Annie

Annie is the sunlit diminutive of Anne, itself from the Hebrew Hannah, "grace" or "favor." For a name that started small, it casts a long shadow: Annie Oakley shooting cigarettes from her husband's lips, Annie Leibovitz composing a Rolling Stone cover, the red-haired orphan belting about tomorrow on Broadway since 1977. Currently at rank 191 in the U.S., Annie has come back into fashion as parents embrace short, vintage nickname-names on their own. Two syllables of pure cheer, nothing hidden, nothing held back. Annie sounds like someone who knows your coffee order. Warm, scrappy, unfailingly kind.