Names That Mean Son

The name of an ancient Babylonian king who captured Jerusalem, and ultimately destroyed the city's temple and deported many of its citizens, as told in the Old Testament. Nebuchadnezzar is certainly an eye-catching choice, and has the distinction of being one of the longest names mentioned in the Bible.

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. Given to just 31 boys since it first appeared in the US stats back in 1924, it is a very rare choice, perhaps owing to the fact it sounds like doors.

This surname is on trend with its S ending, and could honor people such as athlete Jesse Owens. But it has strong potential for confusion with Owen singular.

Carson is finally beginning to fall slightly after a nearly 2-decade reign of popularity, and we suspect its many spelling variations will follow suit.

This variation of Biblical Benjamin is used in Ethiopia. The name is also spelled Benyam or Binyam.

A mostly undiscovered alternative to the ultra-popular Colton; just 80 baby boys were named Coleson in 2016. It's also a surname name in its own right.

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.

Common Japanese name for second sons. Kenjiro Shirabu is a character in the anime series Haikyu!!, and Kenjiro Tsuda is a well-known voice actor who has lent his talents to numerous anime series.

Despite its appearance, McGill is not related to any of the Gil- names, including Gilbert, Gilford, and Gilson. The "gill" piece is derived from the Gaelic word gall, meaning "foreigner." Yet, it could still be used to honor a Gil in your life.

This is a both fresher and cooler spin on David.

Derived from a Scottish surname, Mckenzie is an anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Coinnich, Coinnich being one of the original Gaelic forms of Kenneth. As a given name, it took off for girls in the US in the 70s, thanks to actress Mackenzie Phillips, and it has always been less popular for boys. While Mackenzie was chosen for 86 boys in the US last year, the Mckenzie spelling was used for just 7.

The eponymous TV hero has inspired a handful of parents to use his name for their sons. Macgyver first appeared on the charts in 1989, four years after the original television series began.

Mack, a no-nonsense nickname with roots in Mackenzie, is part of the growing trend of boyish names for girls. Its crisp, modern feel gives it standout appeal alongside similar picks like Max and Drew. Not often heard on girls, although Hillary Scott used it as the middle name for her daughter Betsy in 2018.

Damek, which you might think of as Adam with a Slavic accent, considerably freshens up the original.

Eldarion is the son of Aragorn and Arwen in Tolkien's legendarium, who goes on to become a High King himself.

Protagonist of the manga and anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. The kanji used to spell his name give it the meaning of "coal + calm son," which describe his former profession as a coal worker.

Worldly name often heard in India, familiar here via the film Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.

Colson was made familiar by author Colson Whitehead, who helped popularize the K variation as well. Both Colson and Kolson rapidly ascended the charts in 2017, the year following the release of Whitehead's celebrated book The Underground Railroad.

The Mc and Mac surnames are asserting themselves as first names and this is among the most usable. MacArthur or McArthur makes a perfect honorific for an ancestral Arthur and leads directly to the nicknames Mac or Art

As soon as a name becomes mega-popular, parents start to look for spelling variations to set their child apart. This is one of the less graceful ones.