930+ English Names for Boys

Boys' names beginning with "El" were all the rage in the 1910s, but today Elmore - along with Elwin, Ellsworth and others - has barely been used for decades. It has literary connections through writer Elmore "Dutch" Leonard. More recently, several children's book characters have given the name a cuddly feel: Holly Hobbie's Elmore the Porcupine, and Elmore Green in Lauren Child's "The New Small Person".

Variously spelled Swithun or Swithin, and associated with St. Swithin's day, July 15th, which is famous as a weather predictor a la Groundhog's Day: supposedly, the weather on his feast day will continue for forty days. This would certainly make a unique choice.

Berold is one of the more obscure boy names meaning bear, which also include Arthur, Orson, and (in a different vein) Teddy.

Eaton's similarity to Eton gives it an upscale Old School feel, though in the U.S. a name that sound like eatin' could have teasin' potential. Eaton could also sound like the much-more-familiar Ethan with a tough-guy accent.

The suffix Bran is familiar as raven-related since Game of Thrones, and the -ley suffix has been popular since the 1990s heyday of Ashley.

A decade or two ago, we might have stopped with Blake, but today the surname Blakely or Blakeley sounds more modern as a first name.

One step up from Irwin, and that's not nearly enough.

Waspy-sounding choice, well known in literature for Boswell's Life of Johnson.

You might want to honor premier U.S. architect Frank Gehry--even though he was born Ephraim Goldberg. Gehry, pronounced like the more common surname Geary, may be a spin on the name Gary, which means spear, or derive from the Middle English word geary, which means fickle.

Stick with the original.

Darnel, the plant from which this name derives, is an intoxicating plant, which used to be grown to make medicines and poisons.

One of the rare English surname names originally derived from a female given name: Eoforhild, meaning "boar battle". Also spelled Averill, it's an extremely rare choice today, but shares sounds with fashionable Avery.

A surname with more force than most.

Stuffy presidential choice: consider Hayes instead.

Obscure, though legitimate, name that could be used to honor a relative named Barton or Martin.

We don't see that bright a future for this one either.

Rarely heard last-name-first choice with nice gardenlike feel.

Adventurous word choice, but still quite a burden for a child to bear.

Kind of a combination of scoot and fleet, brought into public domain by actor Skeet (born Brian) Ulrich. We would recommend looking into the unsavory slang meaning of this name before choosing it for your child.

As seen on SNL, Pat is the ultimate androgynous name. Stick with long form Patrick, and make sure everyone calls him Patrick.