Invented Boy Names

On the other hand, Zarren is an improvement on Darren.

Braeden was one of the many -aiden names that we heard everywhere just a few years ago. Now it's fading, along with Aiden, Jayden, and company.

Trendy Cason is becoming popular enough to have a variety of offshoot spellings in the Top 1000.

Kyaire was among the fastest-rising boy names of 2023, and a newcomer to the US Top 1000. Rising amongst African American parents, it is speculated that Kyaire was inspired by modern spiritual choice Kyrie, or West African place name Zaire and more directly, by its even higher ranking spelling, Zyaire.

Though it appears as if it could be Irish, Cilan is an invented name from the Pokemon universe, derived directly from the word "cilantro."

Eddard is a spin on Edward created by author George R.R. Martin for the Game of Thrones series. Eddard, usually known as Ned, Stark was the wise and good King of the North whose shocking murder at the end of the first season of the TV show set off years of chaos. While Eddard as a name may have more earthly ties than Sansa or Daenerys, it's linked firmly to the Game of Thrones franchise and will peg you as a fan.

Majora's Mask was the title of a lauded Nintendo 64 game in the Legend of Zelda series, in which Majora was the main villain. The character's name was reportedly coined by the game's art director, Takaya Imamura, using Japanese characters from his own name and the title of the movie Jumanji.

Dariel is an update to Darren, influenced by names like Gabriel.

A recently created member of the Cale family, with a trendy unisex aura.

A meeting of two trends — compound names a la Myking and Alegend and money-related -illion names such as Million and Billion.

Zee-ifying Bailey.

The Westerosi equivalent of Benjamin -- meaning it's a "Game of Thrones" name, for non-fans -- is most prominently borne in George R.R. Martin's novels by Benjen Stark, younger brother of Eddard Stark and a member of the Night's Watch.

Lagging about 400 slots behind the original.

In the Top 1,000 since 1996, a less expected alternative to Omar.

Definite twenty-first- century possibilities, with its stylish K opening, strong first syllable, and softer second.

A common Basque name first used in French Basque writer Agosti Xaho's 1845 work "The Legend of Aitor."

DeShawn or Deshawn is the more popular variation, but Dashawn charted from the late 1980s until 2010, which means it's on its way to becoming a Dad Name. Traditionally, the De or Da prefix means "son of", so this name means "son of Shawn", with Shawn a variation of John.