Cool Cowboy Names

Originally a short form of Odell, a place name turned surname that hails from England.

Laird is a Scottish title for the landed gentry – it ranks just below a Baron – with a pleasantly distinctive Scottish burr that must have appealed to Sharon Stone, who chose it for her son.

Short and curt.

Gatlin has risen into the Top 1000 in recent years on the strength of its association with the Olympic champion sprinter Justin Galtin as well as the Gatlin Brothers of Nashville fame. The name has the same root as gadabout, thus the meaning related to wandering.

A name that took on a pronounced country twang via Nashville megastar Garth (born Troyal) Brooks.

This variation of Wesley moved into the Top 1000 among boys' names in the US in 2016, perhaps because it makes the name more Western, with the cowboy nickname West., or because parents have taken inspiration from the protagonist of the movie The Princess Bride.

Riles is the coolest surname name that nobody's using. Seriously nobody — Riles (and the older version of the name, Ryles) have never been given to more than five American baby boys in a single year. But we're hoping to put Riles on the map. Its similarities to trendy names like Riley and Miles make it a great option if you're looking for a name that fits in but stands out.

For the parent who might also have Buck and Ryder on his list.

Derivation of Hutchinson.

Frisco is a frisky, roguish semi-place-name (San Francisco natives never call it that) that could make a lively, unusual o-ending choice.

Cameron is still more popular as a boy's name than a girls and this simple, snappy short form works well for either sex.

Wilder not quite wild enough for you? Wylder offers a less wordy looking alternative that looks cool and on-trend, but also has a preppy, last-name vibe. Though this spelling is currently less popular than Wilder, it did enter the US Top 1000 in 2020 and is given to around 400 babies each year - about half the number that are given the Wilder spelling.

Loose, lean, and lanky cowboy-sounding names have become a recent trend, but how about the name of a real one--the Singing Cowboy Gene. Autry might be thought of as a masculine spin on the fashionable Audrey or a fresher version of Austin or Auden.

Some other cowboy surnames from the Golden Age of movie and TV westerns: Boone, Boyd, Cody, Corrigan, Gibson, Hart, Holt, Houston, McCoy and Renaldo.

More of an abbreviation than a short form that can stand on its own.

Holston is a uniquely Southern place name — that of a river, lake, and mountain in Tennessee, as well as a town in Virginia. Holston was first used for the river, previously called the Cherokee River. It was adapted from the surname of pioneer Stephen Holstein, who resided alongside the river. Holstein was the name of a Saxon tribe and is now a region in Germany.

A relatively common surname, Dixon would be an inventive way to honor an ancestral Richard or Dick, the X form a lot livelier than the Dickson spelling, just as Dix is a more modern short form than Dick; it would be right at home alongside Dax and Jax.

Soft and mellifluous nature-surname name, situated miles away from the dated Marshall.

Clint with a glint; used for flinty characters in old TV westerns and soap operas.

Loyal is one of the few virtue names suitable for boys, an honorable and principled Boy Scout-esque appellation with a surprisingly long and distinguished history.

With the fashion for adding an S to the end of any surname-name, Reeve becomes Reeves, love child of Reese and Jeeves. It's cool, simple, distinctive.