930+ English Names for Boys

A more unusual, if slightly snooty, masculine Bailey alternative.

Seems like a redundant name for a lad.

A rarely-used place name (probably because of the last three letters), Essex was the ancient kingdom of the East Saxons and is now a county in England. The singer David Essex used it as his stage surname, and reality TV couple JP and Ashley Rosenbaum used it for their daughter's name, though few have followed suit.

Heard in a sixties spy movie, The Quiller Memorandum, this uncommon occupational name has an offbeat charm.

Windsor may have male references, such as Britain's royal House of Windsor and a tie's windsor knot, but this name also has a definite feminine feel, as in Windsor Rose. That seems appropriate, as Windsor is used equally these days for boys and girls.

Soft and mellifluous nature-surname name, situated miles away from the dated Marshall.

The Brits say BARK-lee, but we pronounce it the same as the name of the California college: either way it's quite pretentious and of another era.

Lincoln, Tyler, Taylor, Jackson, Jefferson, Harrison, McKinley, Grant, Kennedy, Carter -- yes. Washington -- probably not.

This name has been off the USA Top 1000 list since before 1900, but it has some great musical credentials: consider American blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander and country music legend Pat Alger.

Legitimizes the newly coined Denim, as does the Scottish place-name Denholm (both pronounced DEN-um).

Last name occasionally used as a first, can be seen as a Lance Armstrong athlete-hero name.

A simple, self-possessed, somewhat serious surname, which might work better as a middle.

A presidential and place-name that's not a stand-out in either category.

This is an English surname dating back to 1086, but we don't see it having much of a first name future in the twenty-first century.

A noble surname from northern England that has occasionally been used as a first name.

For 007 fans, a great middle name choice -- or even a first.

Despite the presidential pedigree, it's still hard to shake the image of the cartoon cat (named after his creator Jim Davis's grandfather). However, there are other Garfields, such as Barbadian cricket player Sir Garfield Sobers, who carries it with gravitas.

In Wuthering Heights, Cathy's milquetoast husband; Heath is so much more appealing.

Forever the upstairs neighbor on The Honeymooners.

When Matthew McConaughey and wife Camila Alves chose the old English surname and place name Livingston for their third child, they elevated it from half of a Stanley & Livingston joke to a modern possibility. Kind of. The only other well-known bearer of the name in the contemporary world is singer Livingston Taylor, brother of James, who is called Liv. Given that little Livingston McConaughey's older brother is named Levi, that uplifting nickname may be too close, though his parents apparently like its sound. An original choice.