My Favorite Boy Names

Quirky cool Arlo is now well and truly back. Last year it broke into the US Top 200 boy names and consistently ranks among the most popular boy names on Nameberry.

Asher—an excellent, soft and sensitive Old Testament choice—is a baby boy name on the rise, and is a Nameberry biblical favorite.

Bennett is Ben with a bow tie, kind of a cross between Benjamin and Beckett. It's been trending up on the popularity charts in recent years, and its choice by The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's Jane Krakowski could shoot it even higher.

Benson has outgrown its long association with a wisecracking TV butler with a fresh new association: singer songwriter Benson Boone. Parents may see it as an alternate route to nickname Ben, very different in image than the biblical Benjamin or the Latin Benedict, and more in tune perhaps with stylish with Bennett.

Caleb is an attractive Old Testament name that has been in the US Top 100 for nearly three decades now. Consistently popular but never too popular, Caleb feels more like a classic than a momentary trend.

Camden is a surprise hit, probably as a result of some star baby cred: it has been chosen by no less than four celebrity parents since 2012. Gentle but not flimsy, Camden could be an updated spin on Cameron, Callum, or Caden.

This variation of Connor was practically unused before the 1990s.

Dylan still feels poetic and romantic after years of popularity. It still ranks highly on the charts, among the top boy names starting with D, so if you choose it, be aware that yours may not be the only Dylan in his class.

Easton is a stylish Ivy League-ish place and surname name, more modern than Weston, on its way up for both sexes as part of the new direction baby names are taking, as in North and West. Easton was used for her son by Jenna Elfman--and by Elizabeth Rohm for her daughter.

Strong, charismatic, and sleek, Elias has followed in the footsteps of Elijah and Eli to become a popular choice among parents today.

One of the four perfectly proper spellings of this name ranging from the spare (but poetic) Eliot to the full-blown Elliott. Elliott and Elliot are the two most popular, and they have given to almost the same number of baby boys in recent years. Elliott has that "-tt" ending that is so popular among parents today, with popular picks like Everett and Emmett, Beckett and Bennett. "El" names for both boys and girls have been trending in recent years, with Eli, Elijah, and Elias at the top of the charts for boys. Elliott has always been on the charts in the US, but is currently at its highest point ever. Elliott is also gaining in the UK, currently at number 107 in England. Elliott was the name of the dragon in the classic Disney film, Pete's Dragon.

Ethan is a name that succeeds in being at once classic and fashionable, serious and cheery, strong and sensitive. Given a big boost via the name of the Tom Cruise character in the Mission Impossible film series, Ethan has fallen from its peak at Number 2 in 2009 and 2010, but is still popular in the US along with several other countries.

Evan has a mellow nice-guy image that has kept it popular, while it has been widely used in Wales since the nineteenth century. And interestingly—and surprisingly—enough, Evan charts highly for boys in France.

Ezra has a lot going for it: the strength of its heroic Biblical legacy, its quirky sound, and its fresh but familiar feel. Ezra is now at its highest point ever, but its intuitive streamlined spelling and deep roots could make it a worth successor to Elijah in the Top 10 -- or even to Liam or Noah at Number 1.

Fletcher is a common surname with a touch of quirkiness; it definitely fits into the So Far Out It's In category--and moving further in all the time along with other occupational names from Parker to Forester.

Gideon is a no-longer neglected Old Testament name, but still makes an excellent choice for parents looking to move beyond such overused biblicals as Benjamin and Jacob. In the Old Testament, Gideon was a judge called on by God to rescue the Jews from the Midianites, and the name was popular among the Puritans.

Well used in England and Scotland since the fifties, the smooth and sophisticated Graham is catching on here.

Henry is well and truly back in style. The classic returned to the Top 10 in the US in 2021 for the first time in over a century, and as of 2024, sits at Number 6. Like James and Theodore, Henry is a strong, traditional name that also manages to feel stylish and gentle.

Holden is a classic case of a name that jumped out of a book and onto birth certificates--though it took quite a while. Parents who loved J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye are flocking to the name of its hero, Holden Caulfield -- not coincidentally in tune with the Hudson-Hayden-Colton field of names.

Jonah, the name of the Old Testament prophet who was swallowed by the whale, only to emerge unharmed three days later, is increasingly appreciated by parents looking for a biblical name less common than Jacob or Joshua, yet not too obscure. Plus, Jonah comes with a ready-made nursery-decorating motif.