Animal Names for Boys

Musical, with a buoyant beat.

Digory is the name of a character in a romantic poem from the Middle Ages as well as from The Chronicles of Narnia, also known as The Professor. There's a Harry Potter character named Diggory.

As Ireland becomes fashionable as a place name, bouncing on and off of the US girls charts thanks to Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin choosing it for their daughter, some parents may start to consider the adjective form Irish for either a boy or girl.

A popular choice in Finland, where it ranks among the Top 50 boy names.

Gentle giant Rubeus Hagrid is the groundskeeper at Hogwarts in the Harry Potter novels (probably after Hagrid Rubes, the equally kind ancient Greek mythological giant), but that's not the only reason this name could prove a playground liability.

Bavarian and Austrian form of the German surname Dressler, meaning "turner". Draxler was a new addition to the extended US list in 2017, likely inspired by German soccer star Julian Draxler.

This US state name has been rising slowly but steadily for girls over the last 30 years, but à la Dakota, it could easily be a male name too.

Also found as Brason, this is one of an army of Jason sound-alikes, which include Cason, Mason, Kaysen, and so on. Stylish, yes; recommended, no.

Once strictly a surname--Chasen's was an old Hollywood hangout--it's now catching on as a first name, both as an elaboration of the popular CHASE, and in following the pattern of popular two-syllable boys' names.

Bulky surname honoring Grandpa Henry or Saul Bellow's Rain King.

Efe is derived from the Greek word éfivos, meaning "adolescent."

The double Ts are pronounced with a slight pause between them like in "nighttime."

Hervé was a legendary French saint, patron of the blind, who performed many miracles -- it's a lot more sophisticated than the English Harvey.