User-created list
By 87infinite · Updated May 2023
Across 9 pages
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Scandinavian from Latin Laurentius
"crowned with laurel"
Lars is a perfect candidate for a cross-cultural passport: it has been heard often enough here to sound familiar and friendly, yet retains the charisma of a charming foreigner. In this country Lars…
Animal name or diminutive of Wolfgang, German
" traveling wolf"
Wolf is a name with a split personality. It can be seen as one of the fierce animal names, like Fox and Bear and Puma, with a touch of the werewolf, or it can be viewed as a quieter, Wolf Blitzer…
Scottish
"blond"
Has a bit of a hayseed image, and that oy sound is tough to work with.
German
"brave people"
An aristocratic and stately Germanic route to the popular Leo, Leopold is a royal name: Queen Victoria used it to honor a favorite uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium. These days, this royal tie may be…
Irish
"dark, black-haired"
A name that Yanks might see as overly British, but combined with the right surname, it does have a measure of Sherlock Holmesian dash via Nigel Bruce, who played the original Dr. Watson to Basil…
English
"fields of the village"
One of the surname names used more in the last century, à la Milton and Morton.
Norwegian variant of Ivar
"yew wood, archer, warrior"
Iver is a popular name in its native Norway, but parents in the U.S. are starting to take note of this rugged yet gentle name. Stemming from the original Norse name Ívarr , it is part of a small…
Diminutive of Chester, English
"fortress, walled town"
Chet is an old-fashioned short form of Chester, that like Ned, Mac, Ted, and Wes, it has the potential to sound cool again. Country singer Luke Combs and his wife Nicole, certainly thought so as they…
"high meadow"
The name of a British town on the Thames that hosts a famous regatta, so it could be an appropriate middle name for the son of boat-lovers.
German surname
"fisherman"
This common German-Jewish surname is not as popular in the US as the English form, Fisher, but both share the same meaning, and this one may appeal to those with German or Jewish heritage. Fisher has…
Catalan variation of George
To the American ear, Jordi seems like a nickname for Jordan, which means this popular name from Catalonia could certainly cross cultures.
"land beside the road"
Way out.
"sacred hill"
Popular in the 1920s, Eldon is a retro name that's waiting to be rediscovered. It has a similar placename/surname appeal to current Top 1000 names Alden and Holden. Several towns in the US and UK…
Saige as a masculine name represents a gender-crossing usage of what has traditionally been more common as a feminine name in recent decades. Derived from the herb sage (Salvia), the name carries…
"soldier, warrior"
It's hard to believe now that Herman was once, at the turn of the last century, a Top 50 name, remaining in the Top 100 until 1935, and even harder to imagine it making a comeback. But then again,…
Dutch variation of Abraham, Hebrew
"father of multitudes"
Bram has an unusual measure of character and charm for a one-syllable name; it started as a hipper-than-Abe diminutive of the biblical Abraham, but is also an independent Irish and Dutch name, made…
Latin
"flowering"
If Flora and Florence have returned full force, then Florian, with its strong Latinate ending and its botanical meaning in one to watch out for. Popular in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, and…
"steward"
This ancient royal Scottish name had a brief vogue in midcentury America, but it would be far from a fresh choice for a baby boy now.
"bright army"
Names ending in bert have long been in limbo, but with the return of Albert, maybe there's hope for Herbert. who could share the Bertie nickname. Herbert is a name that's been used by English…
Hebrew
"deer"
Gentle meaning and bona fide Hebrew history, but feels old-mannish, like Herman and Menashe.
