Animal Names for Boys

Hallow is a word meaning sacred or holy. As the root word for Halloween (orginally All Hallows' Eve), this name might be an evocative choice for a baby born on or near October 31st. It could work well for either a boy or a girl and offers the nicknames Hal and Halley.

Fewer letters does not always mean easier—the traditional spelling is the one most people will recognize.

The Hawaiian variant Iakona modernizes Biblical favorite Jason.

More of an abbreviation than a short form that can stand on its own.

In the garden of herb names, Rosemary and Basil are perennials and Sage is a new upshoot, but Fennel is a real rarity. The aniseed-tasting plant, used to add flavor to dishes around the world, gets its name from the Latin word feniculum, meaning "little hay".

A familiar and usable last name turned first. Or you could look at it as a homophone of the verb howl, which gives it a wilder feel.

Lively Italian name borne by composer Ennio Morricone, best known for his film music. If you're interested in Italian names for boys, this makes a choice that's off the beaten track.

A variant of Caelan, from a Gaelic name meaning "slender".

Dark horse Irish surname.

A Quranic name especially popular in South Asia, it is also used across Europe, from Bosnia to France, from Spain to England. It appears in the Quran as the name of Maryam's (the Virgin Mary) father, and as the father of Moses, making it a counterpart to Hebrew Joachim or a variant of Hebrew Amran. The meaning of Imran isn't listed in the Quran, however, from its Hebrew roots, it could mean "exalted nation", or it could come from the Arabic word eimran meaning "prosperity".

For the parent who might also have Buck and Ryder on his list.

Eiro is to Eirik as Eero is to Eric.

Last-name-first-name with a romantic but dangerous edge.

Adonai is a title meaning "my lords" used in the Torah and in Jewish prayer to refer to God, whose name is forbidden to be spoken. Even the title Adonai is considered by some Orthodox Jews to be too holy to say outside of prayer, being replaced by HaShem, meaning "The Name". This makes Adonai a highly culturally loaded choice, which is never used as a name in the Jewish community. Nevertheless, several dozen boys and a handful of girls receive this name each year in the US.

A geographical term for a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, caused by glaciation.

Despite Eneko's very sweet meaning, it packs a lot of historical punch. Eneko Aritza was the first Basque king of Pamplona. It is somewhat related to the more well known Inigo.

A fresh, Italianized take on the Hebrew classic Emmanuel. But beware of the similarities to the feminine name Emmanuelle.

Both Christian and Cristian rank in the US Top 500 names for boys, and while the classic "Ch" spelling is used more than four times as often, Cristian is still given to more than 1000 boys each year, and is often used in the Hispanic community.