Short solid boys names with spunk

Fergus

Scottish and Irish

"man of force"

In Celtic lore, Fergus was the ideal of manly courage, making it a charming, slightly quirky Scottish and Irish favorite. As a name, Fergus forms a link between Ireland and Scotland, as Gaelic…

Fox

Animal name

Fox is one animal name backed by a longish tradition, and then popularized via the lead character Fox Mulder on X Files . Fox is simple, sleek, and a little bit wild, and could make an interesting…

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…

Hearn

Hearn is a masculine name of Anglo-Saxon and Irish origin functioning both as a surname and given name. It derives either from the Old English 'hyrne' meaning 'corner of land' or 'nook,' or from the…

Penn

English

"enclosure"

This simple, elegant name offers something for many kinds of parents, from writers and history buffs to photographers to Pennsylvania dwellers. Most famous bearers are comedian Penn Jillette and…

Theon

Greek

"godly"

Theon, an ancient name attached to a noted Greek teacher of mathematics and astronomy, also father to the first woman mathematician, might appeal to parents in this field. You can think of Theon as…

Vaughan

Welsh

"small"

This familiar but never popular Welsh surname name might be a good Sean alternative-- and we're starting to hear some berrybuzz about it. Vaughn is an alternate spelling. There have been three major…