15,000+ Two-Syllable Boy Names

Gianni, the Italian equivalent of Johnny, sounds more substantial and fresh. Like many names starting with "Gian", it is on a rising trend (for both boys and girls, though it leans more male). TV star Jill Hennessey's son is named Gianni Mastropietro.

Sable is often associated with the Dynsaty soap opera, but it is actually a type of animal historically hunted for its fur. Sable is also used as a word for a warm, rich black color. Both associations carry hints of luxury.

Regal and ancient feeling, Jacques has been declining in popularity in its native France, but in the UK, it saw a surprising revival in 2022. Jumping from somewhere around the #2500 mark straight to #600, it was seven times more popular than in 2021.

Cason's entire raison d'etre: It's a rhyming variation on the popular Jason, Mason and Brayson. Casen, Kasen and Kason also have crept into the Top 1000 in recent years.

Corwin is an upstanding surname name that has been seen occasionally as a first in literature, but rarely in real life. But maybe with the recent acceptance of Darwin, that might change.

Levin, known in the U.S. mostly as a surname, is a Top 100 boys' name in Germany. There have been saints with variations of this name, whose meaning relates to love.

Common in Holland, the appealing Willem (as in de Kooning and Dafoe) makes William fresh and distinctive.

Cool biblical name that could get you to the nicknames Zac or Cai.

This old Cornish name took on a whole new identity via Denzel Washington, who has inspired several thousand namesakes. The actor was named after his father, who was named for a Dr. Denzel, who delivered him.

Moby, the nickname of musician Richard Melville Hall, was thanks to his ancestor Herman Melville, creator of the infamous whale. You can imagine calling a child Moby as a cute nickname in honor of a grandfatherly Richard or Dick, but the ghost of a Dick would always follow the name around. In Melville's classic book, Moby was an invented word whose meaning has never been firmly established, though the best scholarship calls it a fictional place name that, in the custom of whaling ships of the time, helped identify the whale called Dick.

Spurgeon entered the mainstream name lexicon when it was chosen for their son by Ben Seward and wife Jessa Duggar, from the US reality show 19 Kids and Counting starring their large family.

Maro is an ancient saints' name -- he was an Italian follower of St. Flavia and was martyred -- rarely used in modern life. The name Maro may stem from the Roman Marcellus, related to Mars, the god of war, or it may be a feminine form of Maria, connected with Mario. Maro is also a Japanese name meaning "myself."

This name is growing in popularity, partly because of its tie to hipster musician Sufjan Stevens; is also related to Abu Sufyan, a figure from early Islamic history.

To the American ear, Jordi seems like a nickname for Jordan, which means this popular name from Catalonia could certainly cross cultures.

Though used quite often for babies of both sexes, Khari, meaning "kingly," was traditionally a boys' name. Musical couple Fetty Wop and Masika Kalysha, however, named their daughter Khari.

An Old World name that might have a chance to rise again with other ancient and worldly forms. Be sure to say yo-HAHN-es.

Inextricably tied to the former president, Reagan is a handsome surname name with a cool, current sound. Gender-neutral nickname Ray/Rae is also very on-trend right now.

Much less popular as a standalone choice. This nickname-name entered the US Top 1000 in 1928 and received wide use for many years, but has been waning in popularity recently.

Related to blackberry plants and colloquially to any thorny shrub, Bramble also has history as an English surname.

Urban was not an uncommon name through the 1930s (rising as high as Number 435), having been attached to several saints and early popes, but it has completely disappeared from the landscape--both urban and rural. Yet in this era of word name appreciation and trend for 'an'-ending boys' names, we're thinking it might be ready for a return.