Cute Boy Names

Shay has an old-fashioned feel due to its association with the word for a kind of horse-drawn carriage and at the same time seems modern thanks to its simple straightforwardness. Use Shay as a phonetic equivalent of the Irish surname Shea or the Hebrew male name Shai, or as an abbreviated form of such names as Seamus or Shane.

Dash is a nickname that can stand on its own and sounds, well, dashing. Connected these days with Kardashian enterprises.

Ned is a gently old-fashioned Nancy Drew-Bobbsey Twins-era short form for Edward that sounds cooler than Ed and is enjoying a small style renaissance.

Nickname of yesteryear now saddled with all manner of unattractive associations. Any Leonard of today would be called Leo, or maybe Leon or Leonard (or much more fashionably, Leonardo).

Cute kid with freckles, bouncing a Spalding ball. Cool couple Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton put the name Billy Burton on their son's birth certificate. While the classic William, name of the future king of England, may in fact be German, the nickname Billy along with such other classic short forms as Jim and Joe are authentically English names for boys.

Ike, once the quirky one-person nickname of President Dwight Eisenhower, has morphed into a cool kid nickname of the early 21st century.

This old-timey nickname for Otis and Odell is strongly tied to Garfield’s canine companion in the Garfield comic, movie, and TV franchise.

Will has definitely replaced Bill, not only as a nickname for William but as a stand-alone name as well, partly thanks to England's Prince William, also known as Wills.

A jaunty offshoot of Sullivan, Sully will be associated by kids with the beloved character in the Pixar animated film Monsters, Inc. Some notable real-life namesakes are French poet and essayist Sully Prudhomme, the heroic pilot "Sully" Sullenberger, and Sully Erna, lead vocalist of Godsmack.

Bobby is the quintessential mid-century nickname, the name of the son on Mad Men and overused to the point of cliche. Though Robert is still a highly popular choice, most Roberts today are called by their full name or Rob or Robbie rather than Bob or Bobby.

Now that names like Cannon and Gunner, fit for comic book heroes, are rising up, Rogue may fit right in.

Down-home nickname name once associated with the friendly dragon on kids' TV. As Oliver rises, we may well hear more Ollies.

The original Pip was the main character in Great Expectations (full name Philip Pirrip). Cute for a tike, maybe too cute for an adult.

This nickname for popular and traditional Joseph has a long history of being used as a given name all on its own. Nonetheless, everyone will always assume that Joey is short for the longer form. It might be nice for a potential son to have the option of a more professional and classic name to fall back on.

Long a royal nickname in England, it's coming back there along with Archie and Alfie. British singer Kate Bush calls her little boy Bertie.

Old time nickname that's starting to sound fresh again, à la Alfie and Freddie.

Ozzy has been on the rise in recent years and currently sits in the Top 1000 in the UK and the US. The Ozzie spelling has yet to catch up, but has nevertheless gained more attention thanks to its popular counterpart. Given to 135 boys and to 50 girls in 2023, for every one Ozzie there are three Ozzys.

Much less popular as a standalone choice. This nickname-name entered the US Top 1000 in 1928 and received wide use for many years, but has been waning in popularity recently.

This name of the ten-year-old boy in the much loved and acclaimed modern classic To Kill a Mockingbird could find favor along with that of the character's sister, Scout.

Until recently it was rarely used as a proper name; Buddy Holly, for example, was christened Charles, and Salinger's Buddy Glass was born Webb. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver did name his fourth child Buddy Bear Maurice--a fittingly named brother to Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo Pamela and Petal Blossom Rainbow, and singer Tom Fletcher has a double-nicknamed Buddy Bob.