Oregon Trail era names - boys

  1. Willoughby
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "farm near the willows"
    • Description:

      Willoughby is an energetic last-name-first route to the popular short form Will, livelier than any of the two-syllable options. It could be picked up by parents attracted to the Willow sound for girls.
  2. Wilmot
    • Origin:

      Manx variation of William
    • Description:

      Wilmot has the sort of old-school bookish charm of other surname-sounding names like Beckett, Everett, Griffith and Weston. This could be a good choice for families wanting to honor that special William in a creative way.

  3. Wilson
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "son of Will"
    • Description:

      Wilson is a substantive presidential choice far less prevalent than Taylor or Tyler, and with the advantage of being a new route to friendly nickname Will. We see Wilson growing in popularity as an alternative to William; and as a patronymic, it would make a conceivable (if possibly confusing) choice for a son of William.
  4. Windham
    • Wulf
      • Wyatt
        • Origin:

          English surname
        • Meaning:

          "brave in war"
        • Description:

          Wyatt has been hot, which is to say cool, for several years now. With its easy Wyatt Earpish cowboy charm, it's relaxed but still highly respectable.
      • Wylie
        • Origin:

          English
        • Meaning:

          "from Wylye"
        • Description:

          Wylie is a friendly, nonchalant rodeo name with an almost irresistible charm; parents may pick up on its pleasant similarity to the more popular, unisex Riley. Although more masculine, we see Wylie as working as well for boys and girls (Richard Anderson used it for his daughter in 1999). Wylie (or the interchangeable Wiley) can also be an original and authentic way to honor an ancestral William. We don't, however, recommend you spell the name the way Corey Parker did: Wylei. Why lay?
      • Wentworth
        • Wiltis
          • Zachariah
            • Origin:

              Hebrew, form of Zechariah
            • Meaning:

              "the Lord has remembered"
            • Description:

              This distinguished name still feels a bit ancient, but with the rise of such former graybeards as Jeremiah and Elijah, it also sounds child-friendly again, as does the Latin-Greek form Zacharias.
          • Zacheus
            • Zebulon
              • Origin:

                Hebrew
              • Meaning:

                "exaltation or little dwelling"
              • Description:

                An Old Testament name with a Puritan feel and post-Zachary possibilities--one of several routes to the cool nickname Zeb.
            • Zenas
              • Zenon
                • Origin:

                  Ancient Greek and Polish form of Zeno and Zeus
                • Meaning:

                  "sky, shine; gift of Zeus"
                • Description:

                  Zenon is a relative of Zeno, which is a form of Zeus, used in both ancient Greece and modern Poland. With the new rise of all names mythological, this one may deserve a fresh look.
              • Zenos
                • Zerah
                  • Origin:

                    Hebrew
                  • Meaning:

                    "to arise; dawn"
                  • Description:

                    The Biblical Zerah is etymologically related to such names as Zora, which also means dawn. While the vowel sound at the end of the name does not sound as feminine to our modern ear as it once did, thanks to such popular choices as Noah and Joshua, but the downside of Zerah is that it is quite similar to such girls' names as Zara and Sarah.
                • Zimri
                  • Origin:

                    Hebrew
                  • Meaning:

                    "my music, my praise"
                  • Description:

                    This unusual and spunky biblical name was one of the Kings of Israel as well as one of Judah's grandsons and has a wonderful meaning. We'd like to see Zimri being used more, and we think it has potential — "traveling lite" names, or 2 syllable names ending in -i, such as Zuri, Ezri, and Rafi are red-hot right now.
                • Zachuriah
                  • Zavitz