With mythological names rising, the handsome son of Zeus and god of medicine, music, and poetry among many other things might offer an interesting, if high-pressure, option. 
 
But if Romeo and Venus are now deemed baby-appropriate, why not Apollo? Olympic speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno might inspire some parents. And now that it's been chosen by Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, it could take off as their first son's name—Kingston—has.
 Other cool associations include NASA's Apollo program, from 1961-72, that succeeded in putting the first humans on the moon when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed their lunar module and walked on the moon's surface. There's also the historic Apollo Theatre in Harlem, on whose stage the careers of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Artetha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, the Jackson 5, and countless others were launched.

Apollo

Better than Capricorn or Cancer, not as usable as Leo, the name of the Roman god of war becomes more possible as a baby name every day, as mythological names take the place of biblical names. 

Aries

Aurelian

This evocative name of one of the Three Wise Men of the Orient, also spelled Balthasar, may finally be ready for prime time. Balthazar, Melchior and Caspar were the Magi who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus, though their names were not mentioned in the Bible.
 Balthazar, in its various spellings, has been attached to a number of distinguished artists, writers and philosophers of the past; the most prominent contemporary bearer is Balthazar Getty, actor and great-grandson of J. Paul Getty. The iconoclastic modern painter Balthus was born Balthasar.
 Balthazar is well represented in literature. The name appears in no fewer than four Shakespeare plays, is the title of a Lawrence Durrell novel, is the main character of a Balzac novel, and has been seen in everything from a James Bond film to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Smurfs to Xbox and online games, and there is a J. P. Donleavy novel titled The Beastly Beatitudes of Balthazar B.

Balthazar

Bear has suddenly lumbered onto the baby name landscape.  Perhaps inspired by British adventurer Bear Grylls (born Edward Michael), first celebrity chef Jamie Oliver used it as the middle name for his boy Buddy, and more recently Alicia Silverstone called her son Bear Blu., followed by Kate Winslet's Bear Blaize. It's part of a current trend normalizing once aggressive animal names like Wolf and Fox. Bear is now Number 218 on Nameberry and in the Top 900 in England.

Bear

This ancient name is that of the hero of the epic Beowulf, which is thought to be the oldest-ever poem in English lit written in the vernacular. J. R. R. Tolkien used the poem as one of his inspirations for The Lord of the Rings.

Certainly a weighty if historically relevant choice, but usable for a modern baby? Even a few years ago, we might have said no. But Beowulf Sheehan is a noted portrait photographer, Beowulf Borritt a Broadway production designer, and the nicknames Wulf or Wulfie are feeling positively mainstream.

With other ancient names from myth and legend coming to life once again, Beowulf is certainly up for consideration.

Beowulf

Calix is once-obscure name that is starting to see some use in the US, where 47 baby boys were named Calix in 2023. An indirect influence is the actress Calista Flockhart, who introduced Americans to the female version of this attractive Greek name to prominence.
 
Calix derives from the Latin word for chalice, calyx, which in turn came from the Ancient Greek word kálux, meaning "husk" or "pod." It is also considered a diminutive of Calixtus, a variation of the Late Roman name Callistus meaning "most beautiful." Calyx can also be spelled Calyx, as in the funnel or chalice-shaped part of a flower.

Calix

More familiar in its K forms, where it's associated with football legend Knute Rockne, Canute has a tough, macho image. 

Canute

Casimir, a traditional name of Polish kings, could do quite well these days as we see the rise of Caspian, Cassius, Castiel, et. al. Like Leopold and Laszlo, Casimir is strong and worth considering if you've got an adventurous streak — and bet your son will too. An alternative commonly cited meaning that modern parents might prefer is "proclaimer of peace". The traditional Polish spelling of the name is Kazimir.

Casimir

Cato conjures up images of ancient Roman statesmen and southern antebellum retainers; it could have revival potential, with its 'O' ending and the current interest in the names of Greek and Roman antiquity.
 The Roman statesman known as Cato the Elder was born Marcus Portius, the Cato added in tribute to his natural sagacity, practical wisdom and political expertise.
 Cato appears in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and, to go from the sublime to the ridiculous, in the Pink Panther movies--and Kato was The Green Hornet's valet. Cato is also a 21st century Hunger Games name, which could do more to spur its popularity than all its past history.

