Cool Cowboy Names

Sounds a bit like a nickname in a Dickens novel, but this short form was used in New England a few centuries ago, back when names like Micajah were popular. Both short and long forms are now ripe for revival.

This is the kind of strong one-syllable boy's name many parents are seeking these days. The more musical Chord was introduced by hot young actor Chord Overstreet.

With the current taste for last names first, this sounds a lot cooler than Shawn; it also has creative connections to the great Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, novelist Irwin Shaw, and Big Band Era clarinetist/bandleader and one-time Ava Gardner husband Artie Shaw.

There are 15 times as many baby boys named Brett than Bret, but this sleeker version is used and has some merits, namely, being sleeker.

While the most famous Dusty, Dusty Springfield, might be female, Dusty as a boys' name is derived directly from Dustin. And there are about twice as many baby boys named Dusty as baby girls -- 33 to 14 last year, so a fairly rare name for either sex.

The cool clipped Des may be the part of the name wave of the future, with midcentury names like Des and Vic and Stan riding back into style on the heels of big brothers Max and Sam and Ray.

An exceedingly friendly every-guy nickname that could rise alongside the likes of Ike, Sid, and Ned.

One of the less common members of the currently popular craftsmen's guild, Becker once had a self-named sitcom, and is also associated with Wimbleton tennis legend Boris Becker.

Santana was most recently heard on a female character on hit television show Glee. Nonetheless, this name ranks higher for boys, which can be credited to Grammy Award-winning musician Carlos Santana.

When Kate Hudson named her second son Bingham and announced that she would be calling him Bing, it put this zingy nickname name out on the table. Before that, there was only one, further nicknamed Der Bingle -- and he was really Harry Lillis Crosby.

Whether pronounced like the wag of a tail or as the correct German VAHG-ner, this might be something a devoted opera buff could consider as a middle name.

Long synonymous with the American outlaw Harry Longabaugh, aka The Sundance Kid, who got his nickname from the town of Sundance, Wyoming, where he was incarcerated as a teenager. The place name Sundance was taken from the sun dance ceremony practiced by local Native American tribes.

Simple and serious Arabic name which debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2016.

The newest cowboy-cool kid on the block is Dutton, introduced by the hit Western drama series Yellowstone. It's seen as a surname in the series, which follows the Dutton family on their ranch. But Americans' affinity towards surname names and the similarities to Sutton have inspired fans of the show to use Dutton for their sons — so much so that Dutton took the title as the fastest-rising name in 2022, jumping a whopping 986 spots.

Sudsy name that could be a new character on "Days of Our Lives."

Si is an intriguing antique nickname for Simon and Silas, and we’ve also heard it as a short form of names that contain the "sigh" sound, like Josiah and Osiris.

Ryles may be one of the best-kept secrets in baby names. It has all the trappings of a hit — similarities to fashionable names like Miles and Riley, traditional surname history, that S ending! And yet, neither Ryles nor Riles has ever been given to more than five American baby boys in a single year.

Mose is the German variation of Moses, a widely familiar name thanks to the character in the Old Testament. Mose is also used a nickname for Moses.

Romer might be considered a streamlined spelling of the German surname Rohmer, whose root means fame or renown, or a name that was given to those who made pilgrimages to Rome, which is related to Romeo and its brothers. With the style value of other Rome names from Roman to Romy, this is one we predict we'll hear more of.

Bingham is the unusual surname name chosen by Kate Hudson and Matt Bellamy for their son. It was Bellamy's mother's maiden name, and the nickname Bing, coincidentally, belongs to almost-stepfather Kurt Russell's dad. We haven't heard Bing since crooner Crosby, but it does have a lot of zing.