930+ English Names for Boys

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

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.

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

Alas, poor Yorick, your name is fated to remain locked forever as a skull in Hamlet.

An uncommon surname name with that energetic -er ending. Might appeal especially to baseball fans.

The name of three hundred saints, a mustard, and your own baby boy. Coleman was off the US Top 1000 list for much of the 1960s and 1970s, but it was a mainstay before and has been for most years since. It could be an interesting way to honor a Colin or Cole.

Stiff and formal surname. Try Roone instead.

It's easy to love a name that rhymes with "cuddly" and is also attached to the surname Do-Right -- once you ignore the "dud" connection.

Fielding isn't an occupational name, exactly, though it does relate to someone who works in or lives in a Field. Although there have been a handful of people, real and fictional, with the first name Fielding, the most famous Fielding is eighteenth century writer Henry Fielding, author of Tom Jones.

Hyde, of course, is most familiar as a surname -- as in Mr. Hyde, evil alter ego of Dr. Jeckyll. Unless Hyde is a family name or you have some other excellent reason for using it, we think you could do better.

Benton is an old English surname of a type usually given to local landowners. It is also recorded in early records as Beneton and Bentune. Benton newly returned to the Social Security list in 2011 after a forty-plus year absence, perhaps as a fresh route to Ben.

Once a staple of the 1920s, like Leroy and Elwood, Elroy is languishing in style limbo now. One feature that might make it worth a second glance is its royal meaning, for those looking for a vintage twist on names like Royal and Reign. If you're in search of unique vintage baby names, this may be one for your list.

With the current taste for last names first, this sounds a lot cooler than Shawn; it also has creative connections to the great Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, novelist Irwin Shaw, and Big Band Era clarinetist/bandleader and one-time Ava Gardner husband Artie Shaw.

One of the aggressive new boys' names, ala Tracker and Heller, that have become fashionable among parents who are courting trouble.

Rarely used surname, associated with humorous poet Ogden Nash.

A Leave It to Beaver/old comic-strip name, vacationing for years with the Griswolds in WallyWorld, but now back as WALL-E?

Rugged and straightforward brand-new name, though you might not like the idea of branding your son.

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.

Laid-back and humble, with a distinctive down-home charm.

Crusoe, as in castaway hero Robinson, is a literary invention by author Daniel Defoe. The character says his name is an Anglicization of the German Kreutznaer, which may be a place name or mean a crossing of the river Nahe. Short form Cru was given to nearly 50 boys in a recent year.