With its gentle sounds and earthy vibes, the name Rowan feels like a fusion of different styles. A word name, a surname, and a gender-neutral name, Rowan is rustic but trendy, blending the vibes of both Owen and Oakley.

An aristocratic and stately Germanic route to the popular Leo, Leopold is a royal name: Queen Victoria used it to honor a favorite uncle, King Leopold I of Belgium. These days, this royal tie may be seen as a drawback to the name, owing to the cruelty of King Leopold II's rule over the Congo, though it remains popular in Austria, Poland, and France (as Léopold).

Rugged but gentle at the same time, Cassian is a saintly and stylish choice that was derived from the name Cassius. Before 2017, it was an obscure choice, given to a tiny handful of boys each year. As of 2023, however, it's become one of the top ten fastest-rising names in the US, more than doubling in usage since 2022 and edging closer towards the Top 500.

Quirky cool Arlo is now well and truly back. Last year it broke into the US Top 200 boy names and consistently ranks among the most popular boy names on Nameberry. Along with its Irish and English roots, Arlo may be a shortened form of the Italian Carlo or the Spanish Carlos, both forms of Charles,and in Basque-speaking regions it is the word for area.

This gentle Scandinavian name, soft and sensitive, is being discovered in a major way by parents in the US. It's most closely identified with the nineteenth century philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, but there have been modern fictional Sorens as well, in The Matrix Reloaded and the book series Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Charlie and Lola, and Underworld.

Otto is cool again. Long a quintessential Old Man Name, Otto has been promoted to trending darling of adventurous baby namers.

Loyal is one of the few virtue names suitable for boys, an honorable and principled Boy Scout-esque appellation with a surprisingly long and distinguished history.

This spirited Gaelic classic, which became popular in Ireland via the illustrious twelfth century king Rory O'Connor, makes a highly energetic choice, now used for either sex. Rory's gender split is still trending boyward; it's one of the coolest boys' names starting with R.

The related Lucas and Luke are both hugely popular boy names in the US and internationally, and now Luca has joined them on boys' popularity lists around the world.

Currently overshadowed by the bright and lively Leo, Leon feels a slightly more serious, more quietly confident than its short and trending counterpart.

Lachlan is as Scottish as haggis and tartan plaid kilts—a favorite used throughout England, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand—and just beginning to be noticed in the US: it reached the Top 1000 for the first time in 2013. An ancient name, Lachlan was originally used to describe the Viking invaders of Scotland, those from the land of the lochs.

River shares the tranquil feeling of all the water names, and seems to have pretty much escaped its past strong association with River Phoenix and his unfortunate fate. Actor Joaquin Phoenix named his son with actress Rooney Mara after his brother River.

Lucian is a sleeker, more sophisticated version of Lucius that is climbing in tandem with other Lu-starting names.

Otis has real appeal for parents attracted to its catchy O initial and combination of strength and spunk. The appealing hero of the British TV show Sex Education has done much to propel Otis into the forefront of cool names.

Long associated with the Churchill family and common in the West Indies, the distinguished Winston is back in style having been slightly neglected in the US after its brief flash of popularity during World War II. Familiar in England and Wales, recent years have seen in re-enter the Top 500 in the States.

Bodhi is a Sanskrit name translated as "enlightenment" or "awakening" which relates to a Buddhist concept, wherein Bodhi is synonymous with the state of nirvana, being freed from hate, greed and ego. The Bodhi tree is a large fig tree under which the founder of Buddhism received enlightenment. Spelling variations include Bodie and Bode.

Heathcliff is the name of the original passionate macho hero of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, and also of the cartoon cat. It was chosen by fashionista Lucy Sykes for her son, and inspired the late Heath Ledger's name. But otherwise it's barely used, and perhaps a bit much of a namesake. For a modern boy we'd recommend Heath....or Cliff.

The Dorians were an ancient Greek tribe, one of the three major pre-Spartan tribes. It literally means "of Doris," a Greek district, or "of Doros," referring to the son of Helen of Sparta. Dorian derives from the Greek doron, meaning "gift," along with related names such as Dorothy and Dora.

Peter is derived from the Greek Petros, meaning "rock" or "stone." One of the most important figures in the Christian hagiography is Saint Peter, keeper of the Gates of Heaven. Born Simon bar Jonah, he was given the nickname Peter by Jesus, to signify that he would be the rock on which Christ would build Christianity. Centuries later, there was Peter the Great, the czar who developed Russia as a major European power.

Succinct and sharp, Ira is one of the shortest Old Testament names, belonging to one of King David's thirty 'mighty warriors.' It was widely used in the US from the 1880s to the early 1930s (it was Number 57 on the Social Security list in 1881), but fell off completely in 1993, only to return in 2016. Currently, it is in the latter half of the US Top 1000, given to around 260 boys each year.