Heroes of World War II

Angel is a perennial Hispanic boys’ name, but it was Buffy the Vampire Slayer that brought it into the Anglo-male camp, where it's now heard more frequently, though it still poses some gender confusion. Angel is very popular, and very traditionally masculine, in the Latino community.

Despite the popularity of Anthony and its masculine variants, female derivatives of its source – the Roman family name Antonius, of unknown meaning – have never caught on in the same way. Sister name Antonia peaked at #336 in the US way back in 1882, while Antonina itself has never ranked higher than #865 (in 1915). It has been outside of the Top 1000 ever since.

Italian, Portuguese and Spanish variation of Arthur that makes the original feel more romantic and dashing.

Charles derives from the Germanic name Karl, meaning "man" or "freeman", and is a royal name in multiple European countries. A famous early bearer is Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Lombards and then Roman Emperor in the 8th-9th centuries. The word for "king" in several languages came from Charles, including Slavic, Russian, and Polish. And, of course, Charles III is the current king of Great Britain.

Dimitar is the Bulgarian (and Macedonian) version of Dmitri, which is itself a variation of the name of the Greek goddess Demeter, whose name means earth mother.

Ferdinand, a traditional name in the royal families of Spain and a handsome young prince shipwrecked on Prosper's island in Shakespeare's The Tempest has, unfortunately, to the American ear a somewhat heavy and clumsy feel – most likely because of the bull connection. In the 1880's it was in the 200's on the US pop list, but has been off completely since 1986.

Giorgio as is rich in meaning and history as George, but with more Italian flair. It's a consistent Top 50 hit in Italy, and with Italian boy names like Gianni and Lorenzo rising through the charts, could be another one to add to the mix.

The best-known modern bearer is fashion designer Giorgio Armani.

Giovanni is a venerable Italian classic that suddenly sounds fresh and cool. Ubiquitous in Italy, it has countless notable namesakes, from writer Boccaccio to designer Versace (nn Gianni).

Patrician to the core, Hugh was firmly in the Top 100 until 1903. It's never achieved those heights again, though it has always managed to remain in the Top 1000, scraping bottom at literally Number 1000 in 2006 before reversing course and heading back upwards.

A standard form of John in Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Czech, Polish, Slovene, German, and Catalan. Properly pronounced yahn (in most of these languages), most Americans will still equate it with the Brady Bunchesque girls' name Jan.

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 tire of this straight-arrow, almost anonymous John Doe of names, replacing it with fancier forms like Jonathan and the imported Sean and Ian.

Kent is a no-nonsense, brief, brisk one-syllable name, almost as curt as Kurt.

Oskar is to Oscar as Jakob is to Jacob: more distinctive and continental.

Raoul, with its unique three-vowel middle, rolls off the tongue in an appealing way. Raoul is one of the French names that sounds infinitely more romantic and attractive than the somewhat harsh English version Ralph.