Jabez has a rare combo of three appealing elements: a Biblical heritage, a captivating Southern accent, and a jazzy feel. It was popular with the Pilgrims and on into the nineteenth century (there have been four U.S. Congressmen named Jabez), but it hasn't been in the Top 1000 since 1880.

Hurricane is a storm, but it's also an American name, thanks to rising tennis star Hurricane Black -- whose sister's name is Tornado. There's no reason this tempestuous choice can't work for boys too, inasfar as the name can work for any child. As a name, Hurricane is definitely original and attention-getting, but is it a name you'd want to carry around for life?

Despite Thornton Wilder, playwright of the perennial Our Town, only a handful of baby boys receive this name each year..

A sober and detached choice for a son.

Tornado first meant thunderstorm and only later came to mean whirlwind, the common modern meaning. More recently, Tornado is the first name of a tennis-playing teen whose sister is called the equally attention-getting Hurricane. Both names work for either gender, if you think you can withstand the storm jokes.

Whiskey was the name of the badass girlfriend character in Glass Onion, played by Madelyn Cline. Naming your child after any kind of alcoholic drink is not recommended.

An interesting figure from Greek mythology -- an Amazon queen who fought for Troy in the Trojan War -- but no figure could be interesting enough to make that five-syllable mouthful usable today. Stick with Penelope or, if that's too popular for your taste, try Thessaly.

Power is one of the new crop -- Justice, Liberty, Peace -- of strong, clear-cut, declarative choices, though this one carries more assertiveness than virtue.

Obscure Old Testament name -- he was the son of Naomi and the husband of Ruth -- that's become even more obscure over the past century, perhaps due to its unappealing meaning.

Unfortunately, everyone will just hear Jared.

Associated with havoc, disaster, and trouble, this bold moniker is unlikely to be many parents' first choice, but it has nevertheless been appearing in the US charts since 2006. It may appeal to those who like Danger, Wild, and Rowdy, or associate Chaos with rebellion, mythology, or physics.

Grit became a buzzword in the 2010s, thanks to both the 2010 film True Grit and psychologist Angela Duckworth's 2016 book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perserverance. The book, based on Duckworth's research, attributes success to grittiness. Clearly, the message stuck with parents, as Grit debuted as a name for boys in 2021.

More than 300 babies have been named Shooter in the US since 2002, which, depending on who you ask, is arguably about 300 too many. One of the violent names for boys that have gained traction in recent years, the most optimistic view perhaps is that parents were thinking about sports or honoring a family connection to the militiary when choosing this name.

New, fast, cool, and chosen by director Robert Rodriguez, whose other sons are Rebel, Rocket, and Rogue, all somewhat risky options.

Fogarty has the Old Fogey problem.

This aggressive baby boy name has been sitting at the bottom of the charts since 2008.

Biblical name from the Old Testament.

The Ancient Roman Balbina is the feminine form of Balbus or Balbinus. While certainly unique, it's hard to imagine this name will go far in the modern English-speaking world.

All names ending in ville are in nowheresville.

It doesn't matter if Savage is a surname on your family tree — it's a highly controversial choice for a first name with connections to racism and colonialism. Despite this, over a dozen sets of parents named their sons Savage in a recent year.