Animal Names for Boys

Gambit means ploy or trick, which makes it an appropriate name for a little player. Eight boys were named Gambit in the US in one recent year.

A commonly used name in Māori culture, Amiri refers to the wind that blows from east to west. A 2011 New Zealand film titled Amiri & Aroha is a modern Māori interpretation of Romeo & Juliet.

Originally a nickname for Viking invaders, it gained fresh impetus in the 18th century when James Macpherson made Fingal the central character in his Ossianic poems. An offbeat addition to the Fin- family of names.

Rhythmic and unusual.

Basque soccer star Aritz Aduriz helped propel this distinctive name -- derived from "haritz," the Basque word for "oak" -- to the Top 100 Spanish baby names.

An undiscovered cousin of Garrett and Gerard. Gerrit has some merit, especially for its arty credentials as the name of several Old Master painters.

The newest cowboy-cool kid on the block is Dutton, introduced by the hit Western drama series Yellowstone. It's seen as a surname in the series, which follows the Dutton family on their ranch. But Americans' affinity towards surname names and the similarities to Sutton have inspired fans of the show to use Dutton for their sons — so much so that Dutton took the title as the fastest-rising name in 2022, jumping a whopping 986 spots.

Typically used for girls, but Disney Channel show Big City Greens made it wearable for boys as well.

One part fantastical literary invention and one part Ancient Greek, Atreyus is a new and rising name for boys. It's could be viewed as a combination of Atreus, an Ancient Greek name, and Atreyu, created by German author Michael Ende for his novel The Neverending Story.

When you like Eric, but wish it were longer; also the name of a great early English poet.

Crusoe, as in castaway hero Robinson, is a literary invention by author Daniel Defoe. The character says his name is an Anglicization of the German Kreutznaer, which may be a place name or mean a crossing of the river Nahe. Short form Cru was given to nearly 50 boys in a recent year.

Bromley is an English surname-name that's more possible as a first name now than ever before. The -ley suffix has been adopted for many names, and surnames such as Bromley are fashionable.

Harvest has been occasionally used as a name since the eighteenth century, originally as evenly unisex, though it tips a bit in the girls' direction in the contemporary US. Given the rise of such popular baby names as Harper and August, plus new word names from Heaven to True, Harvest sounds more possible now than ever.

In the Bible, Gershon is one of Levi’s sons. The name is a variation of Gershom, another Old Testament name that is now primarily used in Orthodox Jewish communities.

While Jairus is rare, this Spanish variation is heard in the US, having ranked in the Top 1000 for the last three decades. It currently ranks in the latter end of the charts, while similar sounding Kairo, Cairo, and Kyro rank higher.

No guarantee of a fellowship.

This name has a nicely fragrant woodsy feel, bringing it into the nature-tree name category. Its only well-known bearer, folk singer and Oscar-winning actor Burl Ives, had the full birth certificate name of Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives — nothing compared to his two siblings named Argola and Lillburn.

Swaggering, cutting-edge choice equally appropriate for both genders. It's also very rare, given in the US in 2015 to only seven baby girls....and no recorded baby boys. Do you want to be the first?

Samuel Beckett, inspired by the French surname Godeau, created the name Godot for his play, Waiting for Godot.

Americans tend to pronounce Godot with the emphasis on the second syllable, but Beckett has said this is incorrect. The correct pronunciation is GOD-oh, with the first syllable stressed.