155+ Names That Mean Trouble

Jabez has a rare combo of three appealing elements: a Biblical heritage, a captivating Southern accent, and a jazzy feel. It was popular with the Pilgrims and on into the nineteenth century (there have been four U.S. Congressmen named Jabez), but it hasn't been in the Top 1000 since 1880.

Rarely used biblical choice -- he's a son of Jacob -- with a bit of a white-bearded image.

A star system in Sagittarius, so one of the most appropriate names for December babies.

Cutter was an old-fashioned term for a tailor or barber that was eventually adopted as a surname. That gives it more legitimacy than many of the other aggressive boy names — Striker, Shooter, Breaker, et al. — but Cutter remains equally threatening.

Tavora is an attractive option, based on the name of a mountain in northern Israel. But the meaning of Tavora and brother name Tavor is less than optimal.

More than 300 babies have been named Shooter in the US since 2002, which, depending on who you ask, is arguably about 300 too many. One of the violent names for boys that have gained traction in recent years, the most optimistic view perhaps is that parents were thinking about sports or honoring a family connection to the militiary when choosing this name.

Caliber belongs to the class of tough boy names — along with Shooter, Wesson, and Trigger — that are given to a small but notable number of boys each year. We generally discourage parents from using such violence-promoting names — there are better routes to the nickname Cal.

Mythological princess who killed her kids. Eternal no-no.

Axe, spelled like this, is used for a handful of baby boys in the US each year. You can see it as one of the new weapon names, along with Dagger and Beretta, or as an abbreviation of the very popular Axel.

One of the new crop of boys' names that manage to be unconventional and macho at the same time — though Blade verges on the threatening.

Dagger is one of the new badass baby names, a sharp and scary choice that some parents may feel arm their child for battle in a cruel modern world.

Grit became a buzzword in the 2010s, thanks to both the 2010 film True Grit and psychologist Angela Duckworth's 2016 book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perserverance. The book, based on Duckworth's research, attributes success to grittiness. Clearly, the message stuck with parents, as Grit debuted as a name for boys in 2021.

Notorious debuted on the charts for boys in 1995, at the height of The Notorious B.I.G.'s career.

Extremely rare yet with an on trend sound, although the meaning may put parents off.

All names ending in ville are in nowheresville.

Hope is one meaning of the name Amil, which sounds similar to the German Emil; it can also mean unattainable in the sense of being so exalted as in royalty as to be out of reach. While Amil may not be familiar in the Western world, it's accessible and appealing.

Not even for the child who wreaks havoc.

Pranav, an Indian name now in the U. S. Top 900, represents Aum, or Om, the most sacred syllable in Hinduism, symbolizing the entire universe.

As Huxley and Huck become more popular and accepted, so does Hux, either as a full name or a diminutive.

Another bad boy occupational name, joining Bandit, Rogue, and Gunner, though Vandal feels more obviously destructive. The Vandals were a tribe that swept through Europe and North Africa in the sixth century and sacked Rome. Their name is thought to spring from the Germanic word for wandering, but has come to mean senseless destruction.