Three Syllable Names for Boys

Popular etymology derives this West African country's name from the Wolof words sunu gal, "our canoe". It's an appealing image, of a nation of people all in the same boat. Some country names have taken off as baby names, but this one, not yet.

A name from Welsh legend. Amaethon son of Dôn is mentioned in several medieval Welsh texts. In Culhwch and Olwen he is the only person who can plow a certain field, and in the poem The Battle of the Trees he stole a dog and a roebuck from the otherworld and defeated its ruler. It has been suggested that the name originally belonged to a pre-Christian god of agriculture, though that would have been many hundreds of years before the first surviving texts mentioning him.

Faramir is a character appearing in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, first seen in The Two Towers and described as a gentle lover of lore and music, a leader in battle. The character appeared in not only the books but film and video games. Faramir has already been used by one berry Tolkien fan as an intriguing middle name.

Hrisihikesh (the first H is silent) is another name for Lord Vishnu. Musician Hrishikesh Hirway is the creator of the popular podcast Song Exploder. The internationally-friendly short form is Hrishi, pronounced like Rishi.

Son of Sicily.

This highly recognizable surname means "son of Artan," an Irish derivative of the name Art. It's most closely tied to Beatle Paul McCartney — we'd be willing to bet that some of the parents who give this name to their children each year are fans.

Malay form of Sufyan

Borrowed or coined by J K Rowling for a vain and selfish teacher in the Harry Potter books, this dramatic name may also be a rare variant of the surname Gilroy, meaning "son of the king's servant".