Animal Names for Boys

With its musical allusions, a harmonious possibility.

Eleazar is a distinguished Biblical name--in which it appears several times-- ripe for the picking following the stardom of Eli, Elijah, and other similar names.

Iago, the villain of Shakespeare's Othello, was so treacherously evil that his name has hardly ever been heard offstage. Try the much-more-benign Inigo.

Didier is kind of a Desiree for boy--a lively, confident name that's widely used in France and has definite possibilities here. It's the name of an early French saint.

A cup-shaped flowerhead in botany, which could lead to the super cool nickname Cal.

This name obviously has the prefix De- that denotes "son of"—in this form it can mean either "son of Angelo" or "from the angel."

An established surname that fits well with today's trend for the "Ever" sound – and a similar-yet-different alternative to Emerson. Historically, it denoted a descendent of Evert, a form of Everard, meaning "brave boar", or a descendent of Eve or its medieval English diminutive Evot, meaning "life".

This authentic form of the name of an Irish mythological hero with the power to make women fall instantly in love with him would work far better here as the Anglicized Dermot.

Isra is a gender-neutral Arabic name. The name of a chapter of the Quran, it refers to the Prophet's journey from Mecca to Jerusalem.

Guns 'n' Roses musician Axl (born William) Rose created this name by dropping a vowel, a la Barbra Streisand. The traditional Axel is more popular, though celebrity parents Fergie and Josh Duhamel deliberately chose the Axl spelling to honor her rock hero.

The name of the great Italian Renaissance sculptor known as Donatello (but born DONATO), is one that could easily emigrate to modern America, just like sister DONATELLA.

Adriano is a dashing Italian name which gets around the possible gender confusion of Adrian.

Similar to Andrew, but with a refreshingly different origin and meaning.

Egyptian mythology place-name with an intriguing sound and appealingly peaceful meaning. Update for Aaron?

Giacomo is a primo member of the Giovanni-Gino-Giancarlo-Giacomo gruppo of Italian names that are beginning to be adopted by American parents. Singer/creative baby namer Sting chose it for his son.

Gray-bearded name heard primarily in Sweden and Germany.

A handsome alternative to Adrian or Dorian, derived from the Latin word aurum "gold".

This Mediterranean island name would be a plausible choice for parents with a Greek or Turkish heritage.

In demonology, Bael is a shapeshifting evil king who can appear as a cat, a toad, or a man.