Animal Names for Boys

Infantilizing short form best reserved for toddlers and younger.

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.

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.

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.

Strong Japanese name with a hopeful meaning.

Amarjeet can be used as both a masculine and feminine name. It is popular in Asia and has a strong meaning.

On the Latino Hit Parade, heard much more often than the English version.

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.

Arpad is a hero name in Hungary, belonging to the Second Grand Prince of the Maygars, who established a dynasty that ruled for four centuries. Not heard often here, but is associated with the French-born financier who got his name from an earlier Hungarian banker and who's been involved with two of the world's most beautiful women — he is, in fact the father of Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson.

A friendly-looking anglicization of Cormac. Not that Cormac needs it, but some parents just prefer this spelling.

Offers much less than Bay.

Sweeping, romantic overtones.

Highly unusual; conceivable alternative to Daniel.