Mineral & Metal Baby Names for Boys

  1. Pello
    • Origin:

      Greek and Basque
    • Meaning:

      "stone"
    • Description:

      Creative variation on Peter.
  2. Aputsiak
    • Origin:

      Greenlandic
    • Meaning:

      "snow crystal"
    • Description:

      A unisex name from the snowy north.
  3. Zinc
    • Origin:

      Color or mineral name
    • Description:

      Extreme cool possibilities in either of these modern categories, like a postmodern Linc.
  4. Diamond
    • Origin:

      Gem name
    • Description:

      Diamond was a big hit for girls in the nineties, ultimately making it into the Top 150. It's a relative rarity today for baby girls and boys, for whom the name also peaked in the nineties.
  5. Quartz
    • Origin:

      Mineral name
    • Description:

      This may be a bit quirky to make it as a name, especially in first place. If you love it, you might try it in the middle.
  6. Dunstan
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "dark stone"
    • Description:

      A two-syllable surname feel puts this name of an important English saint in the running -- though it could sound like a confused cross between Duncan and Dustin.
  7. Coal
    • Origin:

      Word name
    • Description:

      This recently coined respelling of Cole darkens its image.
  8. Rochester
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "stone camp or fortress"
    • Description:

      Rochester was Jack Benny's famous valet and sidekick, played by early African-American comic Eddie Anderson.
  9. Elessar
    • Origin:

      Invented literary name
    • Meaning:

      "elfstone"
    • Description:

      This attractive name was created by JRR Tolkien for his The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. It was given to Aragorn by Galadriel and later adopted by him as King of Gondor.
  10. Pyrite
    • Origin:

      Greek
    • Meaning:

      "fire stone"
    • Description:

      So named because it emits sparks when struck with a stone.
  11. Shamir
    • Origin:

      Aramaic
    • Meaning:

      "a sharp thorn, flint"
    • Description:

      Traditional Jewish name and the implement said to have been used by Solomon to cut the huge stones for the building of the Temple.
  12. Favre
    • Origin:

      French occupational name
    • Meaning:

      "ironworker"
    • Description:

      Surname of a fifteenth-century saint and a twenty-first-century quarterback, Brett Favre.
  13. Granite
    • Origin:

      Nature name
    • Description:

      There's a whole quarry of rocky names parents are now considering: Slate, Flint, etc. , but this one is particularly hard-edged and problematic.
  14. Coltan
    • Argyris
      • Origin:

        Greek
      • Meaning:

        "silver"
      • Description:

        A more modern form of Argyros.
    • Larimar
      • Origin:

        Gemstone name
      • Description:

        The discoverer of this lovely bright blue gemstone named it after his daughter Larissa and the sea (mar), hence Larimar. Despite the feminine origins, the harder -mar ending makes this work for boys too, similar to Delmar and Elmer.
    • Hallam
      • Origin:

        English surname
      • Meaning:

        "at the rocks"
      • Description:

        A relatively rare English place and surname, Hallam could make a distinctive but usable boy's name. Hallam was the surname of the beloved Cambridge friend whose death Alfred, Lord Tennyson, mourns in his famous poem In Memoriam. A.H.H. Tennyson's eldest son, whom he named Hallam, became a Governor-General of Australia.
    • Tungsten
      • Origin:

        Word name
      • Description:

        Tungsten is the metal often associated with lightbulbs, making it a quirky choice for a bright young mind.
    • Alnico
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "metal alloy"
    • Fabbro
      • Origin:

        Italian
      • Meaning:

        "blacksmith"
      • Description:

        If you're looking for a really unusual international occupational name, this could be it!