First Names for Boys

With parents beginning to show an interest in virtue names for boys, this Puritan favorite just might be revived, for what could be more admirable than nobility in terms of having strength of character, dignity, and high moral ideals?

A minor prophet who has his own Book, Zephaniah is another Old Testament gem waiting to be rediscovered now that Noah and Abraham are becoming too trendy.

Tobiah is the original Hebrew form of the better-known Greek Tobias, to which it could make a distinctive alternative. With its ah ending, Tobiah fits in with other stylish Biblical names today, from Noah to Isaiah to Josiah and Zachariah. And of course, Toby is an adorable nickname.

There's only one Trenton, New Jersey, but it's a widely used name, more for its fashionable -on ending than the reference to the city. Since 2007, however, Trenton has been on a steady decline. Trenten is another popular spelling.

Smoking jacket-wearing British surname, with artistic ties to Sir Henry Raeburn, Scottish romantic painter.

If you fit this definition, this might be a clever choice, especially as a middle name.

Patton is an attractive name in the fashionable Haden-Peyton mold, though there is that association with the severe wartime general.

More manageable than the Jebediahs and Jedidiahs, this name of several biblical characters would make an interesting, undiscovered Old Testament choice.

A Julian derivative, via Spanish conquistadors, that could be a more unusual yet still reasonable substitute for that current favorite.