Middle Names for Boys (with Meanings and Popularity)

This up-and-coming single-syllable name has a few famous bearers, including baseballer Cale Iorg and Canadian hip-hop musician Cale Sampson. Sounding like Kale, this name also has a crunchy, hipster vibe.

A shimmering day name, with a bit of hippie residue.

This cosmological name has a zippy feel that might work well for the galactic parent looking for the perfect name for their own little star.

Mason with a French accent. It first entered the US Top 1000 in 2012, and it will likely hang on for as long as its brother-in-spelling-variations, Mayson.

Ax makes a somewhat threatening short form of the popular Axel, given to more than 3000 baby boys last year. It can also be used on its own, though it usually isn't. There were, however, seven baby boys named Axe in the US in 2015.

With Levi in vogue and country names on trend, Denim could fit in among the Waylons, Walkers, Coltons, and Rhetts. As a boys name, it brings to mind the qualities of the fabric: hardworking, cool and versatile. Singer Toni Braxton chose this name for her son in 2001, and parents have been using it for boys and girls ever since.

Gage we get. Cade we get. But Cage? Not really, and yet, it was given to about two dozen baby boys in one recent year.

Seems destined to be the preferred short form of this old French name, with its brief, modern, word name feel.

Boo as a first name first achieved notoriety as the name of the child-man in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Arthur "Boo" Radley was meant to be frightening, but only in a simple, non-threatening way. More recently, Boo has been used as the middle name of one of chef Jamie Oliver's children and the nickname in the middle of television's Honey Boo Boo. Boo is also the name of the world's cutest dog and of the adorable little girl in Monsters Inc. In a more basic way, Boo is a term of endearment.

No low self-esteem for this kid, or so his parents hope.

If you find Grover too fusty and furry, this is a much cooler-sounding alternative.

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.

Almond may seem like a hippy modern name, but its use for American boys goes right back to the mid-nineteenth century. In these cases, it was either a variation of Almund, meaning "noble strength," or the surname Aleman, meaning "German."

Knight (as opposed to Night) is a name clad in shiny armor. This high-ranking word name was introduced by singers Kelis and Nas. Knight might join brothers King, Royal, and Noble in a new definition of royal baby names.

If you use this for a boy, it had better be a family name, hidden away in the middle.

Hippie name with a sweet meaning. While theoretically gender-neutral, Harmony was given to nearly 1400 baby girls last year....and zero boys.

This scary word name was given to five baby boys in the US in 2013, entering the lexicon for the first time. Are the boys named Vice destined for a life of crime, or the creation of a media empire?

Reminiscent of Puritan and Pilgrim name choices, Sincere is a relatively modern virtue name that has been in the US Top 1000 since the 2000s.

Though it sounds like a modern invention, Champ actually has a long history as a first name. It hit the Top 1000 several times just before and after the turn of the 20th Century.

Like Silver, a shimmering metallic color name, almost too dazzling for an ordinary boy.