Middle Names for Boys (with Meanings and Popularity)

Actor French Stewart introduced this one to the lexicon. French is part word name, part place name, and part surname-name, reminiscent of celebrity baby names that reference a nationality rather than simply a place, such as Moroccan.

Alternative to Prince, Duke, King, or Earl, but not an improvement on them.

One of the simplest, most down-to-earth yet evocative of the word names, which could work — especially as a middle.

Eighties star Judge Reinhold (born Edward Jr. , he was given this nickname at the age of two weeks) made this possible, but it could cause a lot of confusion.

If you don't want to limit yourself to one month of the year, this unique baby name offers the plus of the friendly nickname, Cal.

Spiritually resonant, but will definitely raise grandparents' eyebrows.

Experience is a word name used by the New England Puritans but probably too joke-worthy for a modern child...or teenager. It does not have as direct a biblical reference as most Puritan names.

Doctor is an honorific used as a name, somewhat like names such as Bishop, King, and Princess. Banned in New Zealand, Doctor can lead to the kind of confusion you may feel would be only positive for your child -- a bona fide Doctor before he even gets to kindergarten. At its zenith in 1884, Doctor was used for 12 boys, but last year it didn't even clear the five-baby minimum to make it onto the Social Security extended list.

Once you get past thinking of it as a red-painted building where they keep cows and hay, has a nice plainspoken country-like feel and may make a cooler diminutive than the still-purple Barney.

The name of the teenaged son on the dear departed television show "Huff."

A name best for pets.

Fleet is one of the uncountable number of new word name possibilities, and a particularly cool choice at that. Connoting speed, Fleet beats Rush any day. Might be short for Fleetwood, but we prefer it on its own.

Pistol is one of the new names that entered the lexicon in the US in 2013, when it was given to nine babies of each gender. Call it an equal-opportunity badass baby name with an unfortunately violent image.

Why did 5 sets of parents chose to name their sons Dock in 2016? We may never know.

All names connected with royalty have become increasingly popular in recent years, and King variation Kyng is no exception. Some parents may feel that the Kyng spelling makes it more of a name and less of a royal title, but both names sound the same and have identical meanings, so why endlessly complicate spelling and pronunciation?

Wisdom is a rare modern virtue name that might increase in use as this whole category becomes more mainstream. Wisdom is one of the gender-neutral names now on the table for both boys and girls.

Epic feels like it could be the boys' version of Saga. Epic poetry tells some of our most celebrated stories - from Beowulf and the Odyssey, to the Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost. Despite being short, Epic is a lot of name, so it might be a choice for an adventurous middle name.

Ambitious geographical name.

A worthy honoree that would place a too-heavy expectation on a child, probably subjecting him to ridicule. Try Pablo instead.

Strictly for a Vegas baby.