Animal Names for Boys

The Biblical Addar was a son of King Bela. This obscure name is simple and strong and well-suited to modern life.

Casca was a Roman cognomen — a proto-surname — that derived from a word meaning "old." It was seen in Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, and more recently, in The Hunger Games.

Despite the presidential pedigree, it's still hard to shake the image of the cartoon cat (named after his creator Jim Davis's grandfather). However, there are other Garfields, such as Barbadian cricket player Sir Garfield Sobers, who carries it with gravitas.

As a first name, Atlee is a common choice in the Amish community.

Fenix is a spelling variation of the place name and mythological name Phoenix, possibly inspired by the Romani form, Fennix, or the Spanish Fénix. Derived from Greek and meaning "dark red", the phoenix is an immortal bird that, having lived for a number of centuries, would be consumed by fire and rise from its own ashes.

Durant's meaning signifies staying power, a good quality to impart to your child. Notables with the surname Durant include Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Will and Ariel Durant, most famous for their eleven-volume The Story of Civilization, and William Crappo Durant, co-founder of General Motors and Chevrolet.

A possible new entry in the Hayden-Corbin two-syllable boys' name club.

If you can name a boy Max instead of Maxwell, or Jax instead of Jackson, then why not Brax instead of Braxton? Over 3300 boys were named the trendy Braxton in the US in one recent year, but snappy short form Brax is a newcomer used for only a handful of babies. Brax may feel more popular than that, though, as many Braxtons are called Brax.

Carrington is much more popular as a last name than a first, but it's one of those surnames we could see making the leap into first name territory. A few minor historical figures have carried the name, including Carrington T. Marshall, a judge at the Nuremberg Trials, and Carrington "C.B." Williams, an ecologist known for his studies on insect migration.

This warm-sounding virtue name is popular in parts of Africa, where there is a strong tradition among Christian parents especially to choose spiritual word names for their children.

A preppy surname of hidden German origin that would fit right in with currently trendy s-ending boy names like Brooks.

Rare Danish variant of Asbjorn or Esben.

This tough and attractive name is popular in its native Bosnia and Turkey, though globally, it might be better known in the form of Timur.

Vintage surname that's fallen out of use, but perhaps deserves a revival.

This was a popular name in early Ireland, borne by both saints and kings. In Celtic mythology, Fiacra was the name of one of the three children of the sea god Lir, who was changed into a swan by his stepmother Aoife. Saint Fiachra of Meaux, a 7th century Irish hermit who settled in France, is a patron saint of travelers and of gardeners because of his skill in growing vegetables in his garden. The name is still well used in Ireland; Fiacre is the French spelling, Feary is an Anglicized form.

Trivia tidbit: Hotel Saint-Fiacre in Paris was named after him, and taxis operating outside it came to be called fiacres, a name later given to cabs in general.