Boy Dog Names That Start With L

This first name was once a surname derived from Old English. Used quietly a century ago, the current fashion for two-syllable boy names ending in n makes this one a new hit.

Loyal is one of the few virtue names suitable for boys, an honorable and principled Boy Scout-esque appellation with a surprisingly long and distinguished history.

A contraction of Llewellyn, recognizable as the name of the titular character in the movie Inside Llewyn Davis.

Your friendly next-door neighbor...not your baby. Although Larry was once one of the most popular boys' names starting with L, that title now belongs to Liam.

The great African-American Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes put this one on the map; actor Laurence Fishburne adopted it for his now grown son, born in 1987. Despite these popular associations, the name didn't make it into the US Top 1000 until 2013. This name is even less used in England or Wales, where as recently as 2014 no births were registered using this name.

The additional syllable makes Lark a masculine surname name.

As surname Lane becomes more popular, so too does this variant. Regardless, it does create the possibility for spelling confusion.

Luc is the sleeker Gallic cousin of Luke, and if you want to know the difference between their pronunciations, just watch Kevin Kline's hilarious description in the film French Kiss. Peter Gabriel and Sean Patrick Thomas picked this version for their sons.

Foppish name with a distinguished forebear, French general Marquis de Lafayette, who fought in the American Revolution. It accounts for the L in L. Ron Hubbard. Old-time short form: Fayette or Fate.

Evocative modern unisex choice brought into the spotlight by actress Lake Bell.

As heavy as a marble bust of Beethoven.

The nature boy version of the Scandinavian Leif, which actually means "heir". In the creative-naming Phoenix family, Leaf is the former name of the actor we know as Joaquin.

Lir is the Irish god of the sea, the equivalent of the Welsh Llyr which some equate with Shakespeare's King Lear. This is one of those rare names that is simple and has a deep history with an appealing meeting and yet is completely unused in the modern world -- no baby boys were recorded as receiving the name Lir in the US last year. Maybe because it sounds like the unappealing leer?

In the Anglophone world, Love is more likely to be perceived as an English word name than the Swedish form of Louis.

Lumen is a Latin word meaning "light", and the term used for the measurement of light output (making it an attractive choice for science-buffs).

Lander is a name that straddles two trends. It's an er-ending surname name, ala Cooper and Carter. And it's also, more subtly, a green name, in the manner of Fielder or Reed.

Laird is a Scottish title for the landed gentry – it ranks just below a Baron – with a pleasantly distinctive Scottish burr that must have appealed to Sharon Stone, who chose it for her son.

The y makes it seem more like a name and less like an animal, but it's still not as appealing as several Leo choices.

Not quite a nature name and not quite a surname — whatever Laken is or isn't, we know it's definitely a name to watch.

Italian classic Luigi, though it lacks the modern style of Nico, Enzo, and Rocco, does have some notable namesakes, such as Nobel Prize winning author Luigi Pirandello and composer Cherubini..