UK Boy Names

A video-game name ("Final Fantasy VII") with an unappealing sound and meaning.

Cooper would be a more engaging C-starting occupational choice.

Name of a poet, this will be one for consideration by literary parents. The name fits well with the current trend towards surnames as given names, but beware the three syllable pronunciation, which may be a trap for the poetically disinclined.

Too tightly associated with the real-life villainous Captain Bligh of The Mutiny on the Bounty.

A casual take on Corbin.

fuhgeddaboutit.

A nice beachy name, but one that would require constant explanation.

 As a surname, it's most familiar as Hearst -- publishing magnate William Randolph and kidnapped granddaughter Patty. Few would use it if it wasn't their own family name.

Distinguished though it is, it will never shake its portly cigar-smoking image.

Wylei exists because Corey Parker decreed it so: He gave his newborn son this variation of the classic surname more conventionally spelled Wylie or Wiley. The problem with the Wylei spelling is that it makes you think the name may have a different pronunciation, with an ay versus an ee sound at the end. This is one of those creative inspirations that will make the child's life more difficult for years to come.

We don't think a boy would want to be called a sham.

Unusual twist -- but everyone will hear it as Justin -- or jester.

Two completely different images come from its national pronunciations -- BOY-err or boy-AY -- the latter giving it an effete French accent.

Distinguished actor Hume Cronyn (who shared his father's name) put this unusual choice in the lexicon.

As always, that oy sound is problematic.

Not only did rocker John Mellencamp name his son Speck, but he appended the middle name Wildhorse to it.

Now that Kimberly is no longer one of the top girl names, Kim or long form Kimball feel more gender neutral.

Try Abraham or Lincoln instead.