Rickey Potter

William

German

"resolute protection"

William is one of the most enduring of classic names for boys. It's also among the most popular boys' names, as American parents see it as being ideally conservative yet contemporary, and hands-down…

Hudson

English place-name and surname

"Hugh's son"

Hudson has risen quickly up the charts over the past 30 years, getting a lot of its style value from New York's Hudson River. That makes it a nature name and a place name that's also got the fashion…

John

Hebrew

"God is gracious"

John reigned as the most popular of all boys' Christian names for 400 years, from the time the first Crusaders carried it back to Britain until the 1950s. Then American baby namers finally seemed to…

Jackson

English

"son of Jack"

Jackson is one of those names that's much more popular than you think, coming in near the top of our annual Playground Analysis, which ranks names by grouping all their spellings together. Last year,…

Charles

French from German

"free man"

Charles derives from the Germanic name Karl, meaning "man" or "free man", and is a royal name in multiple European countries. A famous early bearer is Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Lombards and…

Wesley

English

"western meadow"

Reminiscent of the Old West, with rugged charm and a gentle, easy-going feel, Wesley has long been a staple on the US charts. Its popularity may have peaked in the 1970s when it reached #66, but…

Graham

Scottish

"gravelly homestead"

Well used in England and Scotland since the fifties, the smooth and sophisticated Graham is catching on here. Among the best known bearers are novelist Graham Greene, racing driver Graham Hill and…

Edward

English

"wealthy guardian"

Unlike perennials William, John and James, Edward is a classic that moves in and out of fashion. This royal Anglo-Saxon standard has benefited in recent years from the popularity of the hot hero of…

Patrick

Latin

"noble, patrician"

Patrick, long tied to a hyper-Irish image, is enjoying something of a renaissance as a stylish classic, as it has long been considered in England. Along with such choices as Charles and George,…

Taylor

English occupational name

"tailor"

Taylor was much more popular throughout the 1990s for both genders than it is today. Close to the Top 50 boys' names in the mid-1990s, Taylor recently fell out of the Top 500 for boys and out of the…

Grey

Color name

The girls have Violet and Scarlet and Ruby and Rose, but for the boys there's a much more limited palette of color names. Grey/Gray is one exception, which could make for a soft and evocative—if…