Halen is a cool surname name that will be especially appealing to fans of Van Halen.

A simple, self-possessed, somewhat serious surname, which might work better as a middle.

While this has a distinguished male namesake -- astronomer Edmund Halley and his comet -- it still strays too close to the superpopular feminine Hailey family to work for some parents for a boy. Fewer than five baby boys were given the name last year, but that could change as formerly-female names become more acceptable for boys.

A star in the constellation Triangulum Australe, also the name of a publishing imprint and an assisted living corporation, probably because it has that streamlined corporate I-could-be-a-car-name feel. Atria is the plural of the more familiar term for an entry hall or foyer, atrium.

In Norse mythology, Valhalla was the great hall that welcomes heroes who died in battle. The residents of Valhalla were hand-picked by Odin, for they were to help him during Ragnarök.

Halen is a surname-name that will appeal to Van Halen fans, or simply those looking for an unusual yet simple surname name.

A rare spelling variation of the Norse mythological name Valhalla — the great hall which housed slain heroes who were to fight the battles of Ragnarök.