930+ English Names for Boys

The name of the third U.S. President sounds, like Harrison and Jackson, more modern and stylish now than its root name. Used as a first name long before our surname-crazed era, Jefferson was most famously used as a first name by the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, which may justifiably make you not want to use it. Jefferson is the middle name of another Prez, William Clinton.

Even if you're a loyal alumnus, consider something less ultraupright, like Yale or Cal.

Elvin had his peak in the 1920s — which was when jazz musician Elvin Jones was born — but parents are still using it for over 100 boys a year. That's less than Kelvin, but more than Delvin.

Webster is one of several W-starting surname names back on the drawing board, now that it has recovered from its childlike eighties sitcom identity.

More popular in its Layton spelling, Leighton is rising in popularity in the US for both sexes simultaneously, although this spelling remains more popular for girls for now – no doubt helped by actress Leighton Meester. Lleyton – as in Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt – is another, even more complicated, variant spelling.

This ancient name is that of the hero of the epic Beowulf, which is thought to be the oldest-ever poem in English lit written in the vernacular. J. R. R. Tolkien used the poem as one of his inspirations for The Lord of the Rings.

One of the many El- names for boys that boomed in the 1910s and 1920s, but has long been out of fashion. This surname/place name has an aristocratic flavor, and a creative namesake in the artist Ellsworth Kelly. Polar explorer Lincoln Ellsworth also gives it an adventurous connection.

This artistic and aristocratic surname is a bold and daring choice, but with nature inspired names like Wren on the rise, and surnames-as-first-names being in vogue, Wyndham was a fast riser in 2023.

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.

Rarely used on its own and irrevocably tied to former House Speaker Gingrich -- who was christened Newton.

Proper Bostonian.

Name long associated with eloquent Black Panther activist Eldridge Cleaver and jazz great Roy Eldridge.

This elegant surname has great potential to turn into an unusual first name, especially with its literary associations to both Stephen and Hart Crane.

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

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.

Haitian-born rap superstar and humanitarian Wyclef ("Fugees") Jean has lent this name a powerful musical beat.

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).

Actor Farley Granger set it in motion, now could be a gentler alternative to Harley.

Morrison is one of the more uncommon patronymics; it could be used to honor an ancestral Morris, or one of the well-known surnamed Morrisons: Toni, Jim or Van.

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.