A very well put together list Boy names !

Merc has been introduced to the American public by the network executive character on Showtime's Episodes, and is a contemporary-sounding short form of the Roman god and planet name Mercury. Mercury, from the Latin for trade or wages, was the god of tradesmen and travelers and is the fast-moving first planet in our solar system.

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.

When British rocker Steven Patrick Morrissey decided to use his last name alone, it became a viable option for baby namers, a lot cooler than Morris or Maurice.

Nazareth, used equally for boys and girls, is one of several place names with religious associations -- Galilee, Jericho --that have been rising in use in recent years. The name may relate to branch or to the verb watch or guard, but there are many possible derivations and meanings.

Ned is a gently old-fashioned Nancy Drew-Bobbsey Twins-era short form for Edward that sounds cooler than Ed and is enjoying a small style renaissance.

The association with the infamous Nero, the fiddling Roman emperor, would be unavoidable. But there was also the detective Nero Wolfe, hero of many mystery stories.

A name that Yanks might see as overly British, but combined with the right surname, it does have a measure of Sherlock Holmesian dash via Nigel Bruce, who played the original Dr. Watson to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes.

Down-home nickname name once associated with the friendly dragon on kids' TV. As Oliver rises, we may well hear more Ollies.

Orson has had in the past a rotund teddy-bear image, a la Orson Welles, who early on dropped his common given name of George in favor of his more distinctive middle one, and who seemed to own it during his lifetime. No longer a single-person signature, it's now an interesting possibility for any parent seeking an unusual yet solid name. It's started to appear to the celeb set--both Paz Vega and Lauren Ambrose have little Orsons.

Ossie is best-known as the name of actor Ossie Davis, whose full name did not start with Os: It was Raiford. But Ossie makes a cute contemporary short form for any name beginning with Os.

Otto is cool again. Long a quintessential Old Man Name, Otto has been promoted to trending darling of adventurous baby namers.

And if it's triplets: Pembroke, Pendleton, and Penley.

There are several Percivals scattered through the Harry Potter series, which might help transform the old-fangled, fussy image it has accrued. Actually, the original Percival was the one perfectly pure Knight of the Round Table, a worthy hero. The name was invented in the twelfth century by a poet named Chretien de Troyes, for his ideal knight in the poem Percevale, a Knight of King Arthur.

Percy is an adorable old name that is finally shedding its pampered Little Lord Fauntleroy image in this new era of boys with soft yet traditionally male names like Jasper and Elijah. Originating as an aristocratic Norman name, Percy became fairly widespread in England--and to some extent in the US--as an offshoot of the fame of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Peregrine is considered to be an elegantly aristocratic name in England, but has never made it to the U.S., where it has been seen as extravagantly eccentric. In the new naming climate, though, it's not beyond consideration — in fact it's already been chosen by at least one Berry.

Phineas is the English variation of Phinehas, a Hebrew name likely derived from the Egyptian name Pa-nehasi. Pa-nehasi, meaning "the Nubian" can also be translated as "the bronze-colored one." The Egyptians distinguished themselves from their Nubian neighbors through differences in skin tone.

Worthy sibling for Oak, Elm, Juniper, and Spruce.