Riveris's list "Oregon Trail era names - boys" of 20 great name ideas: Clement - Dwight!

Oregon Trail era names - boys

Found from some baptism records from around this time.  For if you're playing oregon trail and need names for some reason.

Clement, the name of fourteen popes and several saints, has a pleasantly, positive, slightly antiquated feel, like the phrase "clement weather." 
 Clement C. Moore wrote the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," Clement Attlee was a prominent post-World War II British Prime Minister, and Clement Greenberg was the art critic who promoted Abstract Expressionism.
 The hero of Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native is Clement Yeobright, known as Clym rather than the usual Clem.

Clement

Elton is an unassuming, lesser-used place name belonging to several towns in the British Isles, the US and Canada, and even a lake in Russia. The singer Elton John gives it a bit of extra pizzazz.

Elton

Joab is the biblical name of an advisor of David, who led many military victories, and is surely much more usable than the burdened Job.  A similar option is Joah, a possible replacement for Jonah or Noah.


Joab

Angus is a traditional yet stylish choice in the UK, especially in Scotland. And it's a cool choice for US parents too, particularly those whose roots go back to Glasgow. The ancient Celtic form Oenghus has important historical overtones in Scotland, and the Gaelic form Aonghas is associated with two distinguished modern poets. In Irish folklore, Angus Og is a chieftain-lord who used his magical powers for the pleasure and prosperity of mankind--and in Irish myth, Aonghus was the god of love and youth.
 These days, Angus is even more popular in Australia than Scotland, possibly due to the fame of Scottish-born Australian musician Angus Young, lead guitarist and co-founder of the seminal rock band AC/DC.
 Other pop culture references: Angus was the first name of TV's McGyver and the young actor who plays the half man on Two and a Half Men is Angus T. Jones. Angus Wilson was a noted British novelist and short story writer.

Angus

This is a multi-syllabic New Testament relic that could be yet another fresh way to get to Theo. In the beginning of Luke's gospel, he dedicates his words to Theophilus.

 Theophilus North is the title of a novel by Thornton Wilder and the name of its protagonist.

Theophilus

Slightly more modern than Walter, but only just. 

Walton

If Flora and Florence have returned full force, then Florian, with its strong Latinate ending and its botanical meaning in one to watch out for. Popular in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, and France, Florian is a saintly choice, borne St Florian, a 3rd-century martyr and the patron saint of Poland and firefighters.
 
Meaning "flower" or "flowering", the name appears in Tennyson's poem "The Princess," and also in Gilbert & Sullivan's comic opera "Princess Ida." Sir Florian Eustace is an off-stage character in Trollope's novel The Eustace Diamonds, while in the real world, Florian is the birth name of singer Dido and borne by footballer Florian Thauvin too. 
 
A great way to honor a Florence (or a Lily, Violet, or Rose), Florian fits in with solid choices like Adrian and Julian, but also with gentler options like Ocean, August, Remy, and Elio.
 
Pronounced as FLO-ree-ahn in German, FLAW-RYAH(n) in French, FLAW-ryahn in Polish and FLAW-ree-uhn in English, Florian was given to around 50 boys in the US in a recent year, while in England and Wales, it rose 127 places up the Top 1000.

Florian

The y makes it seem more like a name and less like an animal, but it's still not as appealing as several Leo choices. 

Lyon

This ancient royal Scottish name had a brief vogue in midcentury America, but it would be far from a fresh choice for a baby boy now. 

Stuart

Ebenezer is the name of a biblical place --the stone set up by Samuel to mark his victory over the Philistines--rather than a person. It was adopted by the British Puritans as a first name and then exported to America, where it had some early popularity, even entering the Top 1000 in the 1880s.
 After appearing in Walter Scott's novel Waverly and Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped, it made its most lasting impression as Dickens's miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, pretty much annihilating the name, but since Scrooge did reform at the end of A Christmas Carol, maybe there's some slight hope for the old name yet. If you have a sense of humor, you might consider it one of the darker <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/412/christmas-baby-names">Christmas baby names</a>.
 The good news: the appealing short form Eben--so if you find Ebenezer too loaded and quirky for your taste, you might skip straight to the nickname.

