User-created list
Down the Rabbit Hole Names
Across 188 pages
of 188
Durwood
English
"gatekeeper"
As wooden as its second syllable.
Cupid
Latin
"desire"
The name of the Roman god of love, the son of Venus, considered so romantic as to be unfit for mere mortals. Yet now that Romeo and Venus herself are fair game for modern babies, why not Cupid?
Pistol
Word name
"fiream"
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…
Lowe
Variation of Loew or Lowell
Surname names that might work as a first, though either of its original forms may be even better.
Venn
English, Irish
"from the marsh or fen; fair"
No, not Ben (you'll say a million times), not Van -- Venn. John Venn was a British logician and philosopher famous for introducing the Venn diagram, which is used in several fields, including logic,…
Pomeroy
English
"dweller by the apple orchard"
This is an English surname dating back to 1086, but we don't see it having much of a first name future in the twenty-first century.
Cordero
Spanish
"lamb"
Sounds more like a car than a baby name. Some sources related it to the English surname Carter, which would be more stylish these days.
Zephaniah
Hebrew
"God has hidden"
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. The vowel-sound ending of Zephaniah is…
Drummer
Occupational word name
Drummer entered the baby name lexicon thanks to blogger No Big Dill, who chose it for her newborn son, who joins five older sisters. Drummer is right in step with other occupational names in vogue…
Talcott
English
"cottage near the lake"
Similar in style or sound to Prescott, Maverick and Beckett, this far rarer name feels formal and strong. Notably borne by socialist Talcott Parsons, nicknames Tal or Otto might soften it a little.…
Morpheus
Greek mythology name, god of sleep and dreams
Though you may pray to the god of sleep for your baby to slumber through the night, a drowsy image is not the greatest one to inflict on your little boy.
Rudyard
English
"red enclosure"
Often thought of as a one-peson name because of Jungle Book writer Kipling, this was actually his middle name. He was middle-named for Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire, the beauty of which inspired his…
Astrophel
Literary name
"star lover"
Invented by 16th-century English poet Sir Philip Sidney for the hero of his sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella , this name is derived from the Greek elements aster "star" and philos "lover".…
Wayland
English
"land beside the road"
Way out.
Lion
English animal name, Hebrew
"lion; my strength"
Lion is a masculine name taken straight from the name of the animal, associating it with strength, courage, and nobility across many cultures. With Germanic, French, and English language roots, Lion…
Pere
Pere is a masculine name with multiple cultural origins. In Catalan and French contexts, it derives from the Latin 'Petrus' meaning 'rock' or 'stone' (the equivalent of Peter). In Basque and other…
Hieronymous
Greek
"sacred name"
A name used in Germany and Holland as a form of Jerome, it's the unlikely moniker of fictional detective Hieronymous "Harry" Bosch.
Kingdom
English word name
"country ruled by a royal; the spiritual reign of god"
An addition to the trend for royal names, Kingdom could also have religious significance for those who want it. The name was given to 32 boys in the US in recent years.
Diaz
Spanish from Latin
"days"
Perfect example of a surname that would work well as a first.
Abbott
English, Hebrew, Aramaic
"priest; father"
Abbott is a neglected masculine surname with religious overtones, used to describe the head of a monastery or a prominent church figure, such as a priest. Though the feminine nickname Abby could be…
