Names Ending in F for Boys

A common Scandinavian name, but hard to imagine being used elsewhere.

Alef was brought into the spotlight when Natalie Portman chose the alternate spelling Aleph for her son. This is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, similar to calling your child Alpha or Primo.

Short form of Alfred that had fallen out of favor, but could come back alongside Alfie and other clunky old-style nicknames like Gus and Ike.

Attractive attenuated form of the popular Christopher, well used throughout Europe, appearing as Christophe in France and Christoph in Germany.

Like Papa name Rudolf, Rolf never quite emigrated from the Bavarian Alps. You might want to move on to Rollo or Wolf.

Sef is a rising short form of Jozef in the Netherlands, where it outranks its parent form.

Tuff, a corruption of "tough," has been given to approximately 50 baby boys each year for the past few years. Tough, on the other hand, has never charted as a baby name.

Shakespeare's classic drunken fool. In fact, this name, carried to Britain by the Normans, was quite popular until it was brought into disrepute by the low-life character who haunts taverns with Falstaff in Shakespeare's history plays.

Has too many slangy connotations to be considered.

The modern Hebrew form of Asaph, which was the name of several characters in the Old Testament.

While Yusuf is the more popular Arabic form of Joseph, Yousef is the Persian variant and is sometimes used as an Arabic transcription. Currently in the Top 500 in the UK and the Top 1000 in the US, it is still a familiar choice.

The German, Scandinavian and Czech variant of Joseph, borne by several notable European artists and athletes, as well as the brutal Soviet dictator Josef (or Iosif) Stalin.

The spelling Woolf inevitably conjures writer Virginia. If you're a fan of Mrs. Dalloway and the Bloomsbury group, Woolf might be a creative way to combine a trendy animal name with an original honor name. Woolf was the surname of Virginia's husband, Leonard.

This alternate spelling of Yusuf leads the way in Spain, where it is among the 100 most popular baby names. In the US, streamlined Yusuf reigns.

Harvard's sibling.

Gandalf is most famously the name of the powerful wizard in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. The name is drawn from Old Norse mythology.