Animal Names for Boys

One of several Latino favorites on U. S. popularity list, Esteban sounds solid and strong. Esteban has ranked among the US Top 500 names for boys for half a century now, making it a familiar name that successfully crosses cultures.

Fans of the classic French film actor Jean Gabin might want to consider this one. Gabin is also a harmonica-playing character in the manga and anime series "Mirmo!"

Plausible word name, denoting strength and stability.

This Hebrew version of Ethan, also a place-name in southern Israel, works well here. Eitan is a Top 10 name in Israel.

This variation adds a second n to the more popular Finley, presumably to provide a more direct link to nickname Finn. Both spellings create a distinctly unisex name. The Finnley version, however, entered the US Top 1000 for boys in 2014, and it remains unranked for girls.

Notably used for characters in Spirited Away and Naruto.

GÖKTUĞ is a Turkish air-to-air missile development program, from gök, "sky", and tuğ, "banner". Göktuğ has been co-opted as a baby name in Turkey, mostly among those with ties to the Air Force, and is now one of the most popular baby boy names there.

Drummer entered the baby name lexicon thanks to blogger No Big Dill, who chose it for her newborn son, who joins five older sisters. Drummer is right in step with other occupational names in vogue now, from Archer to Gardener. Let's just hope Drummer doesn't prefer to play the piano.

An undiscovered Persian gem that's zippy, short and sweet. It is used in Iran and neighboring countries as a first name and a family name. The British actress Afshan Azad played Parvati Patil in the Harry Potter movies.

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.

A fresh Dale relative that finds place amongst similar names like Cullin and Hamelin as well as the more common Allen and Dylan.

Lighter Latin version of Anselm.

Widely used in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, has an air of generosity and could easily be adopted here.

Aryeh, which can also be spelled Arye or Arieh, is a Biblical name sometimes heard in modern Israel. In the US, this is the most popular spelling by far, given to 100 boys last year. But the girls' form Ariyah is much more popular than that, given to nearly 500 baby girls.

When Kate Hudson named her second son Bingham and announced that she would be calling him Bing, it put this zingy nickname name out on the table. Before that, there was only one, further nicknamed Der Bingle -- and he was really Harry Lillis Crosby.

One of the rarest Bert names, Engelbert has been used at least since the time of Charlemagne and is the name of several saints. But mostly, it's impossible not to associate it with Engelbert Humperdinck, both the German composer and the British pop singer (born Arnold Dorsey) who borrowed his name.

See AMIAS.

While it looks like a creative respelling of the ubiquitous Aidan, Aydin has Turkish roots and means "intelligent." While there will most certainly be issues with spelling, those attracted to the Turkish lineage can be assured of a smooth path to assimilation due to the current popularity of soundalike names. The name is spelled with an ı (dotless i) in Turkish.

This traditional Arabic name, found throughout several other Middle Eastern and African languages and cultures, is one of the 99 names of Allah. Colorful and energetic, it was brought into the realm of crossover possibility via the lively personality of Aziz Ansari, stand-up comic and star of "Master of None" as well as a featured actor on "Parks and Recreation," playing cocky Tom Haverford (born Darwish Sabir Ismael Gani).