Animal Names for Boys

Welsh heritage choice that's rare today even in its native land.

Diarra has a nice meaning, but we could see it leading to possible teasing re association with a certain digestive problem.

Has a nice flamenco flavor.

One of the most famous Arabic names, Iman is a gender-neutral choice fairly evenly balanced in the US given last year to 110 girls and 80 baby boys. Another spelling popular in some countries is Eman.

Not long ago, the name of this central African republic was firmly in place-name territory and not seen as baby appropriate. But those boundaries are moving so quickly that all kinds of place-names that were once not considered as baby names, from Alaska to Morocco to Chicago to, yes, Congo are on the list. The place-name Congo is taken from the people and language of the Kingdom of Kongo. In that language, the word kongo means "gather".

An attractive ancient Irish saint's name that conjures up a beacon of light, this Irish name for boys is well-used in Ireland but rarely heard in the US.

With names like Henry, Henrik, and Enzo rising up the charts, it's about time parents discover Henzo. It's a short form of Henrique traditionally used in Galicia, Spain, but some may be familiar with Henzo via the anime One Piece.

A noble surname from northern England that has occasionally been used as a first name.

Lighter Latin version of Anselm.

Derived from Nebo, the Babylonian god of wisdom. In the Old Testament Abednego is the Babylonian name given to Azariah, one of the three men cast into a furnace but saved by God.

Perfect for that winter baby, when Snow isn't subtle enough. The feminine version is Edurne.

Erkin is an Uzbek vocabulary word from Old Turkic, and is widely used as a unisex name in Turkey. In English-speaking countries, it is unknown but straightforward and with a great meaning.

All varieties of Hob are antiquated nicknames for Robert, though this one is saddled with the "Calvin and Hobbes" cartoon association.

Veronica Roth used the name Four for a character in her novel Divergent.

Commonly heard as a nickname for Alejandro, but a rare sight on the birth certificate. Ale has only made the US charts for boys twice, once in 2005 and again in 2018.

We can get behind Divine, Saint, and even Messiah. But God? It's too loaded for us to recommend in good faith.

Has the two-syllable sound so popular for boys, though adding an apostrophe -- and turning it into D'Anton -- changes the name entirely.