V- Boys

Vale is part place name, part nature name -- a poetic term for a type of valley. Today Show coanchor Savannah Guthrie put Vale on the baby name map when she chose it for her daughter, but there's no reason the name can't work equally well for a boy. Vale might also be a short form for Valentine or a spelling variation of the city name Vail.

Honor and bravery are certainly virtues any parent would want to encourage, and this word itself is obscure enough that it manages to sound like a real name.

Victor is one of the earliest Christian names, borne (as Vittorio) by several saints and popes, symbolizing Christ's victory over death. It has been quietly in the Top 200 since 1880, but just recently has taken on a cool edge by fashionable parents in London and seems ripe for a similar reevaluation here too.

A vireo is a small green bird with a song as melodic as this highly unusual name, but it does sound a touch viral.

The name of the greatest Roman poet and an early Irish saint who believed the earth was round, Virgil is heard most notably today as the name of designer Virgil Abloh of Off-White.

Was there ever a name that rolled more appealingly off the tongue? Vittorio calls to mind the glory days of Italian cinema, featuring names like Vittorio de Sica and Vittorio Gassman.