9 Letter Boy Names

The original form of Stephen, a readily importable choice.

Even more daunting than Nicodemus.

Indalecio is an old Spanish name that is newly popular in Argentina.

Older variant of Ethelred

The meaning of this name isn't clear, but it may mean "limping man" (from Greek skazo "to limp, stumble") or "awkward man" (from skaios) meaning "left, awkward" plus andros "man".

An ancient and dashing princely European name, belonging to one of the Grimaldi princes of Monaco from the 18th and 19th centuries. Florestan is also a character in Ludwig van Beethoven's opera "Fidelio" (1814).

The name of the late husband of Naomi in the Bible.

Courtland, with its added U, is an English form of the Dutch habitational surname Cortlandt. Cortlandt was a village near modern-day Wijk bij Duurstede, Netherlands. Its name was derived from the Dutch elements cort, meaning "short" or "narrow," and landt, "land."

The state capital of Tennessee — and the capital of country music — has seen some use for boys in recent years, now that more parents are daring to use meaningful place names. While not as popular as Memphis, Nashville has a cool, laid-back charm... and has the option of Nash as a nickname.

Fine to honor a family tradition, as long as you promise to call him Bron.

This was the name of a 5th-century Egyptian hermit and was later adopted by the Greek scholar Basilios Bessarion (1403-1472), who became a Roman Catholic bishop. Renowned Russian literary critic Vissarion Belinsky (1811-1848) bore the Russian form of this rare name.

Grosvenor was derived from the French title "Le Grand Veneur," meaning "the Master Huntsman." In particular, it refers to Hugh d'Avranches, also known as Hugh Lupus, an Earl of Chester who reigned during the time of William the Conquerer. Hugh was given the official title Hugh Le Grand Veneur, but the townspeople called his Le Gros Veneur, "the fat huntsman," due to his large size.

William is a stylish classic right now, and while translating many classic names into Italian makes them instantly cooler and more attractive, this is one exception: Guglielmo presents pronunciation problems for the English speaker, suggesting the less-than-cool word "googley" followed by the even-less-cool-than-that Elmo.

A popular name in South Africa, said to mean "to do good" or "to do great things".

Fortitude is the kind of virtue name the Puritans favored, but would not be easy for a modern boy to carry. Stick with something a little simpler than Fortitude, like Justice or True.

The double-barreled first name Ömer Asaf is more common in Turkey than either of the names independently.