Animal Names for Boys

Huntley was best known as Brinkley's news partner several decades ago. With the new genre of girls' names that are unusual surnames ending with the lee sound -- think Mosley, Yardley -- Huntley or Huntlea or Huntleigh might rise for girls.

This highly unusual name has been kicked up a notch, thanks to cooking guru Emeril Lagasse.

This Latinized form of a name that's well used in Italy and Spain is sometimes heard, oddly enough, in Ireland.

This name was consistently in the boys' Top 200 until WW2. It's a name with so many dimensions to it: the hyper-masculine meaning, the surname-as-firstname trendiness, and the softer sound and connotation since homophone Carol was favoured in the 1940s and '50s for daughters. We think it's time for a resurgence of Carrolls amongst the boys.

If Braden and Caden, why not Baden?

A perennial classic in the Netherlands, short-and-sweet Dirk is starting to feel like a fresher alternative to cousin Derek.

A canto is a literary term denoting a long passage in a poem. Dante's Divine Comedy is broken into such cantos. As a name, Canto packs in literary credentials with pithy punch.

Only if you're hoping for your son to become a wine-besotted poet. To the ancient Romans, Bacchus was the god of agriculture, wine and fertility.

Eissa, a name found frequently as both a last and a first in Arabic lands, is the Arabic form of Jesus. Also spelled Isa, Issa, and Esa, Eissa came to greater prominence when it was chosen for their newborn son by singer Janet Jackson and her husband Wissam Al Mana, who is Qatari.

Traditionally a feminine name in Scandinavian culture, where these days it's mostly considered a grandmother name. Americans may associate it with Eivor Varinsdottir, a character from Assassain's Creed. She is likely the inspiration for the parents who gave this name to twelve boys and eight girls in 2022.

Desiderio was the full name of the Cuban bandleader who famously Loved Lucy. There was also a Saint Desiderio. Major attraction: the great nickname Desi.

The Old Norse god Óthinn was also known by the epithet Grímr — translated into Middle English as Grim.

Handsome Arabic name that is well-used internationally. Ayman is a Top 500 name in the UK, France, the Netherlands, and Italy, and a Top 100 name in Spain. It could very easily be borne by an American child.

While Faust, who sold his soul to the devil, was anything but fortunate, this Latinate variation is more commonly heard and accepted.

Surely one of the most pleasant and evocative of the occupational options.

In demonology, Corson is one of the four demon kings that have power over the 72 demons constrained by King Solomon.

A name halfway between its old milquetoast image and a more jovial Irish-sounding contemporary one.

These days Albrecht is mostly seen as a surname, although it was historically a well-used first name in Germany. The surname was derived from the given name.

This cosmological name has a zippy feel that might work well for the galactic parent looking for the perfect name for their own little star.