- Rhea
- Rich
- Rico
- Ries
- Rij
- Ring
- Robb
- Roby
- Roe
- Rojo
- Romo
- Root
- Rosa
- Ruby
- Rudd
- Ruff
- Rupp
- Rusk
- Russ
- Rust
- Ruth
- Sabo
- Sam
- Sams
- Samz
- Sape
- Sapp
- Sato
- Seal
- Seay
- See
- Self
- Sell
- Sena
- Seo
- Sexe
- Shea
- Shen
- Shi
- Shin
- Sisk
- Skyy
- Son
- Song
- Sosa
- Suh
- Sule
- Sun
- Sung
- Swan
- Syed
- Taft
- Tam
- Tan
- Tang
- Teal
- Teel
- Thai
- Thao
- Tice
- Timm
- Tom
- Tong
- Toth
- True
- Tsai
- Tuck
- Turk
- Ugwu
- Utti
- Vaca
- Vang
- Vann
- Vari
- Veal
- Vela
- Vera
- Vest
- Vick
- Vogt
- Volk
- Voss
- Vue
- Wahl
- Wali
- Walz
- Ware
- Watt
- Way
- Weed
- Wei
- Weir
- Weis
- Wick
- Will
- Wilt
- Wing
- Winn
- Witt
- Woo
- Wool
- Wray
- Yale
- Yan
- Yao
- Yee
- Yim
- Yoo
- Yoon
- Yost
- Yuan
- Yue
- Yuen
- Yun
- Yves
- Zeng
- Zhao
- Zhou
- Zhu
- Zink
- Zola
- Zook
Random Last Name Generator
Our last name generator will give you ideas for last names. Add your first name and select a theme to find a surname.
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More Lists:
Famous People with Short Last Names
Throughout Harrison Ford’s acting career he has played iconic characters, such as Indiana Jones and Han Solo, and he has transitioned to environmental activism. The short last name Ford is of English origin and is geographic, referring to someone who lives near a river ford.
Johnny Depp is a renowned actor and for his work, he has earned several prestigious awards including a Golden Globe award and two BAFTAs. The surname Depp is of Southern German origin and comes from the Middle High German word for clumsy.
Elton John was born in England under the name Reginald Kenneth Dwight. He is an iconic singer, performer, and songwriter. His work has made a significant impact on modern music, and he is one of history’s best-selling artists. The name John comes from a Hebrew name meaning ‘blessed by God’.
Stephen King was born in Maine in 1947. He is considered the King of Horror. His books have sold over 350 million copies and have been adapted into movies and shows. The surname King has a royal history – it comes from an Old English word, ‘cyning’, meaning ‘tribal ruler’.
Celine Dion was born in Canada in 1968. She is Canada’s best-selling singer and is known for her wide vocal range and for singing in different genres. Dion is a short last name hailing from France and was a geographic name for people born in a town called Dienne.
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