Unique Boy Names: Unusual Names for Your Little Guy

Roman statesman's name with a cool and quirky sound. Marcus Tullius Cicero was a Roman scholar, orator and lawyer who had an immense impact on the Latin language.

One of numerous usable Irish and Scottish surnames starting with Mac and Mc, this is the real McCoy. McCoy Tyner, the well-known jazz pianist, is one of the few to use this very cool name. Bonus: Nickname Mac.

Sibling of Beach and Ocean.

More unusual than Justin, less word-like than Justice, this New Testament name could make an intriguing choice. After being off the popularity lists from 1904 to 1993, it is now being used in steady numbers.

This name of an influential Old Testament king of Judah is one that would challenge even the most adventurous biblical name-seeker, but it does have the modernizing short forms Zeke or Kiah.

West is the most fashionable of what you might call the direction names, with North and East (or Easton and Easter) coming up behind, and South not yet on the map.

Urban was not an uncommon name through the 1930s (rising as high as Number 435), having been attached to several saints and early popes, but it has completely disappeared from the landscape--both urban and rural. Yet in this era of word name appreciation and trend for 'an'-ending boys' names, we're thinking it might be ready for a return.

An evocative unisex one-syllable name, Poe is most distinguished by its literary reference. Edgar Allan Poe was an influential American author and poet, credited with inventing the genres of detective and science fiction, which might provide inspiration for parents who are fans. And now its choice as the name of the hero played by Oscar Isaac in the new Star Wars movie is sure to catapult it from literary choice to major favorite.

This is a multi-syllabic New Testament relic that could be yet another fresh way to get to Theo. In the beginning of Luke's gospel, he dedicates his words to Theophilus.

A light and breezy nature name that's currently in style limbo, despite its pleasant meaning.

The family name of Shakespeare's Romeo has an effete, monocled image.

This is an ancient saints' name well used in Ireland but a rarity here and unlikely to ever reach the popularity of other Finn-ish names. St. Finbarr (the more common spelling) is the patron saint of Cork and in Irish folklore, Finbarr was king of the fairies.

Supermodel Helena Christensen named her son in honor of jazz great Charles Mingus, opening up a whole category of jazzy possibilities: Kenton, Calloway, Ellington, Gillespie, Mulligan, Tatum, and Thelonius. 

Rogan makes a great, roguish alternative for the more popular Logan, Ronan and Rowan. 

Walden is a recent entrant to the en-ending boys' names trend, a name that summons up placid images of Thoreau's two-year stay contemplating nature near Walden Pond.

Ellington is a swinging musical name, evoking the jazzy and elegant persona of the Duke (born Edward Kennedy Ellington). While that reference may seem to make Ellington a male name, it is also occasionally used for girls.

Guthrie, one of the most attractive Scottish names that's also a surname, has a particularly romantic, windswept aura, with a touch of the buckaroo thrown in.

Sander is a more conventional form of Zander or Xander, heard frequently on its own in Europe. It is now a Top 20 name in Norway, and is also popular in Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. 

Hard and shiny, Steel projects an image that's smooth, macho...and cold to the touch.

This Akan day name is very much associated with Kofi Annan, the seventh secretary general of the United Nations. The Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order in which they were born. Most Ghanaians have a name using this system.