  We present an analysis showing how anomaly free fermionic spectra with
consistent embeddings of the Standard Model spectrum under $SU(3)_C\times
SU(2)_L\times U(1)_Y \subset SU(3)_C\times SU(N)_L\times U(1)_X$ for any $N>2$
can be obtained, with special focus on the $N=3 {and} 4$ cases. The
construction is motivated by the little Higgs mechanism. We discuss the
relevancy of the fermionic spectra to the latter, concentrating on two N=4
models, without fermions of exotic charges. Such models hold the promise to
address and solve all the major theoretical as well as phenomenological
problems of the Standard Model at the TeV scale.