Ebenezer

A common surname that was popular as a given name in the late 19th and early 20th century, Willis dropped off the US Top 1000 back in the early 90s, just as alternative William diminutive, Liam, began to skyrocket. 
 
Particularly popular among Amish people, Willis is still given to around 60 boys in each recent year.

Willis

Finlay is a Scottish royal name: it belonged to Macbeth's father, Finlay MacRory--or Findlaech mac Ruaidri--that has a bit of a split personality. It has two acceptable spellings--Finlay and Finley, the first more popular in its native Scotland, where it ranks in the Top 10, the second in the US. It is also becoming more and more unisex in the States, with the Finley spelling now split between girls and boys, while Finlay was used last year for TEN TIMES as many boys as girls, about 50 to only five.

 Increasingly popular on the celebrity circuit, the splits are evident here too. Amanda Pays and Corbin Bernsen, and Sadie Frost have boys named Finlay, Chris O'Donnell and Holly Marie Combs have sons called Finley, and Lisa Marie Presley, Daniel Baldwin, and Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn have daughters named Finley; the latter couple were instrumental in making the gender switch in 2003.

Finlay

The Greek form of the Hebrew Jair, Jairus appears in the Bible as the father of a girl resurrected by Jesus. Though it is the original, its Spanish variation Jairo is more popular.

Jairus

Murray, you may be surprised to discover, is a Scottish surname name --that of an ancient noble clan--with a sea-swept meaning, and just could be in the next wave of reevaluated grandpa names. Currently Number 60 for baby boys born in its native Scotland; it was at its highest in the US in 1922, when it reached Number 208, but has been off the list since 1975. Could it be time for a comeback? TV Murrays have appeared on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Flight of the Conchords and Degrassi: The Next Gemeration.
 Lisa Kudrow used it as the middle name of her son Julian.

Murray

Names ending in bert have long been in limbo, but with the return of Albert, maybe there's hope for Herbert. who could share the Bertie nickname. Herbert is a name that's been used by English speakers since medieval times, and was in the Top 25 in the US in the late 1920s, around the time of the presidency of Herbert Hoover, but there's been no sight of Herbert in the 21st century. Some Herberts, including novelists H. G. Wells and H. E. Bates, have preferred to go by their initials.

Herbert

A rare and single syllable Biblical name with a hint of Jude, Jonah, Jacob, and Joseph about it, Job is a weighty choice that may appeal to those who enjoy both heavily Biblical names and short, snappy choices. Given to 61 boys in the US in a recent year, it is a quietly but not totally unheard of option.
 
Derived from the Hebrew Iyyov meaning "persecuted" or "tested", it is heavily associated with the Biblical figure, the Old Testament hero of the Book of Job, whose faith was severely tested by God. Known for his patience, endurance, and unwavering belief, his name was was used by Puritans and Christian fundamentalists and can be found in the novels of Dickens, George Eliot and Robert Louis Stevenson.
 
In English, it is pronounced like Joe with a -b at the end, not like the word job, as in an occupation. In French, it's said as ZHAWB while in Dutch, it's YAWP.
 If you are considering naming your baby Job, you may want to check out <a href="https://nameberry.com/blog/old-testament-baby-names-on-choosing-job">this blog</a> by one parent who made that choice.

Eighties star Judge Reinhold (born Edward Jr. , he was given this nickname at the age of two weeks) made this possible, but it could cause a lot of confusion. 

Judge

Othniel is mentioned in the Bible and Tanakh (in the Book of Judges) where he is the first of the biblical judges mentioned. Othniel was related to Caleb, which might make these two names a nice biblically themed sib-set.

Othniel

Unfortunate identification with an army of rats in the movie of the same name. 

Willard

This presidential name is in style limbo today - or, some might say, in the the sweet spot of familiar but little-used.