Cato

Cornelius, the New Testament name of a third century Pope and saint, is one of those venerable Latin names on the edge of consideration, despite the corny nickname alert. 
 Cornelius has some magical vibe via Cornelius Agrippa, a medieval alchemist who appears in scores of books, including Frankenstein and Harry Potter. In Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, Cornelius was one of the two magicians who help Faustus strike his bargain with the devil. Two characters of the name appear in Shakespeare's plays—Hamlet and Cymbeline. The most famous bearer of the name is probably railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who gave the appellation an aristocratic air. Cornelius is also the birth name of Chevy Chase.
 Cornelius was consistently in the top 1000 through 2008; it was a Top 300 name through 1932.
 And if you're put off by the short form Corny, you could consider Neely, the nickname of the young Cornelius in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Cornelius

This evocative short name is suddenly chic — it was recently chosen by Jennifer Lawrence for her baby boy. JLaw's son's name honors Cy Twombly, the influential mid-century American artist. Born Edwin Parker Twombly Jr., both Cy Twombly and his father shared a nickname after baseball player Cy Young (himself born Denton True Young).
 
We foresee Cy heating up in a big way, along with other Cy- names like Cypress, Cyan, and Cyra.

Dash is a nickname that can stand on its own and sounds, well, dashing. Connected these days with Kardashian enterprises.
 Dash can stand on its own—as is evidenced by its entry into the US Top 1000 in 2014—or as a nickname for Dashiell.

Dash

Ebenezer is the name of a biblical place --the stone set up by Samuel to mark his victory over the Philistines--rather than a person. It was adopted by the British Puritans as a first name and then exported to America, where it had some early popularity, even entering the Top 1000 in the 1880s.
 After appearing in Walter Scott's novel Waverly and Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped, it made its most lasting impression as Dickens's miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, pretty much annihilating the name, but since Scrooge did reform at the end of A Christmas Carol, maybe there's some slight hope for the old name yet. If you have a sense of humor, you might consider it one of the darker <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/412/christmas-baby-names">Christmas baby names</a>.
 The good news: the appealing short form Eben--so if you find Ebenezer too loaded and quirky for your taste, you might skip straight to the nickname.

Ebenezer

Eleazar is a distinguished Biblical name--in which it appears several times-- ripe for the picking following the stardom of Eli, Elijah, and other similar names. 
 Eleazar is also a Twilight name, first appearing in the Stephenie Meyers book Breaking Dawn.
 It's related most closely to Eliezer, which also appears in the Bible many times. The name also belonged to three great Talmudic scholars.

Eleazar

Finnian is a fair jig of a name, energetic and easy on the ear. Finnian (and brother Finian) is also familiar in its alternate spelling through the classic 1968 Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow, later made into a film starring Fred Astaire as Finian McLonergan.
 There is also a St. Finnian who was a famous teacher and scholar.
 We think Finnian/Finian could really catch on in the wake of cousins Finn and Finlay/Finley.

Finnian

Firenze

Giacopo

Ingmar is known here almost solely through Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. Ing was the powerful Norse god of fertility and peace, who lent his name to several mortal variations, more notably to English-speakers the female Ingrid.

Ingmar

Inigo, almost unknown in the U.S., is an intriguing choice, with its strong beat, creative and evocative sound, and associations with the great early British architect and stage designer Inigo Jones. The sixteenth-seventeenth century Jones shared his name with his father, a London clockmaker, who received it when <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/496/spanish-names-for-boys">Spanish names for boys</a> were fashionable in England, especially among devout Roman Catholics.
 Inigo Montoya is a character in The Princess Bride, played by Mandy Patinkin.
 The pronunciation is with short i's and a hard g: IN-ih-go.

Inigo

Part of a small group of similar names with similar roots &mdash; Ivor, Iver, Ivo, Ives &mdash; which are all worth looking at. Used throughout Scandinavia, Ivar is currently a Top 100 name in Sweden. In the Willa Cather novel O Pioneers!, there is a character known as &mdash;oops &mdash;Crazy Ivar.

Ivar

Iskander

Jacoby, a surname spin on Jacob shot up the charts in the middle of the 2000's, thanks largely to the popularity of Jacoby Ellsbury, the first Native American of Navajo descent in the Major Leagues, but has been dropping steadily since it peaked at Number 423 in 2008. As of 2022, it dropped out of the US Top 1000 and is given to around 170 boys each year.

