930+ English Names for Boys

Bruin is the Old English term for bear, taken from the Dutch word meaning brown. Bruin might be a sports fan's choice or an animal name in hiding. As a kind of hybrid of Roone and Bruno, it's definitely got some cool.

Striker is one of the new gang of boys' names that have two syllables, end in -er, spring from words, and have a macho, even aggressive meaning and image. Other examples include Breaker, Heller, and Wilder. Do the world a favor and desist.

Randolph is a timeworn classic that had its last hurrah in the 1940s, when Randolph (born George) Scott was starring in westerns, but then was probably done in by its tricky nickname Randy (which, strangely enough, was itself a Top 50 name in the fifties and sixties).

Fane, used as a nickname in the Middle Ages for someone with a cheerful disposition, is one of the more offbeat members of the Zane-Kane family.

Alcott evokes shades of nineteenth-century New England, and memories of the author of the books Little Women and Little Men. Louisa May Alcott was the daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott, noted educator, writer and philosopher, and colleague of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.

Might suggest speed, excitement, even danger, were it not for its best-known bearer, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh.

Slightly more modern than Walter, but only just.

Unlike Jake or Sam, few parents put Mike on the birth certificate.

Unless it runs in your family, or Alexander Hamilton is your particular hero, you might consider something less imposing -- and without the teasable nickname Ham.

Peaked in the 1940s, but still an amiable classic, a la Joe and Tom -- though rarely used on its own.

An upscale surname with a nice modern design connection to the creators of the Eames chair and other midcentury furniture classics, Charles and Ray Eames.

There's only one Trenton, New Jersey, but it's a widely used name, more for its fashionable -on ending than the reference to the city. Since 2007, however, Trenton has been on a steady decline. Trenten is another popular spelling.

Most often associated with Rolling Stone Jagger, Mick is also used as a generic, and derogatory, term for an Irishman.

Way out.

An unexpected route to nicknames Bram or Wells, this English surname derives from a historical hamlet in England, whose exact location has been lost to time. It comes from the Old English word for "bramble bush", giving it a connection to the natural world.

It's difficult to imagine anyone using the first name Jonesy -- and in fact, in the most recent US tally, there were nearly 100 babies named Jones but none named Jonesy. Still, this is a name that many people with Jones for a name, last or first, end up being known by, and as a nickname, it's sorta cute in a Skip, Chip, Bitsy kind of way.

The kind of name last found in northern Wisconsin in the 1950s, and even then it was probably a nickname for Delbert.

One part nature name, one part surname name. Oakes gives you the best of both worlds.

An undiscovered option among occupational names, as of 2023, Banner has never been used for more than 100 baby boys in a single year. It does have charm however, much due to its associations with fêtes and phrases like "a banner year".

The sidekick in almost every movie or TV show with an Italo-American setting, this once common name has now fallen onto the endangered list, given to fewer than 50 baby boys each year.