Animal Names: Doe, Tiger and Elk

Griffin

Welsh, variation of Griffith

"strong lord"

Griffin is one of the newer and most appealing of the two-syllable Celtic surnames. In English, griffin is the name of a mythological creature, half eagle, half lion. It re-entered the list in 1983…

Colt

Word name

"young horse"

Colt is the kind of unconventionally macho name that is so trendy right now, because of or in spite of its association with horses and guns. A rent study of voter names by political party found that…

Zander

Diminutive of Alexander

"defending men"

On the rise as an independent name: Zander and Xander are both widely used can increasingly be found as characters in movies and on TV.

Bear

Animal name

"bear"

Bear has suddenly lumbered onto the baby name landscape. Perhaps inspired by British adventurer Bear Grylls (born Edward Michael), first celebrity chef Jamie Oliver used it as the middle name for his…

Joey

Diminutive of Joseph

"Jehovah increases"

This nickname for popular and traditional Joseph has a long history of being used as a given name all on its own. Nonetheless, everyone will always assume that Joey is short for the longer form. It…

Bat

Short form of Bartholomew

Bartholomew is one vintage name with Biblical antecedents that hasn't risen again in the modern world, perhaps because short form Bart, as in Simpson, would be too difficult for a contemporary boy to…

Buck

English

"male deer or rabbit"

Comedian Roseanne Barr chose this macho nature name for her son. In the 18th century it was used to describe a dashing, fashionable dressed man. Buck fits in well alongside names like Beck, Jack and…