UK Boy Names

Unfortunate identification with an army of rats in the movie of the same name.

Upper-class surname in England that might be prime for adoption here.

A bit too bad-boy (think bars, beer, Harley) for us, as well as being the name of a grain.

A cross-cultural name that can be a nickname for David and can be pronounced Day (preferable to die), but is also the name of a vicious Asian villain.

Might suggest speed, excitement, even danger, were it not for its best-known bearer, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh.

This surname borne by several early Welsh leaders has a lot of energy.

No, not Ben (you'll say a million times), not Van -- Venn. John Venn was a British logician and philosopher famous for introducing the Venn diagram, which is used in several fields, including logic, statistics, and computer science.

Son of Irving.

This unusual two-syllable K name relates to shipbuilding.

Tanwyn is a modern Welsh name that can work for either sex depending on the spelling -- wyn is the traditional boys' spelling, while wen as in Tanwen is the girls' version.

Famous bearers include surfer Tanwyn Travers and the hero of a Victorian Welsh legend titled Envy Burns Itself.

Gibson is an undiscovered patronymic surname, with some appealing nicknames. It also brings to mind the popular brand of guitars.

Whitman, a namesake surname for poet Walt, would be much more suited to a boy, probably because of that "man" part. Whit or Witt makes an uplifting short form which can be used on its own.

Unusual alternative to Fisher with a brisker surname appeal.

Islwyn is the name of a mountain in Wales which has a pleasant fluid sound. Islwyn has recently been made more familiar through Runescape.

Takes Edwin one step -- make that ten steps -- too far.

Almost as passé as Hyman.

The surname name Jetson may have originated as a variation on Judson, a patronymic related to Jordan, but it is more familiar to most Americans as the last name of the futuristic cartoon family. Jetson may appeal to parents as a proper form leading to the cool boy nickname Jet.

Rarely used surname, associated with humorous poet Ogden Nash.

Distinctive though somewhat abrupt, most prominently borne by country singer Hoyt Axton.

Americans may not realize Barclay is the phonetic spelling of the British Berkeley -- though both sound like old-fashioned butler names.