Ari, the short form of Ariel (or any other Ari- beginning name, such as Aristotle) stands up better as a <a href="https://nameberry.com/boys-names">boys’ name</a> than its progenitor does. It is also short for Aristotle, as in Onassis, and is a prominent character on TV's Entourage -- the uberagent Ari Gold. 
 Among other notable bearers have been Ari Fleischer, White House press secretary for President George W. Bush and Ari Emanuel, powerful talent agent and possible inspiration for Ari Gold.
 Ari Ben Canaan is the main character in the Leon Uris novel Exodus, played by Paul Newman on screen, and Ari is the name of one of the Tenenbaum sons in The Royal Tenenbaums.

Strange as it may now seem, the venerable St. Arnold was a Greek by birth, a musician who became a member of the court of Charlemagne. The name is said to have been introduced into Britain by the Normans in the form Arnaud.
Despite such reputable namesakes as composer Arnold Schoenberg, novelist Arnold Bennett and historian Arnold Toynbee, not to mention the former Governator, Arnold's image has been diminished by some nerdy fictional characters, though he is still a genuine classic who might come back along with Arthur and Albert.
We have heard stirrings of fashionable baby Arnolds populating nurseries alongside those named Wilbur and Barney.

Arnold

Aslan

Bear has suddenly lumbered onto the baby name landscape.  Perhaps inspired by British adventurer Bear Grylls (born Edward Michael), first celebrity chef Jamie Oliver used it as the middle name for his boy Buddy, and more recently Alicia Silverstone called her son Bear Blu., followed by Kate Winslet's Bear Blaize. It's part of a current trend normalizing once aggressive animal names like Wolf and Fox. Bear is now Number 218 on Nameberry and in the Top 900 in England.

Bear

Boris is one of the old Russian names being revived by chic Europeans; it hasn't quite made a comeback yet in the U.S., but it does have potential.
 For a long time the name has been associated with Boris Karloff, famed for playing Frankenstein's monster; he was William Henry Pratt before taking on the more captivating stage name of Boris — and the Karloff fear factor may have kept some parents away.
 A Russian saint's name, Boris has other more benign and inspiring namesakes like German-born tennis champ Boris Becker and writer Boris Pasternak, author of Dr. Zhivago, as well as the early Tsar Boris Gudonov, son-in-law of Ivan the Terrible, the subject of the Moussorgsky opera.
 Boris Trigorin is a main character in the Chekhov play The Seagull.

Boris

A little heavy on the fiber content; we prefer Bram. But Bran is also the Celtic god of the underworld, whose symbol is the raven. It's probably not a coincidence that George R.R. Martin chose this name for the Stark heir who assumes the mystical title of "Three-Eyed Raven" in his A Song Of Ice And Fire books and HBO's Game of Thrones. The character's full name is Brandon.

Bran

Caleb is an attractive Old Testament name that has been in the US Top 100 for nearly three decades now. Consistently popular but never too popular, Caleb feels more like a classic than a momentary trend.
 Caleb has two potential derivations, the first being from the Hebrew kelev, meaning "dog," and the second from the Hebrew components kal and lev, together meaning "whole heart." 
 
In the Old Testament Caleb is one of only two ancient Israelites (Joshua was the other) who set out from Egypt to finally enter the promised land. 
 
Caleb Garth is a character in George Eliot's Middlemarch. Caleb was the full name of James Dean's character Cal in East of Eden, and the name has also been heard on Desperate Housewives and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.Julianne Moore chose Caleb for her son, as did Bo Bice. The shortform Cale is also rising in popularity, and the current Kaleb spelling picks up on the K-to-C initial trend.

Caleb

Corbin, the name of the castle where the Holy Grail was said to be hidden, came to the fore in the 1980s via actor Corbin Bernsen when he was the high profile star of LA Law, but its use is only now escalating as part of the mania for two-syllable names starting with c or k, as well as from the more youthful image of Corbin Bleu, the attractive actor-model-dancer-singer who was one of the stars of the Disney hit High School Musical. 
 Bruce Willis's character name in The Fifth Element was spelled Korben Dallas.

Corbin

Subtle but clear unisex way to signal peace, especially in middle place. 

Dove

Solemn but soaring name with patriotic symbolism. 

Eagle

There is a whole new species of bird names open to the baby namer, from the light and feminine Lark to the sleek and powerful Falcon. 

Falcon

This Late Roman name is little-used in modern times, though the feminine forms Feline and Felina are popular in Europe.  While some relate it to the happy-go-lucky Felix, it actually has a cat-like meaning.  St. Felinus is a legendary third-century martyr.

Felinus

Fox is one animal name backed by a longish tradition, and then popularized via the lead character Fox Mulder on X Files. Fox is simple, sleek, and a little bit wild, and could make an interesting middle name.
 It was reported that the TV character's first name was not a tribute to the Fox network which aired The X-Files, as often assumed; show creator Chris Carter said he had a childhood friend named Fox. Fox was one of the fastest-rising boys' names of 2016, perhaps because of the popularity of the X-Files revival.

Griffin is one of the newer and most appealing of the two-syllable Celtic surnames. In English, griffin is the name of a mythological creature, half eagle, half lion. It re-entered the list in 1983 after an absence of 75+ years.
 Brendan Fraser, Teri Polo and Joey McIntyre all chose Griffin for their sons. Actor Griffin Dunne's mother's maiden name was Griffin. Another well-known bearer was Griffin Bell, Jimmy Carter's Attorney General.
 Also worth considering: the original classic Welsh Gruffudd (dd=th).

