Boy Dog Names That Start With L

Cool short form of Alexander, fresher than Alex and less trendy than Xander... for now.

Lander is a name that straddles two trends. It's an er-ending surname name, ala Cooper and Carter. And it's also, more subtly, a green name, in the manner of Fielder or Reed.

The great African-American Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes put this one on the map, while actor Laurence Fishburne adopted it for his now grown son, born in 1987. Despite these popular associations, the name didn't make it into the US Top 1000 until 2013, and while it has remained in the charts, it has stayed towards the latter end.

Evocative modern unisex choice brought into the spotlight by actress Lake Bell.

Gentle and easy going, but with an undertone of edginess, Lemmy could be a diminutive of the Hebrew Lemuel or borrowed from musician, songwriter, and founder of the band Motorhead, Lemmy (Ian Fraser) Kilmister. From the Hebrew, it means "for God", while from its pop cultural origins, it is supposedly derived from the phase "lemmy (lend me) a quid 'til Friday".

Loki is the shape-shifting, gender-bending god of mischief in Norse mythology. Taking several animal forms, from a salmon to a seal to a fly, Loki is alternately friend and foe of the gods.

One of the fierce new animal names new to name lists, helped by its strong x-ending.

The fashionable occupational last name category gets some French flair with this, Tennessee Williams's middle name.

Lucan is a rarely heard Irish name, a Luke form with the trendy an ending.

In one recent year there were 60 baby girls in the US named Lark....and only eight baby boys. But there's no reason this bird name can't also be masculine, especially given that Robin is making a comeback for boys and Sparrow is a notable starbaby boy (he's Nicole Richie and Joel Madden's son).

Almost as passé as Hyman.

Luc is the sleeker Gallic cousin of Luke, and if you want to know the difference between their pronunciations, just watch Kevin Kline's hilarious description in the film French Kiss. Peter Gabriel and Sean Patrick Thomas picked this version for their sons.

About 100 baby boys were named Lucio in the US last year, a number we expect to increase with the growing popularity of all names in the Lu family. It's a family united by sound, with three main branches.

Swaggering western place-name with a lot of cowboy bravado and panache.

Lumen is a Latin word meaning "light", and the term used for the measurement of light output (making it an attractive choice for science-buffs).

Lonnie is one of those antiquated nicknames that is used much more often in the US than you might think, especially as a short form of Alonso or Alonzo, names always on the US Top 1000.

It originated as a nickname for Lodewijk, but now Lowie is more popular as-is, even ranking in the Top 100 in Belgium.

A contraction of Llewellyn, recognizable as the name of the titular character in the movie Inside Llewyn Davis.

An ancient name belonging to several medieval English clergymen, also spelt Leofwin or Leobwin.

As surname Lane becomes more popular, so too does this variant. Regardless, it does create the possibility for spelling confusion.