Elegant and charming boy names

Hudson

English place-name and surname

"Hugh's son"

Hudson has risen quickly up the charts over the past 30 years, getting a lot of its style value from New York's Hudson River. That makes it a nature name and a place name that's also got the fashion…

Leo

Latin

"lion"

Leo is a strong-yet-friendly name that was common among the Romans, used for fourteen popes, and is now at its highest point ever in the US. Brave but sparky, Leo has ranked in the Top 20 in the US,…

Sawyer

English

"woodcutter"

Sawyer is a surname with a more relaxed and friendly feel than many others, and is one of the hottest occupational names right now, with the Nameberry seal of approval. Sawyer is becoming one of the…

Declan

Irish

"man of prayer, good man"

Declan is the Anglicized form of the Irish name Deaglán, popularized in the 90s and 2000s following its appearance in the movie The Jackal . Also featured in the 2010 movie Leap Year , along with the…

Emerson

English

"son of Emery"

Emerson is a dignified, somewhat serious name associated with transcendental thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson. Much more popular now for girls since Desperate Housewife Teri Hatcher used it for her…

Ariel

Hebrew

"lion of God"

Despite its distinguished pedigree and popularity in Israel, Disney's Little Mermaid cartoonized Ariel in the US, at least in some people's minds. But it was used for a male character in…

Forest

French occupational name

"woodsman or woods"

The Forest variation of Forrest, used by actor Whitaker, nudges the meaning more toward the woods and away from the woodsman.

Caelan

Irish

"little slender one"

One of several Anglicized forms of Caolán, this spelling is borrowed from the Old Irish root, cáel . With its stylish -an ending and its cool 'KAY' sound, Caelan entered the Top 500 in England and…

Hadley

English

"heathery field"

Hemingway readers will recognize this as the name of Papa's first wife (and, eventually, actress Mariel's grandmother). But in Victorian times, Hadley and Hedley were actually more popular for boys.

Harlow

English surname

"rock hill or army hill"

A glamorous surname name most famously borne by 1930s icon Jean Harlow (born Harlean Carpenter), Harlow is also the name of a town in the English county of Essex. Outside of the UK, Harlow would fit…

Sparrow

Nature name

With other bird names such as Lark and Phoenix on the rise, why not chirpy Sparrow? Nicole Richie and Joel Madden named their son, born in 2009, Sparrow James Midnight.

Winter

Word name

The girls have dibs on Spring, Summer, and Autumn, leaving this name evocative of snowy landscapes as the one possible seasonal choice for boys. And naturally, it's one of the most obvious names for…