Laertes

An Ancient Greek name with a huge dose of literary credibility. Laertes was the father of Odysseus in Greek mythology, who therefore pops up in Homer's The Odyssey.

Laertes is even more familiar to English speakers as a central character in Shakespeare's Hamlet, the impetuous son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia who ends up (spoiler alert!) killing Hamlet with a poisoned sword.

Laertes is almost never used as a baby name today, but we think it has lots of potential. Variant Leart is slightly more popular -- it was given to 6 boys in 2016 -- and some may find it more approachable.

Pronounced lay-ER-teez.