Rare, Unique, and Unusual Boy Names

A musical word name with a lot of strength behind it

A preppy English surname. Newscaster Megyn Kelly used it as a middle name for her son in 2009.

High-collared and straightlaced, with the deadly "Ox" nickname.

Derivation of Hutchinson.

Windsor may have male references, such as Britain's royal House of Windsor and a tie's windsor knot, but this name also has a definite feminine feel, as in Windsor Rose. That seems appropriate, as Windsor is used equally these days for boys and girls.

As a whole Wilford still carries a dowdy, dated image, but each component of the name—Will and Ford—are stylish in their own right.

Curran is a common surname in Ireland, but unusual even there as a first. With its savory feel, calling to mind curry and currants, Curran can make for an attractive update on Colin or Connor.

With West one of the hottest names for boys, and North the name of a high-profile celebrity baby, can East be far behind? While Easton seems to be the version of choice for this directional name -- there were 5500 boys named Easton last year, versus, um, zero named East -- we like the simplicity of the gender-neutral East, especially for a middle name.

Four-syllable names can be tricky, but this rarely used Old Testament appellation has considerable potential. In the Bible, Eleazer is a son of Aaron and nephew of Moses who succeeds his father as High Priest.

With Galway and Ireland in play as names (not to mention Shannon and Kerry), there's no reason this one can't work, too.

Now that Kimberly is no longer one of the top girl names, Kim or long form Kimball feel more gender neutral.

English place name turned handsome surname name.

Hampus is a European name virtually unheard of in the US, a form of Hampo and Hampel. It may also be a nickname for Johannes, the German form of John.

Powerful surname choice with many distinguished bearers, fresher sounding than Parker.

This one's cutting right to the chase, but with such names as Justice and Peace on the rise, why not? And we guarantee your seven-year-old son will love it, though your 17-year-old, maybe not so much. Could be used as a middle name, as Talisa Soto and Benjamin Bratt did.

Classy-sounding surname name usually bypassed in favor of the simpler Landon.

Macallister as a first name is attracting new attention as the name chosen by Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer and venture capitalist Zack Bogue for their young son. Macallister is usually heard as a patronymic surname, meaning son of Alasdair or Alistair or any one of the spellings of the Scottish form of Alexander. Like all other names of this type, Macallister leads to the cute short form Mac.

A word name with an appealing and illuminating meaning.

Besides having an unappealing sound, has long been identified with a much-mocked Ford car model; use of this name is now restricted to the Ford family.