UK Boy Names

Benson has outgrown its long association with a wisecracking TV butler with a fresh new association: singer songwriter Benson Boone. Parents may see it as an alternate route to nickname Ben, very different in image than the biblical Benjamin or the Latin Benedict, and more in tune perhaps with stylish with Bennett. 

Benson also carries the patronymic theme made popular by Jackson, Harrison, and Jefferson, and more recently, Olivia Benson of Law and Order: SVU has reclaimed this as a surname. On a less salubrious note, Benson is still connected to the cigarette brand Benson and Hedges, while in the UK, it is connected to a bed company.
 
More and more parents have been able to overlook the brand connections in recent years, however, and Benson entered the US Top 500 in 2024, when it was given to nearly 730 boys, compared to 450 the year before.

Benson

Colt is the kind of unconventionally macho name that is so trendy right now, because of or in spite of its association with horses and guns. A rent study of voter names by political party found that more than 80 percent of the voters named Colt vote red.
 Samuel Colt was the inventor and industrialist credited with popularizing the revolver.
 Colt is a perfect jock name, associated both with Washington Redskins quarterback Colt McCoy and an entire football team, the Indianapolis Colts.

Colt

With the popular 'ash' sound and a contemporary feel, Cash is a widely used name in the US. Used occasionally before the 2000s, Cash really took off in 2003, following the death of American musical legend, Johnny Cash. 
 
Cash could be considered an old occupational name, derived from the Latin capsa, meaning someone who makes boxes. It also, and perhaps more obviously, is an English word for money, giving it a slightly celebrity-name vibe, along the lines of Saint, Sir, and Legendary. 
 An alternative origin for the name could be as a derivative of the Roman names, Cassius and Cassian, which are sometimes pronounced as "cash-us" or "cash-un". This could lend the name some additional history, along with the meaning "empty" "hollow" or "vain" (and therefore, maybe just a touch of irony).
 Celebrities including Annabeth Gish, Joshua Morrow, John Rich, Finola Hughes and Russell Young, have used Cash for their sons, and as of 2024, it is a top 300 choice in the US.
 Until 2021, Cash was always the preferred spelling, however in more recent years, the variation Kash has ranked slightly higher. Given to over 1100 babies each year, Cash has seen a slightly decline, but nevertheless, remains in style.

Cash

Lennox is an aristocratic and powerful Scottish surname name made truly special by that final x. The worldwide fame of British boxer--World and Olympic champion--Lennox Claudius Lewis brought the name into the spotlight as a first name, while as a last it's tied to Eurythmics singer Annie L.
 The Thane of Lennox appears in Macbeth, Mary Lennox is in The Secret Garden and there are two Agatha Christie characters with the name.
 Lenox is another accepted spelling.

Lennox

Avery is a unisex name that is used four times as often today for girls as for boys. But while Avery's popularity is starting to soften for girls, it continues to get stronger for boys -- in keeping with our finding that gender neutral names are becoming more favored for boys than for girls. 

Avery

This one-time trendy form of Jeremiah hovered just outside the Top 25 throughout the 1970s and 80s. Though off its peak, it's still in the Top 300 in the US for baby boys, and might be considered a modern classic.
 Scout's brother Jem in To Kill a Mockingbird was christened Jeremy Atticus Finch, Jem being a very appealing nickname. Jeremy Piven and Jeremy Renner are two current bearers.

Jeremy

The Reid spelling is the most popular by half, probably because it feels more like a name than Reed, which looks more like a word. It's used occasionally for girls but this name is firmly in the boys' camp.

Reid

Holden is a classic case of a name that jumped out of a book and onto birth certificates--though it took quite a while. Parents who loved J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye are flocking to the name of its hero, Holden Caulfield -- not coincidentally in tune with the Hudson-Hayden-Colton field of names.
 
(Trivia note: Salinger supposedly came up with the name while looking at a movie poster promoting a film starring William Holden and Joan Caulfield, though other sources say he was named after Salinger's friend Holden Bowler.) 
 
But can Holden's entry into the Top 1000 really be owed to the classic novel? Possibly not, given how frequently it has been challenged, censored, and banned in the classroom. While this may not stop parents today, it was given to no more than 12 American boys a year, right up until the mid-1980s.
 
Holden's actual introduction into the mainstream likely has more to do with the introduction of the character Holden Snyder to the soap, As the World Turns. Played by Jon Hensley, the character first appeared in 1985 and by 1987, it was in the Top 1000 and on the rise. 

 Among the celebs who have chosen Holden are Brendan Fraser and Mira Sorvino.
 In Australia, only a car-lover would choose this name, which is inextricably linked with the car-brand.

Holden

Britney Spears put this old-fashioned surname name back on the map when she chose it as her son Sean's middle name, which the family uses as his first.
 One of the most <a href="https://nameberry.com/popular-names">popular names</a> of its genre, it's been heard on such TV shows as Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and The Wire. The most memorable bearer of the name is probably Preston Sturges (born Edmund), one of the leading screwball comedy writer/directors of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Preston

Clayton is one of those names that feels like it could be recently popular but does in fact have a long history of use. It has made the US Top 400 every year since the records began, and though more recently it has been in decline, it is still given to more than 1000 babies every year 

The name Clayton derived from Old English and translates to "clay town". Historically used as a place name and as a surname, it has been a given name since at least the 19th century. Smart but cool, Clayton also comes with the catchy nickname Clay. 
 
