Baby Boy Potentials

Lennox is an aristocratic and powerful Scottish surname name made truly special by that final x. The worldwide fame of British boxer--World and Olympic champion--Lennox Claudius Lewis brought the name into the spotlight as a first name, while as a last it's tied to Eurythmics singer Annie L.

Lucian is a sleeker, more sophisticated version of Lucius that is climbing in tandem with other Lu-starting names.

A vibrant, operatic Latin choice.

Marcel, despite distinguished namesakes including Proust and Duchamp, suffers from a terminal headwaiter image in this country. But along with its sister name Marcella and French variation (and Jolie-Pitt pick) Marcheline, Marcel may be on the brink of a style renaissance.

New Presidential name, if you're ready to move beyond Lincoln and Jefferson. At the turn of the last century, during the original McKinley's heyday, as a first name it almost reached the Top 100.

The spoiled only son of the richest family in town in a fifties movie.

Septimus is one of the more dashing of the birth-order Latin number names that were revived by the Victorians. So even if you don't anticipate son number 7, you might be bold enough to consider this relic, certainly preferable to sixth-son name Sextus.

No longer a one-person name, as a number of parents have been inspired by basketball great Shaquille O'Neal to adopt it for their own future athletes.

This name is growing in popularity, partly because of its tie to hipster musician Sufjan Stevens; is also related to Abu Sufyan, a figure from early Islamic history.

Sullivan is a jaunty Celtic three-syllable name, with a real twinkle in its eye. It was immortalized in the 1930s classic film Sullivan's Travels and was chosen for one of Patrick Dempsey's twin boys. Nickname Sully is equally jaunty.

The double 'e' gives this Celtic surname a genial sound. It derives from an old Irish name — Suibhne (SHEEV-ne) that was borne by several early saints and kings, including, unfortunately, one known as Mad Sweeney who spent his life living in trees and composing nature poetry. Another possible drawback is the association with Sweeney Todd, the bloodthirsty butcher of Sondheim stage-musical fame.

Honor and bravery are certainly virtues any parent would want to encourage, and this word itself is obscure enough that it manages to sound like a real name.

While this is usually thought of as a girls' name because of the Bond Girl connection, its sound is masculine and there's no reason it couldn't work for boys.

If you're looking for a name that's light and breezy, this could be it. A name from mythology: Zephyrus/Zephyr was the Greek god of the west wind-- with many European variations, it's a name that's frequently seen in computer and video games, is a character in the children's book Silverwing, and appears in the Babar books--as a monkey.