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Atlas

Greek

"bearer of the heavens"

Atlas is one of those names that was previously thought too powerful for a baby boy, who would have to be strong enough to carry the world on his shoulders. Now Atlas has joined the pantheon of Greek…

River

Nature name

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…

Beckett

English and Irish

"bee hive, little brook or bee cottage"

Beckett is one of the big baby name hits of the decade. A handsome name with an attractively brisk sound, and rich in literary associations via major Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, it is especially…

Remington

English

"place on a riverbank"

Remington Steele was the perfect name for an upper-crust action hero on 1980s television. Now, Remington is catching fire along with a new generation of predatory baby boy names such as Hunter,…

Sutton

English

"from the southern homestead"

Swanky sound via New York's ritzy Sutton Place. It fits with current popular boys’ names , due to its two syllables and -on ending. It debuted in the US Top 1000 for boys in 2015, though it is…

Lawson

English

"son of Lawrence"

Appealing way, à la Dawson, to honor an ancestral Lawrence. Lawson is also an English pop rock band. Lawson has history or use that dates far back, but it fell off of the charts in 1950. The name…

Boone

English from French

"blessing, lucky"

Boone is one of the advancing herd of lean and lanky cowboy names with a laid-back, backwoods, Western feel—and surprising French roots. It's inevitably linked with legendary frontiersman Daniel, and…

Cassius

Latin

"hollow"

Cassius, a Shakespearean name rooted in antiquity, is trending in a major way. It's one of a raft of Cas-starting names for both boys and girls, including Caspian, Cassian, and Cassia, that are…

Aries

Latin

"a ram"

Better than Capricorn or Cancer, not as usable as Leo, the name of the Roman god of war becomes more possible as a baby name every day, as mythological names take the place of biblical names.

Ira

Hebrew, Sanskrit

"watchful one; wind"

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…

Slade

English

"from the valley"

Evoking the image of a shady glen, Slade could make a distinctive middle name. It entered the Top 1000 in 2007, and has been seen as a character name on the TV show "Smallville." It's also a name…

Cove

English

"small bay"

Cove is an up-and-coming nature name whose cool sound and peaceful image saw it rising for both sexes... until COVID-19 hit. It remained steady in use for boys in 2021, but actually increased for…

Faris

Arabic

"rider, knight"

A great uncommon English-Arabic crossover choice, easily pronounceable internationally.

Noble

Latin

"aristocratic"

With parents beginning to show an interest in virtue names for boys, this Puritan favorite just might be revived, for what could be more admirable than nobility in terms of having strength of…

Leander

Greek

"lion-man"

Leander was once an almost unknown name, however, with the popularity of Leo and the rise of Leandro, it now feels like a perfectly accessible alternative to Leon or Alexander. In Greek legend,…

Woodrow

English

"row of houses by a wood"

Aside from President Wilson (born Thomas), most Woodrows, including Herman, Guthrie, and Harrelson, have chosen to be known as Woody, which says it all.

Fischer

German surname

"fisherman"

This common German-Jewish surname is not as popular in the US as the English form, Fisher, but both share the same meaning, and this one may appeal to those with German or Jewish heritage. Fisher has…

Raleigh

English

"meadow of roe deer"

Attractive North Carolina place-name and surname of explorer Sir Walter Raleigh. Distinctive, classy-but-approachable choice for either sex.