if you know you know

Lowell

French

"young wolf"

Lowell is an upstanding and somewhat conservative name that calls to mind the genteel patrician families of nineteenth century New England, such as the one poet Robert Lowell was born into. Two other…

Mars

Roman mythology

"god of war; male; red planet"

Mars is a name with interesting potential, ticking the boxes as a mythological name, a space name, and a single syllable choice ending in -s. For parents wanting something unexpected, Mars could work…

Maxim

French variation of Maximus

"greatest"

Although often connected to the men's magazine title, Maxim is a chic and powerful name for a little boy. It's proving moderately popular too, having been in the Top 1000 in the US since the year…

Nemo

Greek

"nobody"

One of the best known early Nemos was the captain in Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea , while the more familiar modern one is the animated little orange fish in the Disney movie. Unusual name…

Olivier

French

"olive tree"

More and more frequently heard as the Gallic version of Oliver, Olivier could be seen as a tribute to the great British actor, Sir Laurence O.

Oswald

English

"divine power"

Despite the success of so many O-starting boys names --Oliver, Owen, Otis, Oscar--Oswald has not yet shown any signs of resurrection, though he does have the animating nicknames Ozzie/Ozzy and Oz.…

Pete

Diminutive of Peter

"rock"

Sixties-style short form that sounds cool again -- though the unscrupulous Pete on "Mad Men" is not a character to emulate.

Pluto

Greek

"rich"

The Roman god of the underworld, the former ninth planet, a cartoon dog...but not a baby.

Rain

Nature name

Mostly feminine, though "Office" star Rainn Wilson gives it a slight masculine twist. You might also use this as a short form of Raines.

Rudolph

German

"famous wolf"

Sure, he'd probably get a certain amount of red-nosed teasing around the holiday, but a boy named Rudolph could probably take it. Besides, he's got other, more distinguished namesakes -- the great…

Stephan

Variant of Stephen

If you wanted to try to get people to pronounce your son's first name the way Stephen Curry does, this might be a way to do it.