Middle Names for Boys (with Meanings and Popularity)

The final -e takes this from a daring word name to a literary honor name, for the inimitable Irish author, poet and playwright Oscar Wilde, infamous for his wit and flamboyance.

A modern spelling of an already modern sounding name, Kash is a spelling variant of the name Cash. Like Kairo, Karter, Karson, and Krew, that K initial gives it a very 21st century feel.

Looking for a Texas name more distinctive than Austin and Dallas? Houston is a lanky, roguish place-name, right in style with its Texas accent and cowboy image.

Journey is one of the hot new spiritual names. Although Journey was given in 2015 to over 1100 baby girls and fewer than 100 baby boys, it's more visible on the celebrity baby scene as a boys' name: Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green just chose the name for their third son, who also has the unisex middle name River.

A name that looks intriguing and masculine on paper, but is, unfortunately, a homonym for a girl's name.

With other bird names such as Lark and Phoenix on the rise, why not chirpy Sparrow? Nicole Richie and Joel Madden named their son, born in 2009, Sparrow James Midnight.

Historically, Sire was a formal term for addressing male royalty, particularly a king. Sire can also mean "father" as both a noun and a verb.

Not unless you want your son to grow up to be just like a wacky Jack Black character.

A joyous (if a little rowdy) word name that's still relatively undiscovered by parents, being given to about 10 babies of each sex per year. Glee actor Matthew Morrison named his son Revel in 2017.

Actor Mark Ruffalo honed this surname down to its basics when he chose it for his son. A more usable expansion might be the Irish surname Keenan/Keenen.

A paradox is a statement that while seeming true contradicts itself. With the less-than-pleasant "Doxy" as an obvious nickname, Paradox is perhaps a better name for a cat than a baby.

Sheikh, the Arabic royal title turned name, is among the Top 1000 boys' names in the UK though undiscovered in the US. With the ascendance of such royal names as King and Reign, Sheikh is sure to become more acceptable as a first name, even (dare we say?) chic.

Along with August, March is one of the month names perfectly suited to boys. This brisk single-syllable name – which derives from the name of Mars, the Roman god of war – is worth considering as either a first or middle option. As a surname, it brings warm memories of the girls of Little Women, and of twentieth century actor Fredric.

The surname of the great artist is pronounced the same way as Mathis, the German and French form of Matthew, so it's not a stretch for use as a first name.

Intriguing, when seen as a water name a la River and Ocean, but too close to cultural appropriate if used as a reference to the Creek tribe of Native Americans. Another downside is its resemblance to creak, as in creaky bones or floorboards, and to unappealing words like creep and creak.

One of the boastful, ultra-modern word names soaring in popularity right now. Though it's a bit more popular for girls than boys -- the "cy" ending reads a little feminine -- it's solidly unisex, with over 100 baby boys being named Legacy in 2017. This is one of the many uplifting words that make unique unisex names.

A surprisingly wearable floral name for a boy.

Asking for trouble.

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden added this rocking name to the lexicon of day names, which have their roots in the African tradition of naming a child after the day of the week, time of day, or season in which he or she was born. But they wisely used it as a middle name.

In the old days, this might have been a short form for Dewitt, but today it's more likely to appear as a witty word name. We approve.