Names That Mean Son

This common Jewish surname — originally spelled Volfson — works as a modern and on-trend segue to the cool nickname Wolf, if Wolfgang or Wolfric feel a bit too heavy. With animal names like Wolf (along with Bear and Fox) shooting up the charts in recent years, Wolfson has plenty of undiscovered potential. A famous bearer of the surname is British politician David Wolfson, who was knighted Baron Wolfson of Sunningdale.

No competition for Jackson.

There are seemingly infinite ways to spell Jackson — in fact, if you add all of them up, it becomes the most popular boy name in America. Jaxsyn is mid-to-low range popularity among all the variations.

An English surname originally given to the illegitimate sons of a monarch. Might be a nice middle name choice to honor an ancestral Roy.

Rawlings was a surname brought to England with the Norman invasion and has ties to the name Raul, which means "wolf counsel."

Bowen is a Celtic surname representing two separate Celtic strains, one Welsh and one Irish, and entered the US Top 1000 (for boys) for the first time in 2011. It comes complete with cute nicknames Bo and Winnie.

The spelling Pearce softens the name's sharper edges, though we prefer the original Piers. That "pear" snippet could confuse pronunciation, which is just like Pierce.

Parry is quite common in Wales, often as a surname, but would inevitably be misunderstood as Perry or even Harry.

For Grandpa Vincent.

More common in Slovenia than its mother name, Jerneja. Neja peaked in 2015 when it ranked at Number 15 on the Slovene Top 100.

Mackson, while not unknown as a surname, is more of a modern invention as a first name, a smoosh of the more popular Jackson and Maxon. Authenticity aside, it's not without its appeal. And who can resist friendly diminutive Mack?

In the Christian bible, Barabbas was a murderer that Pontius Pilate freed while condemning Jesus to die. The name is ironic, given that Christian belief promotes Jesus as the son of the Father. The name is difficult for this reason, as well as the fact that in Spain it is used as slang for a bad person.

Ximeno is sometimes falsely credited as the Basque variation of Simon. It actually comes from Semen, a medieval Basque name that is completely unusable today, for obvious reasons. All the more reason to go with Ximeno.

The a ending gives it a feminine feel.

Perfect name for the child of dog enthusiasts, and much more distinctive than the trendy Connor.

Dickson's nickname problem keeps it from having the upside possibility of similar names like Jackson and Harrison. If you're looking for fresh baby names to honor an ancestral Richard or Dick, consider Dixon. Or better, Richardson.

A contemporary, feminized variation of Carson.

Pleasant Irish last name that could be a more masculine alternative to the overused Cassidy. Early kings of Leinster bore the name, which relates to the first name Caomhan or Kevin and can also be spelled Kavanagh, Cavanagh, Cavenagh, and Kavanaugh.