UK Boy Names

Among the coolest of the cool color names, particularly popular with celebs as a unisex middle name. While most famous as the name of Beyonce and Jay-Z's daughter Blue Ivy, more than 60 percent of the babies named Blue are boys.

Blue

Though Collins makes the Top 300 for girls, it sounds strong and handsome for boys too, kind of like the newly-stylish Brooks. The final s updates it from the 80s-ish Colin or the Twilightish Cullen. Might make an innovative honorific for a grandpa Nick.

Last year, more than 1200 baby girls were named Collins in the US versus only about 50 baby boys.

Collins

Cutter was an old-fashioned term for a tailor or barber that was eventually adopted as a surname. That gives it more legitimacy than many of the other aggressive boy names — Striker, Shooter, Breaker, et al. — but Cutter remains equally threatening — and is associated with symptoms of mental illness. 

Despite or perhaps because of its violent image, Cutter was one of the fastest rising boys' names in 2023, jumping more than 1000 places in popularity though still fairly obscure below the US Top 1000. In a recent count, 48 boys were given the name, placing it alongside Collins, Hershel, Isaak, Cale, and Slate in the same year.

Cutter

Lathan is a surname recorded as relating to the towns of Layton or Latham and meaning, depending on its derivation, barn or leek farm or farm by the water.  As a first name, it's reminiscent of the popular Nathan.

Lathan

Morrison is one of the more uncommon patronymics; it could be used to honor an ancestral Morris, or one of the well-known surnamed Morrisons: Toni, Jim or Van.


Morrison

A musical name with a cool and slightly edgy sound, Rhythm would fit in with Anthem, Lyric, Riff, and Drummer. First appearing in the US stats in the early 2000s, recent years have seen it given to around 90 babies, split 40:60 between boys and girls. 

Rhythm

Unfortunate identification with an army of rats in the movie of the same name. 

Willard

One case where a spelling variation improves the name, Britton is used about four times as often as Britain for both genders. Currently, the count of baby Brittons is running at about 4 to 3 in favor of the boys.

Britton

Gareth, the name of a modest and brave knight in King Arthur's court, makes a sensitive, gently appealing choice, used more in its native Wales than anywhere else.
 The name Gareth first appeared in Malory's Morte d'Arthur, as the lover of Eluned, the brother of Gawain and nephew of King Arthur. He also appears in the Gareth and Lynette segment of Tennyson's Idylls of the King.
In the British version of The Office, Gareth is the name of the equivalent character of Dwight Schrute, and it also appeared in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Recommended nickname: Gaz. Not recommended nickname: Gary.

Gareth

Like Marvin and Melvin, Sheldon has been perceived as about as far out as you can get, though there are very pretty towns in Devon and Derbyshire that inspired it. Sheldon Lee Cooper is the lead nerd character on the TV hit The Big Bang Theory, giving the name a brainy image. Nickname Shel (as in Shel Silverstein, author of Where the Sidewalk Ends) could, in the modern world of nature name love, be seen as beach evoking.

Sheldon

Distinctive though somewhat abrupt, most prominently borne by country singer Hoyt Axton.

Hoyt

Until recently Ward was, like Wally, a Cleaver name, but today's parents are seeing it as a cooler nickname for Edward than Eddie, and are also beginning to use it on its own. 

Ward

Winston meets Marlow in this surname-style choice, blending old-fashioned charm and a hint of stuffiness with a bit of modern edge and breeziness too. Borne by the distinguished American landscape painter Winslow Homer, it could make a creative and unexpected choice, though some may be put off by the 'slow' ending.
 
Derived from Old English, it likely means "hill belonging to Wine", in whichWine is a given name meaning "friend". The name of a town in England and various places across the US, it has been in use as a masculine name since the 19th century, however, it has been climbing up the charts for girls since the 2010s. 
In a recent count, 44 boys and 199 girls were called Winslow, with an additional 6 girls given the Winslowe spelling. As such, the name is currently split around 20:80.

Winslow

This artistic and aristocratic surname is a bold and daring choice, but with nature inspired names like Wren on the rise, and surnames-as-first-names being in vogue, Wyndham has seen a shift up the charts during the 2020s, with a recent count seeing it given to 44 boys — and 7 girls.
 
