Animal Names for Boys

Name hovering near the bottom of the Top 1000 that may move higher with the fashion for two-syllable surnames. You could do worse...but you probably could also do better.

What life Hadrien and Hadrian enjoy today, they owe to Adrian along with the revival of ancient Roman names in general. Hadrian was a 2nd century Roman emperor famous for his wall.

A classic Irish "top-o'-the-mornin' surname with a lot of rhythm and pizzazz.

Variation of Derek.

Artemio gives energy to this august Greek mythological name.

An old-school great-grandpa name, like Irving and Ernest, that may just be ready for revival. It's also a well-known name in Hungary and elsewhere in central and eastern Europe. As a surname, it's associated with jazz sax player Booker Ervin.

Visually similar to Jack and Jacob, but with a refreshing Nordic origin and literally ice-cool meaning.

Quirky form of Ishmael found in Nordic countries.

An All-American, surname style Dale relative that finds place amongst similar names like Cullin and Hamelin as well as the more common Allen and Dylan. It is borne by Youtuber Dallin Lambert, of Della Vlogs.

The name of the protagonist of a trio of novels by French author Alexandre Dumas, most notably The Three Musketeers. D’Artagnan is an aspiring musketeer who travels to Paris in search of fortune and adventure. The character is based on real-life musketeer Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, Comte d’Artagnan. Artagnan is a small village in southwest France.

An unusual name heard in contemporary Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia, it's the male version of the more familiar Inga. It's the name of a German god, and attached to German-born soap star Ingo Rademacher--the father of sons named Peanut and Pohaku Zen.

Rockers Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz put a new baby name on the map when they chose this downscale New York borough name for their son. The Bronx, the place, was named for early Dutch settler Jonas Bronck. Might Bronx become the next Brooklyn? We'd be surprised if it did.

Grrrr.

Perfect choice if your baby has grandpas named Barry and Eric, but also a bit military.

A literary name coined by the French playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais for the central character in his plays The Barber of Seville, The Marriage of Figaro and The Guilty Mother. It is thought that he based the name on his own nickname. In modern French, the word has come to mean "barber", due to the famous character's profession.

A unisex cultural crossover that has seen a little use from the 1990s onwards. In Japanese mythology, Inari is an androgynous deity associated with rice, tea and foxes. In Finland, it is the name of a region, lake and village which is a center of Sami culture.

Appealing, upbeat name used mainly in Spanish-speaking countries.

Cheerful and distinctive.

Iorek Byrnison is king of the armored bears and a fierce and brave companion of Lyra’s in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. The name Iorek appears to have been coined by Pullman for the books, but the first element Ior- derives from Old Norse Jar, meaning "battle" and the second element -rek derives from Old Norse/Ancient Germanic ríkr, meaning "mighty; distinguished; ruler."

A French form of Benedict that makes a smooth and elegant choice, although the pronunciation may trip people up in an English speaking environment.