Favorite Boy Names

River shares the tranquil feeling of all the water names, and seems to have pretty much escaped its past strong association with River Phoenix and his unfortunate fate. Actor Joaquin Phoenix named his son with actress Rooney Mara after his brother River.

This worthy name, imported by the early Dutch colonists, has been all but overpowered by the phonetic spellings -- Skyler for boys and Skylar for girls. With the surnames-as-first-names trend, however, and the popularity of the Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton, which features the Schuyler sisters, perhaps Schuyler might receive some more interest in the coming years.

A strong single-syllable surname with a joyful meaning, Tate is finding a place on more and more birth certificates.

Originally a nickname for a third-generation son, as in Thurman Thackeray III, Trey is now being given to others, and it has also expanded to Treynor and Treyton.

Tucker has more spunk than most last-name-first-names, and also a positive, comforting ("Tuck me in, Mommy") feel.

Wyatt has been hot, which is to say cool, for several years now. With its easy Wyatt Earpish cowboy charm, it's relaxed but still highly respectable.