BOYS’ NAMES 2011: The Underground Popularity List

I’ve always loved the classic Edmund, and I prefer Lennon for a girl. The rest aren’t my style. I guess all the popularity in the world can’t convince me to give up Finn.

My favorites:

Balthazar
Cassius
Damian
Eamon
Lennon
Nolan
Quentin
Reuben
Rhett
Walter

I love so many of these names!

Ambrose
Anderson
Calvin
Canaan
Cassius
Conrad
Cyrus
Dash – though I prefer Dashiell for a formal name
Josiah
Lucien
Nolan
Reuben
Rhett
Soren
Tate
Thaddeus
Zephyr

Oh no! So many of my hidden gems!

I love…
Calvin
Conrad
Gunner (although I prefer spelling “Gunnar”)
Linus
Reuben
Thatcher
Walter
Wesley
Zephyr

Traylor? No! haha

I adore Ambrose but am leery of the nick names Amber or Rose for a boy. Edmund is a middle name for if this baby us a boy. I do love Conrad as well. I am glad Percy did not make this list
Also I AJ on a moms site that there is a mom with a son named Traylor.

Dash is fantastic! I also really like Edmund, Josiah, and Nolan. All are names I’ve considered using. There are even more names on her that are really cool, but I don’t think I’d use them.

A few of them are already very popular, like Brody and Josiah. Cade and Nolan I see popping up everywhere too.

It seems the ends in “n” trend will continue to dominate, as well as the newer trends ends in “s” or “r”. The ends in “ee” sound is getting less and less popular.

The only name I actually really like from these lists are Zephyr, Rhett, Wesley and Bodhi.

I personally think Balthazar, Booker, Dash, Danger, Edmund, Gunner, Lazarus, Linus, Thaddeus, Thatcher and Traylor are awful names.

I find Finn and Quinn really overrated too. I think Finley/Finlaey or Quincy much better formal names for boys than the nicknames.

As the mom of a 9 month old Linus, I have to agree that it’s a pretty cool name. Underused, refreshing, geeky-chic. Big thumbs up!

We just used the name Walter for our little June Bug. We almost exclusively call him Walt, and have received a TON of positive feedback. It wouldn’t surprise me to see this one rise, although I hope it doesn’t! Linus is on our shortlist for our next one, crossing my fingers that doesn’t get super popular…

Basil’s my top boys name! Had no idea.

Alden, Basil and Booker are fabulous x

My favorite from this list is Zephyr.

ha! Balthazar & Ambrose are huge favorites of mine! Cassius is on our list and I’ve long loved Simeon, so incredibly dashing.

I so wish Balthazar was more usable and that my husband liked it. I also love Walter and Anderson.

Soren amd Linus . . . Top two on our boy list. (And the only boy names that we both love)

Littlepenelope- It’s exciting to hear from an actual Mom who has used the name Linus . . . It’s so handsome and quirky . . . It has so many things going for it.

And kyburg- I can’t imagine it will ever become that popular. I think the Peanut’s character keeps a lot of people from considering it . . . Even though it’s such a minor association, and kids today don’t know the Charlie Brown comics as much as past generations . . .

Other favorites . . . Lazarus, Calvin, and Edmund.

Hi everyone. A lot of my personal favorites are here: I love Booker, Cyrus, Lazarus, Reuben and several others and would unhesitatingly give them to a son. Traylor, not so much, but lest we be accused of “promoting” the names we like and ignoring non-berry names that may also rising, I had to include it. That is one of those Oooops names that you could keep secret and not get the problem until someone said, “You mean like…..trailer?”

Have been hearing a lot of these on the boards, so some aren’t a big surprise. I am a little concerned that people might be naming their kids Gunner, Danger or Traylor.

I do love Walter, which is a little less underground than some of the others on the list. The only others I might use are Alden, Thatcher and Basil.

My prediction is that three of these names are poised for huge mainstream popularity in the near term:
Josiah
Rylan
Cade/Kade
Josiah in particular seems to be catching a lot of mainstream attention; possibly as an alternative/fresher sounding version of Joseph.
Rylan sounds fresh and new to parents but is a close variation of the ubiquitous Ryan, making it a safe, conservative choice.
Cade/Kade is a variation of Caden/Kaden that appeals to parents looking for a more daring, trendy sounding name while also following the one-syllable boys’ name trend. Again a name that sounds fresh/trendy but is a very safe choice that will not raise any eyebrows due to the current popularity of Caden/Kaden.
A few other names I see gaining some ‘trendy’ use in the next few years but not gaining real mainsteam popularity.
Bohdi
Brody
Cassius
Conrad
Dash
Lucien
Thaddeus
Walter
Wesley
A few of the other names on the list strike me as perpetual ‘also-rans’; names I can picture many parents considering, but very few actually committing to:
Booker
Damian
Eamon
Linus
Tate
Thatcher
I see Zion, Lennon, and maybe Zephyr as more likely to be used on a girl.

It’s fun to see this list, so many of my favorites are on here. Most probably I contributed a little bit to the rise of a few myself when deciding on a name for my son born in July…we named him Edmund George. Strong yet romantic, and so handsome!

others from this list I contemplated:
Ambrose
Basil
Bodhi
Calvin
Conrad
Linus
Quentin
Reuben

I love Thatcher! It’s pretty much my boy (middle) name of the moment. It has a natural feel to it, which I love. It’s strong but not harsh. It’s got a cool, jaunty sound. It reminds me of England, where I lived when I was little. It’s a winner all around, right?!

Also, about Traylor. Is that a combination of boyish-but-dated Trey and gone-to-the-girls Taylor? If so, I like the inspiration. But, Trailer – if it was associated with, say, people who liked to hike trails rather than U-Haul and “trailer trash” – looks more appealing to me. Familiarity factor, perhaps.

So many great names! We chose Conrad for our 7 month old so I highly recommend it! Other names in the running were Eamon, Lucian, and Cade.

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This is crazy, cuz just within the past several days (prior to reading this article) I have put ten of these names on our current top 25 possibilities list.