Finally a Boys' List

Less popular than Emery, this name also attributes to Emory University. Both spellings of the name lean more heavily to the girls' side, but this one is not quite as unbalanced.

The association with the infamous Nero, the fiddling Roman emperor, would be unavoidable. But there was also the detective Nero Wolfe, hero of many mystery stories.

One of the more subtle occupational surnames, Sayer is a pleasant, open, last-name-first name, particularly apt for a family of woodworkers -- or writers.

Abbott is a neglected masculine surname with religious overtones, used to describe the head of a monastery or a prominent church figure, such as a priest. Though the feminine nickname Abby could be seen as a slight drawback, that's hardly stopped Abner or Abraham rising up the charts, and besides, there's nothing wrong with a gentler boy name.

Inventive name for the child of a writer.

Rigby is a rather stiff British surname, which might call to mind the Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" or, from the recent past, Cathy Rigby, the first American woman to win a medal in World Gymnastics competition. The problem with Rigby may be its similarity to the word "rigid."

Alcott evokes shades of nineteenth-century New England, and memories of the author of the books Little Women and Little Men. Louisa May Alcott was the daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott, noted educator, writer and philosopher, and colleague of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

Guthrie, one of the most attractive Scottish names that's also a surname, has a particularly romantic, windswept aura, with a touch of the buckaroo thrown in.

Billionaire Sumner Redstone, the nonagenarian owner of CBS and Viacom, practically has a monopoly on his first name — for now. But Hunter, Asher, and Ryder have ushered in a major vogue "-er" names, so it may only be a matter of time before parents discover this one.

Last in fashion in the 1930s, Bertram might once have been firmly in the best left in the past category, but with sweet nickname Bertie and the cool option of Bram, Bertram might just be one to reconsider. Fitting in with other clunky vintage options like Chester, Sidney, Abram, Ebenenzer, and Wilfred, Bertram is a literary option, appearing as the full first name of P.G. Wodehouse's inimitable Bertie Wooster and on a character in Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well.

Iain, this authentic Gaelic form of John, has been well used in Scotland since the early twentieth century, used concurrently with the shortened Ian spelling, but is rarely seen in the US.

A new entry in the fashionable occupational name category -- and a jolly job it must be -- with the added attraction of relating to the great early 20th century American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler, of "Whistler's Mother" fame.

Two-syllable place-names are stylish, and this one is attached to a British city noted for its white chalk cliffs, but there are a couple of minuses: associated with the fish, Dover sole, and also rhymes with the doggy Rover.

In the old days, this might have been a short form for Dewitt, but today it's more likely to appear as a witty word name. We approve.