UK Boy Names

Iago, the villain of Shakespeare's Othello, was so treacherously evil that his name has hardly ever been heard offstage. Try the much-more-benign Inigo.

This ancient royal Scottish name had a brief vogue in midcentury America, but it would be far from a fresh choice for a baby boy now.

Whether you pronounce it Mac-cleen or Mac-clayn, this is one of the crispest and most appealing of the Mac names. The Scottish clan Maclean is one of the oldest of the Highland Scottish clans. Trivia tidbit: Sir Fitzroy Maclean is said to have been an inspiration for the Ian Fleming James Bond character.

One of the many El- names for boys that boomed in the 1910s and 1920s, but has long been out of fashion. This surname/place name has an aristocratic flavor, and a creative namesake in the artist Ellsworth Kelly. Polar explorer Lincoln Ellsworth also gives it an adventurous connection.

This artistic and aristocratic surname is a bold and daring choice, but with nature inspired names like Wren on the rise, and surnames-as-first-names being in vogue, Wyndham was a fast riser in 2023.

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

Lander is a name that straddles two trends. It's an er-ending surname name, ala Cooper and Carter. And it's also, more subtly, a green name, in the manner of Fielder or Reed.

Yet another offshoot of the original John, also sometimes used as Jevan or Yevan.

If you like the idea of Tadhg but don't feel like the spelling works where you are, Teague might work as an alternative. It could also fit the bill if you're seeking a unique single-syllable first or middle name for your son.

This elegant surname has great potential to turn into an unusual first name, especially with its literary associations to both Stephen and Hart Crane.

The kind of name last found in northern Wisconsin in the 1950s, and even then it was probably a nickname for Delbert.

Emyr is a name that is well-known in Wales, but little heard outside of it. There are several well-known Emyrs, from the famed Welsh novelist and poet Emyr Humphries to footballer Emyr Huws.

Haitian-born rap superstar and humanitarian Wyclef ("Fugees") Jean has lent this name a powerful musical beat.

Proper Bostonian.

Name long associated with eloquent Black Panther activist Eldridge Cleaver and jazz great Roy Eldridge.

Though Collins makes the Top 1000 for girls, it sounds strong and handsome for boys too, kind of like the newly-stylish Brooks. The final s updates it from the 80s-ish Colin or the Twilightish Cullen. Might make an innovative honorific for a grandpa Nick.

This name of a town in Scotland, one of the earliest recorded surnames in the whole British Isles, has more vitality than Kelsey.

Morrison is one of the more uncommon patronymics; it could be used to honor an ancestral Morris, or one of the well-known surnamed Morrisons: Toni, Jim or Van.

Especially if you have Welsh roots, this prominent saint's name could be an interesting and more masculine alternative to Taylor.

Actor Farley Granger set it in motion, now could be a gentler alternative to Harley.