UK Boy Names

While this has a distinguished male namesake -- astronomer Edmund Halley and his comet -- it still strays too close to the superpopular feminine Hailey family to work for some parents for a boy. Fewer than five baby boys were given the name last year, but that could change as formerly-female names become more acceptable for boys.

Might make a good middle name for the child of a musician, though people could think you were honoring your BMW.

Gentle and southern-inflected, redolent of the North Carolina landscape.

Interesting possibility for the son or grandson of a Gregory.

To honor an ancestral Peter.

Could catch on in tandem with the newfound popularity of Griffin and Griffith.

If this name makes you think of Victorian novels, it's because Fairfax was part of Mr Rochester's name in Jane Eyre, and the surname of a minor character in Jane Austen's Emma. It has a distinctly aristocratic feel, despite its straightforward meaning. Fairfax is also a city in Virginia.

Clumsy when used as a first name.

Ruggedly appealing word name in the Thorn/Rider/Storm school of boys' names.

Forever still feels more like a sentiment than a name, and rather feminine at that.

To honor an ancestral Peter.

Between "Old MacDonald" and Big Mac allusions, this would be a risky choice.

A possible nod to grandpa Roger, though somewhat stuffy.

Palin, as in, yes, one-time VP candidate Sarah, has emerged as a hot new first name, usually for girls.