UK Boy Names

Any number of Fitz names -- Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick, Fitzroy, Fitzwilliam -- have been used as Christian names, in fact Fitzwilliam was the given name of the dashing Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. Fitz can be a short form of any of them and is often, like Mac, a nickname drawn from a surname.

As parents were finding too many Tylers at the neighborhood playground, they began looking to Tyson as an alternative, no longer concerned with possible connections to Mike Tyson or Tyson chicken.

Could be a novel way for a boy's name to honor an ancestral Claire.

In the US, London is popular for both sexes, though as the name rises for girls, it's levelled off for boys. Of course, London is far less popular in the UK and other English-speaking countries.

Kent is a no-nonsense, brief, brisk one-syllable name, almost as curt as Kurt.

Evoking the image of a shady glen, Slade could make a distinctive middle name. It entered the Top 1000 in 2007, and has been seen as a character name on the TV show "Smallville." It's also a name that pops up in comic books and video games.

This surname has a modern yet old New England feel, perhaps because of the association with the transcendental teacher and reformer Bronson (born Amos Bronson) Alcott, father of Louisa May. (One-time sitcom star Bronson Pinchot's full name is Bronson Alcott Pinchot.) A more muscular image comes via tough guy Charles Bronson.

Despite the success of so many O-starting boys names--Oliver, Owen, Otis, Oscar--Oswald has not yet shown any signs of resurrection, though he does have the animating nicknames Ozzie/Ozzy and Oz. The name has some literary cred--in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare's King Lear and a novel by H. G.Wells--and there was early cartoon character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

An English surname name, Bradley has a long history, dating way back to at least 1086, but as a first name it actually succeeded in the US before it reached England--though Dickens used it in his novel Our Mutual Friend. Bradley Cooper is one namesake.

Extremely amiable, open-sounding surname that's gradually being taken over by the girls.

Will has definitely replaced Bill, not only as a nickname for William but as a stand-alone name as well, partly thanks to England's Prince William, also known as Wills.

One of the hot two-syllable T names of the nineties (along with Tyler, Trevor, and Taylor), and well represented on soap operas; Tanner is still widely used, but its popularity is declining.

The original Pip was the main character in Great Expectations (full name Philip Pirrip). Cute for a tike, maybe too cute for an adult.

This Welsh river name has possibilities as a place name and nature name that is rare and uncommon.

Once an upper-class British surname conjuring up the epic poetry of John Milton, it then descended to the antics of "Uncle Miltie" Berle, and now has left the stage completely.

Floyd was a Top 100 name from the 1880s to the 1940s that somehow developed an almost comical hayseed persona along with a touch of retro jazz cool; it's beginning to appeal to parents with a strong taste for the quirky.

This strong single-syllable boys’ name has been finding favor with parents since the fifties, though it's been slipping in recent years; it fell out of the Top 500 for the first time since 1959 in 2015. Its main associations have been with the River Trent, whose name dates back to prehistoric times, and with former Mississippi Senator Trent (born Chester) Lott, and Trent Reznor (born Michael) of Nine Inch Nails.

Sholto is a traditional Scottish first name, especially within the Douglas clan. It's an Anglicized form of Sìoltach, meaning "sower".

This name projects a sense of well-being - hale and hearty - is unusual but accessible, with a clear simple sound, and a worthy namesake, Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale, as an added bonus.

Forget the furry blue Muppet, forget corpulent President Cleveland (not too difficult), and consider this name anew. We think it's spunky, a little funky, and well worth a second look.