Griffin

Animal names are on the rise, especially more of the aggressive Hawk-Fox-Wolf variety than cute little Bunnys or Robins, and Hawk is a prime example. 
Hawk is more commonly heard as a surname, represented by uber-skateboarder Tony Hawk, a pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding. Variations include Hawke, as in actor Ethan, Hawks, as in Golden Age movie director Howard, Hawking, as in scientist Stephen, and Hawkins, as in musicians Coleman, Screamin' Jay and Sophie B, and was recently given to his baby boy by quarterback Tony Romo. There have been characters named or nicknamed Hawk in The Revenant, The Path and Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. Hawk ranks at Number 699 on Nameberry.

Hawk

Heron may feel like a very usable nature name -- the heron is a long-legged wading bird -- but it was also the name of a 1st century Greek inventor and of an Egyptian saint. Highly unusual yet easy to understand and meaningful on several levels, Heron is a fantastic choice.

Heron

Hirsch

Korbinian

Leander is an almost unknown name with great potential as a possible alternative to the overused Alexander. In Greek legend, Leander was the powerful figure who swam across the Hellespont every night to visit his beloved Hero, a priestess of Venus.
 Leander is currently a Top 40 name in Norway; Leandro is the attractive Spanish form, and Leandre is popular in France--it appears in three Moliere plays.
 Leander Sydnor was the name of one of the younger police detectives on The Wire.

Leander

Leon is one of the leonine names that is extremely hot in Europe right now. Although it peaked here in the 1920s, it is slowly making its way back, and it could climb further with parents wanting a more serious and studious alternative to Leo.
 Russian Marxist revolutionary Lev Davidovich Bronstein is known to history as Leon Trotsky. Leon (LAY-on) has been the name of three French prime ministers and was recently in the news via then Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. Leon Russell (born Claude) is a respected singer-songwriter, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie used Leon for their son Knox's middle name.

Leon

Lionel is one leonine name that hasn't taken off as cousins Leo and Leonardo have, though it did reenter the Top 1000 in 2010 after several years away; it was at its highest point in the 1920s and 1930s.
 This French diminutive of Leon has had many worthy namesakes over time, including Sir Lionel, a Knight of the Round Table, actor Barrymore, critic Trilling, musicians Hampton and Richie, Argentine Olympic footballer Messi, and characters in numerous movies and TV shows such as gruff but loveable Lionel Hardcastle in the Judi Dench comedy As Time Goes By. Real life Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue was portrayed in The King's Speech.
 Lionel Barrymore, of the famed theatrical family, was a mainstay of Golden Age Hollywood films, and kids might like the association to Lionel trains.
 This is a timeless choice worth considering.

Lionel

One of the fierce new animal names new to name lists, helped by its strong x-ending.

Lynx

Phoenix rolls a lot of cool trends into one: it's a place-name and a bird name, it ends in the oh-so-hip letter x, and as the mythic bird that rose from the ashes, it's a symbol of immortality. 
Phoenix is a fairly evenly-balanced unisex name, though it tilts slightly to the boys' side. Last year, it was given to 1300 baby boys and 1000 baby girls.

It's also got celebrity chops, via the acting family that includes Joaquin and the late River, and as the son of Paris Hilton.

Phoenix

Make that bird name, and while it does work for both genders, it's far more popular for girls, via Raven Symone. 

Raven

Sparrow

Other wild animals like Fox, Wolf and Bear are catching on as baby names, and Tiger is a rarer option with several famous namesakes, including golf champ Tiger Woods, who was born Eldrick. Other famous Tigers include Indian actor Tiger Shroff, born Jai, and British actor Tyger Drew-Honey, who spells his name with a Y.

 Chinese martial artist Tiger Hu Chen is another well-known bearer. In Chinese culture, the tiger is considered the king of the animals and a major symbol of masculine yang energy, representing power, courage, and luck.

Tiger

A 1970s beach boy surfing buddy of Scott, Brad, and Chad, Todd is given to relatively few babies these days. 

Todd

Wolf is a name with a split personality. It can be seen as one of the fierce animal names, like Fox and Bear and Puma, with a touch of the werewolf, or it can be viewed as a quieter, Wolf Blitzer kind of name, fairly common in German (where is pronounced Vulf) and Jewish families, sometimes as a short form of Wolfgang, or even Wolfram or Wolfhart.

 CNN newscaster Blitzer inherited the name from his grandfather. Other Wolfs of note include British screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz, who was instrumental in the early James Bond films, painter Wolf Kahn, and the hero of Jack London's 1904 novel The Sea-Wolf, Wolf Larsen.

 
Despite all it has going for it, Wolf is relatively rare and has never been given to more than 80 babies in a single year. But now that Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott chose it for their infant son, Wolf is primed to climb the charts.

 Spelling variations Wolfe or Woolf push it into surname territory, while nickname Wolfie definitely domesticates it.

Wolf

Wren may not be as time-honored a bird name choice as Robin or even Lark, but it's more fashionable. Given to just a handful of children a decade ago, in 2021 there were over 1200 girls and nearly 200 boys in the US given this cool and quirky name. 

 This petite bird was regarded in Ireland as the "magician of the birds" and the Druids considered it a bird of prophecy. Thanks to an early fable, it has also been known as King of the Birds.
 For architects there's the link to the great Sir Christopher Wren, the celebrated eighteenth century designer of London's St. Paul's Cathedral.

Wren

LillyArt's list "Animal- and bird- related boy names" of 29 great name ideas: Ari - Wren!