One for the Gents

In its native Germany, Gerhard was very popular a hundred years ago and is now rather old-fashioned. It isn't much used by English speakers either, but has a certain clunky charm about it.

Sander is a more conventional form of Zander or Xander, heard frequently on its own in Europe. It is now a Top 20 name in Norway, and is also popular in Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. 

The Dutch answer to Gus. Pronounce it like the English word and you have a name that means air.

Parry is quite common in Wales, often as a surname, but would inevitably be misunderstood as Perry or even Harry.

When Matthew McConaughey and wife Camila Alves chose the old English surname and place name Livingston for their third child, they elevated it from half of a Stanley & Livingston joke to a modern possibility. Kind of. The only other well-known bearer of the name in the contemporary world is singer Livingston Taylor, brother of James, who is called Liv. Given that little Livingston McConaughey's older brother is named Levi, that uplifting nickname may be too close, though his parents apparently like its sound. An original choice.

Faulkner is an old occupational surname that was used for someone who kept and trained falcons when falconry was a popular sport in medieval Europe. Anyone using it in contemporary America would probably be honoring Southern novelist William Faulkner. While we love the author, Falconer would probably be a slightly easier name to carry on the playground.

Like Bethany and Shiloh, a meaningful biblical place-name.

Paterson is a surname-name to continue a line of Peters and also the name of a city in New Jersey, hometown of poets William Carlos Williams and Allen Ginsberg.

Associated with the poet and novelist Galway Kinnell, this name of an Irish city, county, and bay would make an evocative choice. For further literary cred, writers Liam O'Flaherty and Frank Harris both hail from Galway.

Some music-minded parents might consider this especially as a middle name, to honor the great Austrian composer.

You might want to abbreviate this from one of the Biblical originals or use it as a name all on its own, an update of Sam or Finn. Sim is a Scottish Gaelic form of Simon.

Painter is among the most creative choices in this very fashionable category of names, with a particularly pleasant sound. Whereas most occupational names conjure up physical labor, this one feels like a gateway to the arts.

A name you would probably want to use only if it's in your family history. The first syllable moves it miles away from the softer Whitney.

Garland is fragrant and celebratory, and also has a celebrity-tribute tie to the star of The Wizard of Oz.

Woody Allen used this name for his daughter to honor jazz hero Sidney Bechet -- and it could work for a boy as well.

The surname of father-son British writers Kingsley and Martin could work very well as a first, though its Amy connection makes it sound a tad feminine.