F - Boys' Names

Finley

Irish and Scottish

"fair-haired hero"

A hugely popular choice for boys in England and Wales, Finley has been used for both sexes in the US since the early 2000s, and has since become one of the most popular unisex names . Until recently,…

Fennel

Vegetable and herb name

In the garden of herb names, Rosemary and Basil are perennials and Sage is a new upshoot, but Fennel is a real rarity. The aniseed-tasting plant, used to add flavor to dishes around the world, gets…

Ferdinand

German

"bold voyager"

Ferdinand is a traditional name among Spanish royal families and also appears in Shakespeare's The Tempest , borne by the handsome young prince shipwrecked on Prospero's island. Bold, daring, and…

Fernand

Fernand is a masculine name of Germanic origin, derived from elements meaning "journey" and "brave." It's the French and Catalan form of Ferdinand, a name with royal connections throughout European…

Finbar

Irish

"fair-haired"

This is an ancient saints' name well used in Ireland but a rarity here and unlikely to ever reach the popularity of other Finn-ish names. St. Finbarr (the more common spelling) is the patron saint of…

Fingal

Gaelic

"fair stranger"

Originally a nickname for Viking invaders, it gained fresh impetus in the 18th century when James Macpherson made Fingal the central character in his Ossianic poems. An offbeat addition to the Fin-…

Fintan

Irish

"white fire or white bull"

Fintan is an ancient Irish saints' name that in legend is also the name of the only person to survive The Flood. Popular in modern Ireland, Fintan is ripe for export to the US where it is rarely used…

Fionn

Irish

"fair or white"

Fionn, the modern Irish form of Finn, is more popular in Ireland these days than Finn, which is rising fast in the U.S. where Fionn is virtually unknown. That's probably a good thing, because few…