boy Names

Adlai is an Old Testament name long associated with 1950's liberal presidential candidate Stevenson, who was named after his grandfather, who was Grover Cleveland's vice president in the nineteenth century. Now it's an unusual Biblical choice ripe for rediscovery.

The name August is at its highest point since the 1890s, when it ranked among the Top 100 boy names in the US. And deservedly so, given its great meaning, historic roots, and cool nicknames.

Duncan is jaunty, confident, and open, a Scottish royal name that's brimming with friendly charm and makes it into our golden circle of names that are neither too popular nor too strange. Popularity aside, Duncan is one of the most classic Scottish names for boys.

Though Eoin is a Gaelic form of John, its Anglicized pronunciation links it directly to Owen. Eoin is currently a Top 30 name in Ireland. Other variations: Ewan, Ewen, Evan and Eoghan (pronounced as Owen but also translated as Eugene).

Finnian is a fair jig of a name, energetic and easy on the ear. Finnian (and brother Finian) is also familiar in its alternate spelling through the classic 1968 Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow, later made into a film starring Fred Astaire as Finian McLonergan.

Flynn, a charming Irish surname, is still used only quietly, despite its easygoing, casual cowboy charm, unlike Finn which is a star of this genre. Flynn was the choice of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr for their baby boy, and is also the middle name -- used as his first -- of a son of Miranda's fellow supermodel Elle Macpherson, of Gary Oldman's son Gulliver and Marley Shelton's daughter West.

Hunter has been dropping a bit for the past few years but is still one of the leaders of a distinctive band of boys' names that combines macho imagery (Hunter, Austin, Harley) with a softened masculinity. Hunter was for years attached to gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson; Josh Holloway used it for his son.

Oak, a symbol of solidity, strength, and longevity, is joining Cedar and Pine as a viable name, one that would work especially well in the middle.

Ronan is the compelling legendary name of twelve Irish and Scottish saints that is now drawing some deserved attention; this cousin of the ascending Roman and Rowan was chosen by actor Daniel Day-Lewis and his writer-director wife Rebecca Miller in 1998, and more recently by actress Catherine Bell.

In the USA, both spellings of this old Celtic name rose significantly. However, Ronan outpaced this version in the lasts, and we, too, prefer the original, though history and movie buffs may appreciate this version's association with renegade samurai in Feudal Japan. Ronin is a character in the Marvel Universe.

For every Tio Salvador in a Latino family, there's a Zio Salvatore in an Italian one. Having always ranked in the US Top 1000, it is in danger of falling off the charts very soon.

Like Marvin and Melvin, Sheldon has been perceived as about as far out as you can get, though there are very pretty towns in Devon and Derbyshire that inspired it. Sheldon Lee Cooper is the lead nerd character on the TV hit The Big Bang Theory, giving the name a brainy image. Nickname Shel (as in Shel Silverstein, author of Where the Sidewalk Ends) could, in the modern world of nature name love, be seen as beach evoking.