boy firsts

Quirky cool Arlo is now well and truly back. Last year it broke into the US Top 200 boy names and consistently ranks among the most popular boy names on Nameberry.

Old Norman name last current in the 1930s, and firmly in our 'so far out it will always be out' category – despite its appearance as a Hogwarts student in Harry Potter. This is the full first name of P.G. Wodehouse's inimitable Bertie Wooster.

Calix is once-obscure name that is starting to see some use in the US, where 62 baby boys were named Calix in 2022. An indirect influence is the actress Calista Flockhart, who introduced Americans to the female version of this attractive Greek name to prominence.

Once the exclusive property of country signer Conway Twitty, but now might join the in-crowd Connor/Colton/Corbin contingent.

With a long and noble history -- Cyprian was one of the great Christian Latin writers -- this could make a highly unusual but meaningful choice.

Cyrus is one of those surprising names that have always ranked among the Top 1000 boy names in the US. On an upward trend since the mid-90s, Cyrus now sits in that comfortable place between too popular and too unusual.

A diminutive of Daniel that's been immortalized in odes ranging from 'Danny Boy' to 'Danny's Song.'

One of the four perfectly proper spellings of this name ranging from the spare (but poetic) Eliot to the full-blown Elliott. Elliott and Elliot are the two most popular, and they have given to almost the same number of baby boys in recent years. Elliott has that "-tt" ending that is so popular among parents today, with popular picks like Everett and Emmett, Beckett and Bennett. "El" names for both boys and girls have been trending in recent years, with Eli, Elijah, and Elias at the top of the charts for boys. Elliott has always been on the charts in the US, but is currently at its highest point ever. Elliott is also gaining in the UK, currently at number 107 in England. Elliott was the name of the dragon in the classic Disney film, Pete's Dragon.

Frederick, and friendlier nickname Fred, seemed almost to have disappeared, leaving just the memory of Freds past such as Astaire, Mr. Rogers and Flintstone. But today's parents are beginning to recognize it as a strong classic and one of the top royal baby boy names.

A chief member of the tribe of Benjamin, and another obscure Old Testament name that few parents, even those tired of Aaron and Zachary, would consider. But with a pronunciation that rhymes with Gannon, it has the strong, straightforward, two-syllable sound that's in step with modern style.

The name of a British town on the Thames that hosts a famous regatta, so it could be an appropriate middle name for the son of boat-lovers.

This member of the aden/ayden extended family is a popular choice not only in the US but across the pond in England, Wales and Scotland as well. Angie Everhart has a son named Kayden Bobby.

Classy-sounding surname name usually bypassed in favor of the simpler Landon.

Better for an Air Force base than a baby.

Though ancient, Marcus now sounds more current than Mark, in tune with today's trend towards us-ending Latinate names.

Once an upper-class British surname conjuring up the epic poetry of John Milton, it then descended to the antics of "Uncle Miltie" Berle, and now has left the stage completely.

Oliver is an international star, ranking near the top of the charts in the US and throughout the English-speaking world, along with a host of European and Latin American countries, from Norway to Chile, Slovenia to Switzerland.

Peter is derived from the Greek Petros, meaning "rock" or "stone." One of the most important figures in the Christian hagiography is Saint Peter, keeper of the Gates of Heaven. Born Simon bar Jonah, he was given the nickname Peter by Jesus, to signify that he would be the rock on which Christ would build Christianity. Centuries later, there was Peter the Great, the czar who developed Russia as a major European power.

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.