Middle Names for Boys (with Meanings and Popularity)

Cool, musical modern choice, especially as a middle name.

Actress Shannyn Sossamon used this as the middle name for her son Audio; one of the most do-not-try-this-at-home combos we've heard.

Baby name as political statement.

Loyalty is one of the Modern Virtue Nameson the rise for both genders, but in this case mainly girls. About 85 percent of the babies named Loyalty are female and 15 percent male, but there's no reason this upstanding name can't work equally well for both.

Wrecker is a new entry to the newly trendy group of badass baby names -- names mostly for boys that sound wild (or Wilder) and summon the kind of kid that races around (Racer), breaking things (Breaker), and yeah, why not, being a Wrecker while he's at it. Actor Cam Gigandet introduced this one, with a more phonetic spelling, when he named his son Rekker.

The singular version sounds more contemporary.

Pistol is one of the new names that entered the lexicon in the US in 2013, when it was given to nine babies of each gender. Call it an equal-opportunity badass baby name with an unfortunately violent image.

A bold word name choice for the intrepid baby namer who hopes her son will face the world with a sense of discovery.

Ambitious geographical name.

Along the same lines as Fable or Madrigal, Parable is a cute choice for literary families. It might also be considered as a pseudo-biblical name, given the fame of the Biblical parables.

If you don't want to limit yourself to one month of the year, this unique baby name offers the plus of the friendly nickname, Cal.

Undoubtedly there's a parent out there who sees this as the ultimate cool name. It's anything but.

Modern virtue name, playing on the word "tough".

Cool and casual, a la humorist Ring (born Ringgold. ) Lardner.

In the Capability Brown vein -- not a choice to be made lightly.

The term Quarto comes to us from the Latin for "four", but it is used as a term in literature to describe a book from the early days of printing that was a particular size. An obscure and potentially intriguing choice for arcane, book-loving parents.

Why beat around the bush with a name like Elvis or Axl when you can come right out and name your baby Rocker? Your grandma will be scandalized, but teenage Rocker will kiss your feet.

Chosen by one musician, Todd Rundgren, for his son, but unlikely to be emulated by others.

Very occasionally given to boys born on that day; Noel is a more common name for Christmas babies.