Jacoby

Jago is a dashing alternative to overused favorite Jacob. 

Jago

Jesper

Joachim is an undiscovered biblical name with potential, although most modern parents would probably prefer the more lively Spanish version, Joaquin. Like many Old Testament names, it was primarily in use in the seventeenth century, and then became rare. In the Bible Joachim is a king of Judah; according to the Gospel of James, Saint Joachim was the husband of Saint Anne and the father of the Virgin Mary.
 br/>Currently well-used in France, the name Joachim is known in countries and languages around the world and pronounced somewhat differently in each. While American might be most familiar with the Spanish version of the name, Joaquin via actor Joaquin Phoenix, that pronunciation wah-keen is not similar to any of the pronunciations of Joachim, which all have three syllables often with the emphasis on the second.

Joachim

Jupiter's partner Juno has entered the mainstream, so it's possible that her divine mate could follow. But not necessarily for boys — Jupiter is currently mostly female in the US, thanks to its similarity to Juniper. Stars including Ed Sheeran and Ashley Tisdale recently welcomed daughters named Jupiter, which could shift the balance even more towards the girls.
 
The name of the supreme Roman deity and the largest planet has until recently had either too hippie or too grandiose a feel for most mortals, but with the rise of sound-alike Juniper and space names such as Orion and Mars, Jupiter may find new favor.
 
Short form Jupe is adorable.
 
More background on that deity: Jupiter was the king of the Roman gods, and god of the sky, the equivalent of Greek Zeus. His name may have originated as a title. It can be interpreted to mean "father of the sky" or "father of the gods" (dyew-peter > iou piter > iuppiter (the form of the name used in Latin) > Jupiter). With Juno and Minerva, he made the Capitoline triad, whose worship was at the very centre of Roman religion.

Jupiter

Leif is one of the most recognizable <a href="https://nameberry.com/baby-names/173/scandinavian-names">Scandinavian names</a>, thanks to Icelandic explorer Leif Erikson, and is still one of the best, with a pleasant aural association with the word leaf. 
 Leif Erikson, son of explorer Eric the Red, was the first European to land in North America--some five hundred years before Columbus. Centuries later, the name became associated in the U.S. with 1970s teen idol Leif Garrett, the name peaking on the charts at Number 654 in 1970, dropping off completely in 1987. It climbed back onto the Top 1000 in 2014.
 Pronounced LAYF in its Scandinavian milieu, Leif and Lief are sometimes pronounced as Leaf in English-speaking countries. Joaquin Phoenix was for a time known as Leaf, in keeping with the <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/329/nature-baby-names">nature names</a> of his siblings.

Leif

This aristocratic, somewhat formal Germanic route to the popular Leo is a royal name: Queen Victoria used it to honor a favorite uncle, King Leopold of Belgium. Though Leopold sounds as if it might be a leonine name, it's not really a relative of such choices as Leon, and Leonard.
 In literature, the name is famous via Leopold Bloom, the central character of James Joyce's Ulysses and in music is associated with the distinguished conductor Leopold Stokowski, and it is also a saint's name.

Leopold

This concise one-syllable name, has two possible derivations and two positive meanings associated with it. In Hebrew, it means "heart", while in Russian it means "lion". So strong and simple Lev has both a soft and a fierce side.

 Lev is very uncommon in the US, ranking below the Top 1000, but feels eminently wearable thanks to similar names like Levi and Zev. It's a popular choice in Russia and the Netherlands, ranking in or around the Top 100 in both nations.

 The leonine Lev is the Russian birth name of the great novelist Tolstoy, and the mother of Liev Schreiber has stated that she named him in honor of the writer. In the Chaim Potok novel My Name is Asher Lev, about a Hasidic Jewish boy in New York, Lev is the character's surname.

 Actress Candace Cameron has a son she named Lev.

Lupin

One of the ultimate teasable names, an Irish saint's name now associated with the oversized comic-strip dog.  Scottish adventurer Bear (born Edward) Grylls took up the challenge when he used it for his son.

Marmaduke

This name once seemed a bit grand and pompous for an American baby boy, but a significant number of parents are now preferring it as a substantial platform for the nickname Max, among them Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, who chose it for their twin son.
 Maximilian was a traditional royal name among the Hapsburgs in Austro-Hungary and also in Bavaria. In literature, it appears as the husband of Rebecca in the eponymous novel and also in The Count of Monte Cristo. Maximilian Schell was a highly respected Austrian actor who won a Best Actor Academy Award in 1961.

