811 Short Last Names

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.

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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

See Top 5,000 Last Names

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

See more Cool Last Names

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.

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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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.