UK Boy Names

If you find West not substantial enough, this would make a more solid path to it.

It's a hat, it's a race, and it's even been known to be a name. In Britain, it would be pronounced darby.

A more authentic -- and difficult -- version of Sean.

The y helps a bit, but still a painful image.

Carleton has a great meaning behind it, and should really have more popularity than it has found to date. You can shorten it to Carl or keep it upscale and formal in the longer form. Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk lends the name some sporty credentials, while American artist Carleton Wiggins confirms this name's Victorian earnestness.

Eastman is a solid, old-style Atlantic seaboard surname. But as a first name, we think Easton works better.

This name of a river in Wales represents a vowel change from Alan, which makes the name somewhat more intriguing, but still possibly not intriguing enough. Bonus points if you're a surfer, sailor, or you're expecting a baby born under a water sign of the zodiac: It's one of the more unusual names that mean water.

Let's hope he's "burly".

Pell makes an unusual middle name choice. And if grandpa Seymour was a fur trader, you might do better to honor him by naming the baby Pell.

This could be a new variation on the megapopular Braden-Caden-Haden bunch, or a nonmilitaristic form of Patton.

Better suited to a stuffy school than a little boy.

Again, North is so much crisper.

Boys' names beginning with "El" were all the rage in the 1910s, but today Elmore - along with Elwin, Ellsworth and others - has barely been used for decades. It has literary connections through writer Elmore "Dutch" Leonard. More recently, several children's book characters have given the name a cuddly feel: Holly Hobbie's Elmore the Porcupine, and Elmore Green in Lauren Child's "The New Small Person".

Variously spelled Swithun or Swithin, and associated with St. Swithin's day, July 15th, which is famous as a weather predictor a la Groundhog's Day: supposedly, the weather on his feast day will continue for forty days. This would certainly make a unique choice.

Berold is one of the more obscure boy names meaning bear, which also include Arthur, Orson, and (in a different vein) Teddy.

Eaton's similarity to Eton gives it an upscale Old School feel, though in the U.S. a name that sound like eatin' could have teasin' potential. Eaton could also sound like the much-more-familiar Ethan with a tough-guy accent.

Simplify things and spell it Dai, or even Day.

The suffix Bran is familiar as raven-related since Game of Thrones, and the -ley suffix has been popular since the 1990s heyday of Ashley.