Animal Names for Boys

A simple and appealing multi-cultural form of John.

Also spelt Aethelred, this was the name of two Saxon kings of England. The most famous is Ethelred II "The Unready", who actually reigned as King twice: from 978-1013 and from 1014-1016. His nickname comes not from the modern word "unready", but rather from a pun on the Old English unræd "poorly advised" (Ethelred means "well advised" or "noble counsel").

Nature names are often associated with Spring and Summer, but Glacier is ideal for a winter baby.

Angie was an accepted nickname for boys at the same time that Patsy was, meaning, too long ago to be relevant now.

It's most commonly associated with the French elephant, but Babar ironically means "tiger."

Adley is one of those rare unisex names that probably developed via different paths on the girls' and boys' sides, with the male Adley a phonetic spelling of the Hebrew Adlai, while the girls' version, which briefly made the Top 1000 in 2012, is an abbreviation of the trendy Hadley, an English place name and surname.

An attractive Turkish derived from an old-fashioned Turkish word meaning world, fate, or time — devran değişti is a phrase meaning "times have changed."

A surname name, most popularly associated with actor Heston, has a blue-blooded ring to it. Charlton is also a more unusual pathway to evergreen nickname Charlie.

More common as a surname, Galvin is a possible alternative to Gavin and Calvin.

Chiron derives from the Greek word kheir, meaning "hand." The mythological Chiron was a centaur revered for his wisdom. He is depicted in the Sagittarius constellation.

Aion is the Greek god of eternity, the root of the word eon. Some equate Aion with Chronos, the god of time.

The exact origins of Drace are unknown — it may be a form of Drake, meaning "dragon" or perhaps of Drees, a Dutch variant of Andrew, meaning "man". Has potential alongside rhyming names like Chase and Trace.

The Swiss city of Basel was first Basilia, thought to have been dubbed in honor of the Roman castle of the same name. The castle's name would have derived from Basilius, a Roman personal name from which the name Basil also originated.

Best known these days as the name of an American department store chain, Dillard was once a baby name that ranked on the US Top 1000, at least until the middle of the last century.

Abstract painter Ad Reinhardt, né Adolph, gave his short name a lot of artistic cred, but it remained securely a nickname. The extra "d" in this version helps it stand on its own, for better or worse.