Animal Names for Boys

With West one of the hottest names for boys, and North the name of a high-profile celebrity baby, can East be far behind? While Easton seems to be the version of choice for this directional name -- there were 5500 boys named Easton last year, versus, um, zero named East -- we like the simplicity of the gender-neutral East, especially for a middle name.

When considering the playground years, might be too close to gory.

Classically, the De- prefix indicates "son of," so any variation of this name could work for the child of a dad named Shawn or Sean.

Grandmas will remember the old TV detective show; playmates won't. This is a name that has many variations in different cultures, from Columbus to Columba to Colum to Colm.

Colonial Americans used many Biblical names forgotten by modern baby namers; this is an Old Testament descendant of Shem. If Moses and Noah can come back, why not Abimael and brethren?

This unusual name is a French place name, which became a surname and was brought over to Britain by the Normans. In modern usage, it's probably intended as a creative spelling of Drew.

A neglected surname name that could substitute for the more common Gordon, which has in the past associated with the milk company and Elsie the Cow.

A Blaise/Blaze hybrid that maintains neither the history of Blaise nor the wordiness of Blaze.

Etheridge is a surname derived from the English name Edric. As a first name, it's most commonly associated with American poet and civil rights activist Etheridge Knight.

Benvenuto Cellini, the great Italian sculptor and writer -- a true Renaissance man -- could inspire this creative choice.

Although now almost exclusively feminine in the English-speaking world, Céleste is traditionally a unisex name in France.

Football fans just might want to honor star footballer Ahman Green, whose name can be seen as a variation of AHMED or AHMAD.

This unusual, in the US at least, Turkish name has an attractive sound and a modern meaning. We can imagine it becoming much more widely known and used, the way the Irish Declan has over the past generation.

This strong and commanding Russian name is pronounced ah-KEEM.