Animal Names for Boys

This Scottish surname and Scottish and Australian place name has a pleasant airy and breezy sound to it. Camden mayor Lara Symkowiak chose the name for her daughter born in 2016.

Dox may sound like a modern invention but it actually has a notable historical bearer. Malagasy poet Jean Verdi Salomon Razakandrainy was known mononymously as Dox, inspired by a nickname he received in art school.

A fresher, less preppy alternative to Thatcher — one without Prime Minister associations.

Associated all through the swing years with bandleader brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.

Actor French Stewart introduced this one to the lexicon. French is part word name, part place name, and part surname-name, reminiscent of celebrity baby names that reference a nationality rather than simply a place, such as Moroccan.

Although it's a traditional male name in the Middle East, Ata has a more feminine read in the US.

This common German-Jewish surname is not as common as the streamlined, gentile Fisher, although we like this spelling just as much. Both variations peaked around 2015, when Fischer was given to about 100 baby boys, and Fisher 300.

Ever- names are currently red-hot, but surname-style Everston is still waiting to be discovered.

A rare Welsh name with a wonderful meaning, Cadfael is the name of the detective monk character in Ellis Peters' medieval murder mysteries. It's usually pronounced CAD-vyle in Welsh, although Peters intended the character's name to be pronounced CAD-vel.

Four-syllable names can be tricky, but this rarely used Old Testament appellation has considerable potential. In the Bible, Eleazer is a son of Aaron and nephew of Moses who succeeds his father as High Priest.

Costas is a much better nickname than Connie for the somewhat-forbidding Constantine. Kostas is the Greek form.

Streamlined spelling of the biblical name, as in basketball great Isiah Thomas, falling fast from its height in the charts.

Saint Germain, the intellectual center of Paris, lends the name a creative aura. But most Americans would say jer-mayn. The Latin Germanus may mean sprout or bud, or brother.

An admirable meaning, with roots in a Germanic word meaning wisdom, but we fear it will never be detached from the hobbit hero of The Lord of the Rings.

Romantic Italian choice.

Pronounced klaus, this spelling of the name is associated in this country with the major Pop Art sculptor Swedish-born Claes Oldenburg, known for his colossal public sculptures of everyday objects such as lipsticks and binoculars, and the "Happenings" performance art of the 1960s. Variations include CLAUS, KLAUS, KLAES, and CLAAS.