Names That Mean Son

There are lots of grandpa Daves and Davids out there, and Dawes can make an original honor name. It's right in step with the current craze for surname names that end in S: Brooks, Wells, Rhodes etc.

Sune was derived from the Old Norse word sunr, meaning "son".

Author Colson Whitehead put his name on the map, and now variations such as Colsen and Colsyn are shooting up along with it.

Actor Pierce Brosnan made his sharp-sounding name famous, and now it's given to a couple dozen baby girls per year too.

Magee has a broad and bouncy appeal for the sons of anyone from Adam to Zachary.

A really unusual choice that could be used to honor Grandpa Will.

Atkinson has never made it onto the American charts, although historical records provide evidence that it has been used as a given name before. Atkin is a Medieval nickname for Adam, making Atkinson a sneaky and unique way to honor an important Adam in your life.

Good way to honor Scandinavian roots, or an ancestor named Carl or Charles.

Bulky surname honoring Grandpa Henry or Saul Bellow's Rain King.

Atkin is a short form of Adam that originated in Medieval England. It's now obsolete, but traces remain in surnames such as Atkins and Atkinson.

An attractive Irish surname that is used more often among girls — likely due to the feminine associations with Kerry.

Names ending in son are by definition male, but that hasn't stopped Madison and Allison from being widely used for girls. Greyson is one of the latest choices to join the migration across gender lines.

Runyon is an Irish surname with considerable flair; some will connect it with Guys and Dolls writer Damon Runyon.

Gunnison, though given to just a few baby boys in recent years, is a name we have our eyes on. With strong surname style and a masculine, tough-guy image, Gunnison could give Jameson a run for its money.

Ximeno is sometimes falsely credited as the Basque variation of Simon. It actually comes from Semen, a medieval Basque name that is completely unusable today, for obvious reasons. All the more reason to go with Ximeno.

Watts is a patronymic surname derived from Watt, a popular Middle English nickname for Walter. Today, Watts makes a contemporary and stylish way to honor a Walter in your life.

Ximen is not, as many think, the Spanish variation of Simon. It is derived from the medieval Basque name Semen (emphasis on the second syllable, but still completely unusable in the English-speaking world). It eventually gave way to many familiar Spanish names of today, including Jimeno and Ximena.

Magee became one of the first gender-bending Irish surname names so popular today thanks to New York television newswoman Magee Hickey. In case you don't know, the g is hard, as in Maggie, but with the opposite emphasis.

No competition for Jackson.