Middle Names for Boys (with Meanings and Popularity)

The name of a beautiful village on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, Veryan actually derives from a series of misunderstandings: Sen Veryan ("Saint Veryan") is a Cornish corruption of Severian, which is itself a corrupted form of the saint’s name Symphorian, to whom the village church at Veryan is dedicated.

This might be a better choice than the similarly pronounced Jan, to avoid gender confusion.

Evocative word name that's refreshingly straightforward. Overtones of Christianity and penalty. More subtle option: Cruz.

"Saturday Night Live" cast member Finesse Mitchell often mocks his own and similar names when portraying the character Starkeisha on the show.

With the tide coming in on a new wave of word names, this one just might catch on, especially for parents who relish sun, sand, and surf. Forest lovers can spell it Beech, like the tree.

Bamboo is a plant name that you might want to save for the zoo's name-the-panda contest. It was used for a starbaby in 2000, though, the rapper Big Boi.

Spicy but insubstantial nickname name.

New is a middle name name with meaning: Your baby, after all, is new to the world and you may hope will continue to approach life and experience as if everything is new and exciting.

Diehard World War II buffs may be interested in this name as a reference to American combat medic Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to be awarded the metal of honor. But it carries a host of negative connotations in the U.K., especially in Scotland, related to laziness and the shirking of work.

Acre feels at home with other modern, fresh word names like Rumor, Snow and Ace. But with the feeling of wide open spaces and nature, Acre also offers a softer, earthier tone that will appeal to those seeking a unique name with a distinctly Americana feel.

One celebrity baby Pilot put this occupational choice into the pool -- together with the middle name Inspektor, something we wouldn't advise following.

Although this month name was used only for girls in a recent year, there's no reason it can't work for both genders. For a holiday baby, more original than Noel and more universal than Christmas.

One of the classic hippie word names. In the 1970s, actors Barbara Hershey and David Carradine gave this name to their son...who later changed it to Tom.

An unassuming virtue, that is also a surname name.

Fortune is a middle name choice designed to generate good luck and prosperity.

An offbeat word name referring to the speed of a piece of music.

This unusual English word name and surname was the middle name of American sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick, after his mother's maiden name. Its striking sound and appealing meaning make it a promising virtue name possibility for either gender.

A name with vision.

Lorca is a Spanish place name from the province of Navarre, but more famous as the last name of the eminent Spanish poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, who was the direct inspiration for the name of Leonard Cohen's daughter Lorca.

Brace yourself? You're going to hear that one a lot if you choose this word name for your baby son, as a handful of parents in the US did in a recent year. One reason for this word is being used as a name: It rhymes with the popular Jace.