User-created list
By BornOfFire · Updated August 2022
Across 2 pages
of 2
Latin
"blessed"
Parents who like Ben and Benjamin but find those forms too popular sometimes consider Benedict as a more distinctive choice. Unlike the Old Testament Benjamin, Benedict is the name of the saint who…
American word name
"noisy, disorderly, riotous"
Rowdy was first famously used as a given name in the television series Rawhide, with the young Clint Eastwood playing Rowdy Yates. More recently, competitive swimmer Rowdy Gaines has been featured in…
Place name
Rockers Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz put a new baby name on the map when they chose this downscale New York borough name for their son. The Bronx, the place, was named for early Dutch settler Jonas…
Diminutive of Benjamin
Benji is undeniably cute, much in the way of a — yes, an adorable movie mutt. Ben is the handsome traditional short form of Benjamin, but Benji makes a more unexpected nickname
English word name
"a lord of the realm"
If you're going to choose a noble word name, why not aim higher and pick Duke, Prince...or King. The Donald Trumps picked the Barron spelling for their little princeling.
Klayton is a masculine name that represents a modern, stylized spelling of Clayton. The original name Clayton derives from an English surname meaning 'settlement made of clay' or 'town near clay.'…
Hebrew
"follower of Marduk"
Mordecai, although it has a noble heritage, has never caught on in this country, because of its rather weighty image. Nevertheless, with parents searching for rarer Biblical names that work as…
French, variation of Alan
Alain gives the midcentury Alan a bit of gallic dash.
Word name
Hard and shiny, Steel projects an image that's smooth, macho...and cold to the touch.
"hairy"
A once neglected Biblical name, not seen in the US popularity charts since 1902, Esau has been seeing renewed interest in recent years. Appealing perhaps to those looking for alternatives to Elias,…
"rebel"
Asking for trouble. Rebel Wilson is female, but this name is truly gender neutral, though hardly neutral in any other way. Rebel is undoubtedly one of the edgiest boys' names starting with the letter…
Scottish
"clan chieftain"
This early Scottish title -- known to us via Shakespeare's Macbeth -- has recently surfaced as a baby name possibility, familiar sounding through its similarity to names like Zane and Wayne.
"my sheaf"
Old Testament name of a king of Israel, related to the harvest.
English
"animal name"
Other wild animals like Fox, Wolf and Bear are catching on as baby names, and Tiger is a rarer option with several famous namesakes, including golf champ Tiger Woods, who was born Eldrick. Other…
French form of Latin Maximus
"greatest"
A cute and fresh way to get to Max, this was the name of a sixth century saint. Maxence is a Top 100 boys' name in France, but largely unknown in the US where it is given to only a handful of baby…
"God is just"
Adlai is an Old Testament name long associated with 1950's liberal presidential candidate Stevenson, who was named after his grandfather, who was Grover Cleveland's vice president in the nineteenth…
American place-name
A southwestern city name that could make a distinctive alternative to Dallas.
"a very large nail"
Spike is part mid-century nickname-name, ala Buster or Buck, and part word name, with an all-over cool creative dude feel thanks to directors Spike Lee and Spike Jonze. Mike Myers named his son…
