1900+ Four Letter Boy Names

Egyptian mythology place-name with an intriguing sound and appealingly peaceful meaning. Update for Aaron?

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.

Espn made its debut on the American baby name charts in 2004 and has ranked for at least one sex ever since. It's a uniquely American take on the Scandinavian name Espen, influenced by the basic cable sports channel ESPN. So while you can interpret Espn's meaning as "god bear," a case could also be made for "Entertainment and Sports Programming Network."

While there is some disagreement over the origins of this name, it's clearly fashionable and a new idea, for English speakers, of a way to spin either an old classic or a familiar favorite. Still, Loic is one of those French names for boys that is rarely heard outside its native land.

Short, simple, gentle, undeniably Welsh but easy to spell and pronounce – there's a lot to like about this underused gem. In the States it's been almost exclusively female, perhaps due to the greater familiarity of Gwen, but it definitely feels like a candidate to reclaim for the boys.

Lexi is technically unisex though used much more often for girls in the US, where it ranks among the female Top 100.

A name that looks intriguing and masculine on paper, but is, unfortunately, a homonym for a girl's name.

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

In the Bible, Joram and "all his chariots" pass over Zair.

Baseball player Ryne Sandberg's nickname is RYNO. Need we say more?

Appropriately used for anime antagonists, not human babies.

Lively nickname form of overused biblical favorite.

Rock definitely has a macho image, if a somewhat caricatured one, ala The Rock. But with the rise of word names and also of tough guy names, Rock feels more plausible than it did a generation ago.

Another name for Jupiter, king of the Roman gods, this jovial name is eminently ready for modern use. Feminine variations include Jovita and Jovie.

One of those simple Norse names, like Lars, that is definitely worth thinking about.

The sleek French form of Cosmo, which has leapt out of relative obscurity to well within the Top 100 boy names in France in the last decade, but still retains a sophisticated, vaguely aristocratic air. Pronunciation is like the English word comb.

Actor Mark Ruffalo honed this surname down to its basics when he chose it for his son. A more usable expansion might be the Irish surname Keenan/Keenen.

Ubbe or Ubba was a 9th-century Viking and one of the commanders of the Great Heathen Army that invaded Anglo-Saxon England in the 9th century.

Now that the Irish Ciaran and Ciara -- aka Kieran and Kiera -- are becoming more popular beyond their native shores, the short and strong Ciar might find some favor. As of now, more than 160 baby girls were named Ciara in the US last year, with half that many boys named Ciaran, but so far no baby boys named Ciar, though 17 were called Keir.