Updated October 2026
Across 10 pages
of 10
English
"rook fortress"
Rough and sporty, but too specific.
Word name
Stricter than Peace or Justice.
Irish
"son of a champion"
Runyon is an Irish surname with considerable flair; some will connect it with Guys and Dolls writer Damon Runyon.
Scottish
"from a family of tanners"
British-sounding literary surname choice.
Occupational name
Any name that combines two big trends -- in this case, occupational and western names -- has potential.
Russian from Greek
"song of the hero"
Well used in Russia, this is a distinctive and undiscovered choice here. Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov is the fictional protagonist of Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoyevsky.
French variation of Ralph
"wolf-counsel"
Raoul, with its unique three-vowel middle, rolls off the tongue in an appealing way. Raoul is one of the French names that sounds infinitely more romantic and attractive than the somewhat harsh…
Surname name
Soul fans may wish to use this unusual name as a reference to singer Jimmy Ruffin and his younger brother David, one of the lead members of The Temptations.
Raff is a masculine name that functions both as a standalone name and a shortened form of Rafael, Rafferty, or Raffaello. Its origins can be traced to Hebrew (through Rafael, meaning 'God has…
"red-haired"
Ruadhan (sometimes spelt with a fada: Ruadhán) is a fashionable name in its native Ireland. Borne one of the Twelve Irish Apostles, it originated as a diminutive of Ruadh, meaning "red-haired". It…
German surname
"pilgrim; fame"
Like other stylish choices from Roman to Romy to Romeo, Rohmer is a German surname that relates to both Roman pilgrims and the root word for fame. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Noah Baumbach chose this…
Hebrew
"chief"
Rosh is not Ross, not Rush, but an improvement on both of those more familiar names. The Biblical Rosh was a son of Benjamin, so you might consider it to honor a father or otherwise ancestral…
Variation of Wrecker
"a person or thing that wrecks or damages something"
Rekker comes to us thanks to actor Cam Gigandet, who gave his son this phonetic spelling of badass word name Wrecker. Use at your own peril.
Invented name
Riggan found fame as the first name of the hero of the Oscar-winning film Birdman, played by Michael Keaton. Riggan has the two-syllable n-ending surname feel so trendy for boys' names today. It may…
Sanskrit
"handsome"
Rupin is one of those names that is virtually unknown in the Western world and yet is easily translated because it feels so familiar -- parts Rupert, Robin, and Reuben. A handsome choice.
"man of Rome"
Originally a surname deriving from the Roman twin Romulus, this attractive name was introduced to the English-speaking world by painter Augustus John who used it for his son. Romilly John became…
English word name
Booker and Author are being used as names (the former is best known care of Booker T Washington), so why not Reader? Reader certainly fits in with both these and other "doing" names like Ryder,…
Rhymer feels right at home with names like Ryder, Ryker and Riley, but brings an artsy edge to this group of names.
Modern invented name
Rhaegar Targaryen is one of the most glamorous, noble characters in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series... even though he's been dead over a decade when the books begin. The reader…
English and French word name and surname
Revere is a word name meaning to admire or esteem, an appealing meaning. In the USA, however, Revere attracts further connotation as the surname of Paul Revere, one of the celebrated patriots of the…