Nice sound, but double meaning -- shady glen or shady character.

Newswoman Paula brought the surname Zahn to the public eye. It makes a dramatic, unusual Zane alternative -- though you may not want to enlighten your child as to its prosaic meaning.

An appellation that couldn't be more Ivy League or sound less Welsh. The name of the University is taken from the surname of college benefactor Elihu Yale. In the movie Manhattan, Yale Pollack is the name of Woody Allen's best friend. The Hebrew Yael is not related.

This recently coined respelling of Cole darkens its image.

For the parent who might also have Buck and Ryder on his list.

Asking for trouble.

A contemporary choice, Pistol entered the stats in the US back in 2010 for boys and then in 2013 for girls too. Given to around 80 babies throughout the 2010s, it has fallen out of favor in the 2020s.

There's a whole quarry of rocky names parents are now considering: Slate, Flint, etc. , but this one is particularly hard-edged and problematic.

Skandar is a shortened form of Iskandar, an Arabic form of Alexander. It is most familiar as the name of Skandar Keynes, the actor who played Edmund Pevensie in the Chronicles of Narnia. Skandar is a descendent of Charles Darwin.

Star Wars fans may know the lore behind the origin of the word and the concept Jedi well enough to confidently choose their name for their child. It has to do with balancing the forces of the universe.

Power is one of the new crop -- Justice, Liberty, Peace -- of strong, clear-cut, declarative choices, though this one carries more assertiveness than virtue.

Solemn but soaring name with patriotic symbolism.

Flash Gordon makes this a superhero name, but Flash might just appeal to modern parents looking for one of the new active boys' names, ala Ace and Breaker and Ranger. We'd recommend something more pulled-together as a proper name with Flash as a nickname or middle name.

The version of Rob used in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books and HBO's Game of Thrones.

Axe, spelled like this, is used for a handful of baby boys in the US each year. You can see it as one of the new weapon names, along with Dagger and Beretta, or as an abbreviation of the very popular Axel.

Wrecker is a new entry to the newly trendy group of badass baby names -- names mostly for boys that sound wild (or Wilder) and summon the kind of kid that races around (Racer), breaking things (Breaker), and yeah, why not, being a Wrecker while he's at it. Actor Cam Gigandet introduced this one, with a more phonetic spelling, when he named his son Rekker.