Notable namesakes include the artist (and founder of the Vorticist movement) Wyndham Lewis, and the author John Wyndham, who wrote The Day of The Triffids — however, it is unlikely to have been either of these two who inspired the rise in young Wyndhams.
 
Instead, this increase is most likely down to the American golfer, Wyndham Clark, who won both the Wells Fargo Championship and the U.S. Open in 2023, which may have brought visibility to the name.
 
Windy might be an intuitive nickname option, but opinion is divided on whether it's breezy and cool, or, well, just a bit gassy. Wyn might be a concise and gentle alternative, or even "Dub" which is Wyndham Clark's nickname, short for W (double-you/dub-uh-you).

Wyndham

A floral and celestial choice, Aster is the name of a daisy-like flower, with a star like shape. Derived from the Greek word for "star", Aster entered the Belgian Top 200 in 2021 for boys inn 2021.
 
In the US, Aster has been used quietly and sporadically for girls and boys since at least 1912, however, it began to climb for girls in the 2010s. A more recent year saw it leaning more neutral again, given to 57 girls and 43 boys, perhaps owing to its similarity to Asher, Aspen, Adler, Atlas, and Alistair, as well as to Astrid, Juniper, and Astoria.
 
Actress Bonnie Wright and her husband Andrew Lococo named their son Aster Sky in 2026.

Aster

One of several Anglicized forms of Caolán, this spelling is borrowed from the Old Irish root, cáel. 
 
With its stylish -an ending and its cool 'KAY' sound, Caelan entered the Top 500 in England and Wales in 2022, while in Ireland, it was one of the fastest rising names last year, entering not just the Top 100 for the first time, but leaping straight to the Top 50. 
 
Its popularity in the US may be compromised by its similarity in pronunciation to the trendy girls' name Kailyn in its wide variety of spellings. Caelan's Anglicized relative Colin is still much more popular on this side of the pond.
 
As a name, it derives from the Irish element cáel meaning "slender", combined with a diminuitive suffix, giving it the over all meaning "little slender one".
 
Caelan appears in Derek Landy's book series Skulduggery Pleasant and is notably borne by Irish rugby player, Caelan Doris, selected in 2023 as the Players' Player of the Year at the Rugby Players Ireland awards. This may have encouraged more parents to use the name.

Caelan

Cliff is a familiar, timeless short form -- never too popular, yet widely known -- that you might also think of as a geographical name ala Vale or Field.

Cliff

Brice, much more often spelled Bryce, is an old saint's name that now has a sleek and sophisticated image—it feels elegant and efficient. Of the two spellings, Bryce is much more popular for both sexes.
 Though the name is given much more frequently to boys than to girls, director Ron Howard did a bit of gender bending when he called his daughter Bryce Dallas—a name now featured on marquees. Painter Brice Marden represents the other spelling, while St. Brice was a fifth century Frenchman who was a disciple and successor to St. Martin as bishop of Tours.

Brice

Prescott is one of several distinguished, upper-crusty surnames beginning with P.
 There are several historical surnamed Prescotts, including William, a Massachusetts Minuteman and commander at the battle of Bunker Hill, and Samuel, a Revolutonary patriot who traveled with Paul Revere on the night of his famous ride. Prescott is also the first name of the father and brother of George H.W. Bush.

Prescott

This Welsh form of John is pronounced Shaun. But most Americans certainly wouldn't know that.
Siôn Corn (showing the extra-authentic spelling) is the Welsh name for Santa Claus.

Sion

UK names for baby boys originate from all the languages and cultures of the United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, along with Cornwall and the Isle of Man. UK boy names range from the top names for boys throughout the English-speaking world, such as Edward, Jack, and James, to thousands of unique boy names like Kelso, Mungo, and Rowley.

Browse this list of UK boy names that originate in the Nameberry database that originate in the English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Cornish and Manx languages and cultures. 

UK names for baby boys originate from all the languages and cultures of the United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, along with Cornwall and the Isle of Man. UK boy names range from the top names for boys throughout the English-speaking world, such as Edward, Jack, and James, to thousands of unique boy names like Kelso, Mungo, and Rowley.  (Page 26)