Names That Mean Son

The Mc and Mac surnames are asserting themselves as first names and this is among the most usable. MacArthur or McArthur makes a perfect honorific for an ancestral Arthur and leads directly to the nicknames Mac or Art

Lansing is perhaps best known as the state capital of Michigan, which was named after the town of Lansing, New York. The original Lansing was named in honor of John Lansing Jr., a Chancellor of New York and mayor of Albany. He was of Dutch parentage.

Whitten is a stylish patronymic surname derived from Witt and Witte — German and Dutch nicknames-turned-surnames describing people with white-blonde hair or a pale complexion. Cool-guy nickname Whit only adds to the appeal.

Carson is finally beginning to fall slightly after a nearly 2-decade reign of popularity, and we suspect its many spelling variations will follow suit.

Atkinson has never made it onto the American charts, although historical records provide evidence that it has been used as a given name before. Atkin is a Medieval nickname for Adam, making Atkinson a sneaky and unique way to honor an important Adam in your life.

A familiar Scandinavian surname — typically spelled Christofferson in Denmark — via actor and singer Kris Kristofferson.

More and more variations of Mackenzie are joining the Top 1000.

MacRae -- or McRay or McCrae -- is a Scottish surname-name whose meaning is most often given as son of grace or sometimes son of luck. The hero of Lonesome Dove's last name was McCrae. A good honor name for a Ray or Rae, it can also be shortened to Mac.

Rawlings was a surname with ties to the name Raul, which means "wolf counsel." Rawlings is used as a first name for one of the girl sextuplets on TV's Sweet Home.

This variation of Biblical Benjamin is used in Ethiopia. The name is also spelled Benyam or Biniyam.

McLaren is an Anglicization of the surname MacLabhrainn, meaning "son of Labhrann." Labhrann is the Gaelic form of Laurentius, from which Lawrence also derived.

Uruguayan footballer Edinson Cavani gave his unique first name a boost following the 2022 World Cup.

If you choose this name, it's not likely to be for the meaning.

Reilly and Riley are hugely popular, but O'Reilly is still an up-and-comer.

Strong and vital Asian birth order name.

The O'Haras are descended from Eaghra -- pronounced and phonetically spelled Ara -- the lord of Luighne, the modern Leyney in County Sligo. As a name, this makes a satisfying new twist on Harry.

Hungarian form of Bartholomew

Name from legend that might be an interesting Jason alternative.

Possible alternative to Anderson.

Likely to be construed as a virtue name (a nice one, at that!), even though Willing is a traditional surname with both English and German roots. As an English name, Willing is a patronymic form of Willa. In German, it's a patronym from Wille, a variation of Ville, which is related to William.