Many African tribes have a tradition of naming children for the day or time they were born -- Friday, Afternoon -- a practice finding new life in the Western world as word names become more popular.

An evocative, windswept choice that is part of the third generation of western-influenced names, picking up where first Jesse and then Dakota left off, though with a slight feminine edge.

Provocative word name that may strike the right chord for an adventurous baby namer.

A strong, warm name and a strong warm color. Would make an excellent alternative to August or Aubrey.

A possible Christmas name for a baby boy, if you find Noel too mundane. But we fear it doesn't sound very festive.

Clove is one of a whole tantalizing genre of spice names that might work for a boy. Clovis could be considered a long form.

Connolly, an alternate spelling of Connelly, could make a livelier and less common substitute for Connor.

There's a whole quarry of rocky names parents are now considering: Slate, Flint, etc. , but this one is particularly hard-edged and problematic.

Gentle giant Rubeus Hagrid is the groundskeeper at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter novels (probably after Hagrid Rubes, the equally kind ancient Greek mythological giant), but that's not the only reason this name could prove a playground liability.

Forget Patience and Charity: Here's a Colonial name (and sentiment) that seems perfect for modern times.

A traditional French male name that could, with American pronunciation, become an admirable word name.

Ron Burgundy was Will Ferrell's fictional helmet-haired newsman, but this color name is much more suited to a girl.

Balthasar was one of the biblical Three Kings who visited the infant Jesus, also used by Shakespeare and in the oil-rich Getty family; offbeat and intriguing. Balthazar is another, equally appropriate spelling.

This recently coined respelling of Cole darkens its image.

This softer version of Adolf is sadly still off-limits due to the connotations with Hitler.

Woodsy names are fashionable for boys, as are surnames and occupational names, so Forester scores on all three. It can also be spelled Forrester.

Extremely attractive color name chosen by some African-American families for its reference to the West African Ivory Coast; more commonly used for girls.

From Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, the story of a boy named Kafka -- crow in Czech.