While Clayton has been falling down US the charts in recent years, across the pond, the latest UK stats reveal it is in fact trending upwards. Moreover, with the likes of Cooper, Carson, Colton, Weston, and Easton all in style, Clayton wouldn't feel out of place on a baby today.

Clayton

Remington Steele was the perfect name for an upper-crust action hero on 1980s television. Now, Remington is catching fire along with a new generation of predatory baby <a href="https://nameberry.com/boys-names">boy names</a> such as Hunter, Gunner, and Colt. Or you might consider it a <a href="https://nameberry.com/unisex-names">unisex name</a>with a buttoned-up British feel and the friendly short form Rem or Remy.

Remington

Blake -- an early unisex option -- dropped out of the Top 100 in 2017 for the first time since 1988, but remains a sophisticated choice. And yes, both conflicting meanings of Blake are accurate. It originated as a surname in England derived from a nickname. Much of its masculine image was influenced by the wealthy, silver-haired character Blake Carrington in the massively popular 80s TV series Dynasty. Rosie O'Donnell has a son named Blake.

Blake

In the early 1990s, Cody was in the Top 25 most popular <a href="https://nameberry.com/boys-names">boys' names</a> in the USA; but it has been in decline since then. It retains a greater degree of popularity in the UK, however. Cody might be short for Dakota but despite its nickname feeling, it's a name of its own.

Cody

Swanky sound via New York's ritzy Sutton Place. It fits with current popular <a href="https://nameberry.com/boys-names">boys’ names</a>, due to its two syllables and -on ending. It debuted in the US Top 1000 for boys in 2015, though it is currently more popular for girls.

Sutton

A hugely popular choice for boys in England and Wales, Finley has been used for both sexes in the US since the early 2000s, and has since become one of the most <a href="https://nameberry.com/unisex-names">popular unisex names</a>. Until recently, it was tilting slightly towards the girl side, however, as of 2024, it leans more masculine. 
 
Nevertheless, it is currently split 48:42, meaning it remains a gender neutral choice, appealing to contemporary parents as a rugged yet sweet name for boys and a sassy, outdoorsy choice for girls. 
 
As a name, it is a regal Scottish and Irish choice, riding the wave of stylish Finn names. Joining Finnegan, Finnick, Finnian, and 'just' Finn, this name was chosen for celebs Chris O'Donnell , Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn. Meaning "fair-haired hero", it was traditionally spelled Fionnlagh and was historically borne by the father of the 11th-century Scottish king, Macbeth (who was partly the inspiration behind the Shakespeare play).
 <br/Finlay is another, much less popular spelling, which tips more decidedly boyward, and is the favored option in Scotland where it ranked at #11 in a recent year.

Finley

An alternate spelling of Brian, Bryan's one of the most enduring of Irish imports. Bryan is now slightly more popular than the original, with associations to Bryan Cranston, Bryan Ferry and Bryan Brown.

Bryan

Earthy but sophisticated, Marshall is an occupational surname, and despite the sounds, it isn't military or martial in any way. Rather, it stems from the Norman French for someone caring for horses. 
 
 It's been used as a first name since the 19th-century and has been in the Top 1000 every year since it started to publish its data in 1880. It typically ranks between the 200-400 mark, making it a totally familiar choice, used throughout history but never becoming over saturated. 
 Marshall is the real name of rapper Eminem, and it got some attention during the heyday of communications maven Marshall McLuhan. Peyton Manning named his son Marshall, and Jason Segel played the character of Marshall Eriksen on How I Met Your Mother.
 
With cool nicknames Mars and Marsh, Mars was given to around 800 boys in the US in a recent year, playing it in the Top 400, while in England and Wales it ranked at #613.

Marshall

Thanks to its dashing Anglo-Irish image — due partly to Colins Firth and Farrell — and its C-initialed two-syllable sound, Colin and its cousin Collin have enjoyed a long run of popularity, reaching as high as Number 84 in 2004. 
 The usual pronunciation of Colin is COLL-in, but the alternate COLE-in version was publicized by General Colin Powell, the first U.S. African-American Secretary of State, who was named after World War II hero Colin Kelly.
 Literary cred: Colin Craven is a character in The Secret Garden, and Colin Creevey appears in the Harry Potter books.
 Both Kevin James and Kiss's Paul Stanley have young sons named Colin, while Tom Hanks has a grown one.

Colin

Wade has never been outside the US Top 1000 for boys - there's a reason for that. It has a clean spelling, fresh sound and is neither too trendy (unlike Kade or Cade) or too old-school (like Richard or Albert). We think Wade is a winning name.

Wade

A name with some sterling qualities, most associated with the British currency and silver markets, though it could easily be seen as a virtue-adjacent choice, like Merit, Chosen, or Hero. It has been a rising star in the US in recent years, appearing in the Top 400 in the latest count, when it was given to 880 boys. 
 Sterling has several recent TV associations, with characters Roger Sterling (on Mad Men) and Sterling Archer (on Archer), along with actor Sterling K. Brown (on This is Us). In literature, there's also January Sterling from The Mars House by Natasha Pulley.
 
While it is used four times more often for boys, it has been catching parent's attention for girls too. It is currently split 20:80.

Sterling

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 6)