Maximilian

Mikko

Mordecai, although it has a noble heritage, has never caught on in this country, because of its rather weighty image. 
 Mordecai is a symbolic name for boys born on the holiday of Purim, because this cousin of Queen Esther helped her save the Jews from destruction at the hands of Haman.
 Mordecai Richler was a Canadian author and screenwriter whose best known work is The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

Mordecai

Moshe is the original Hebrew form of Moses, also spelled Mosheh. In the past it was changed to names like Morris, Moe and Maurice.

The original Moshe has been drifting up the US popularity list for half a century now, as parents become more interested in names that have not been Anglicized. More than 600 baby boys were named Moshe in the US last year.

Moshe

Moriarty

The association with the infamous Nero, the fiddling Roman emperor, would be unavoidable. But there was also the detective Nero Wolfe, hero of many mystery stories.
 Nero was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and Lucius might be a preferable choice if you know anything about ancient Roman history.

Nero

A wise ruler of legend--his sage advice helped the Greeks win the Trojan War--whose name is a possibility for the adventurous, though related in sound to the dated Lester-Hester family. 

Nestor

Nicola may be more familiar as a female name in English-speaking countries, but it's a popular classic choice for Italian baby boys – currently just outside the Top 50 there. A historic bearer is Nicola Pisano, a renowned and influential thirteenth century sculptor. 

 Spelled with a K, it's also used in many Slavic countries, as in Nikola Tesla, the eminent Serbian-American inventor.

Nicola

In France, pronounced PRO-spare, Prosper is a fairly common name; here it presents a worthy aspirational message for a child. 
 Prosper was the name of several early saints, including a noted fifth century theologian, St. Prosper of Aquitaine, and was a favorite of English Puritans.
 Prosper has strong associations with P.Merimee, who wrote the novel Carmen, upon which the opera is based. Prospers were also the protagonists of two other books, The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff and The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke.
 The Italian version, Prospero, is another attractive option, with ties to Shakespeare's magician character in The Tempest.

Prosper

Now that many dogs are named Max, it's safe to use this sleek, solid, regal name again for your child. And with the charm of its final x, its regal meaning, and its offbeat simplicity, Rex is definitely one to consider.
 Coldplay's Will Champion used it for his twin son, and Natascha McElhone gave her little boy the doubly cool appellation Rex Coltrane, and Niki Taylor — intentionally or not — gave her son the full name of the British My Fair Lady star, Rex Harrison (who was actually christened Reginald). And quite fittingly, Rex is name of a toy T-Rex in Toy Story.
 Other options: the French version Regis or the literal King.

Starbaby name that might prove too supercharged for real life, but if like director Robert Rodriguez you're interested only in <a href="https://nameberry.com/search/boys-names/r">boys' names starting with R</a>, you may need to add Rocket (and Rebel and Racer) to your list.

Rocket

Sasha in all its forms -- which include Sacha and Sascha -- is rising in popularity for both boys and girls. Its most prominent current bearer is Sacha Baron Cohen.

Sacha

Yes, it's the name of the brightest star in the sky, but can't you just hear people saying, "Are you serious?" Singer Erykah Badu used it as a middle name for son Seven. 

Sirius

Stellan is a strong, attractive, Scandinavian possible up-and-comer, known through actor Stellan Skarsgard, and his namesake, the son of Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany. Its trendy 'an' ending and the similarity in sound to the popular Kellen/Kellan make it all the more accessible.


Stellan

An approachable mini name that could go on the birth certificate, but may work best as a nickname. Full name options include Thaddeus, Theodore, and Thomas, which was the given name of Abe's son Tad Lincoln. Taddy is a rare alternative to Teddy.

An interesting and attractive bicultural choice--the Hebrew version is used for babies born in spring, when turtledoves arrive--especially as a middle.

Whether it's used as a short form or on its own, this jazzy midcentury name is poised for a comeback along with brothers Ray and Walt.
 More often heard as a surname prefix (e.g. Vincent van Gogh, Dick Van Dyke), Van by itself has had some notable bearers, such as musician Van Cliburn (born Harvey Kevan) and actors Van Johnson (born Charles Van) and Van Heflin (born Emmett Evan). Because of its common connection to surnames, it makes for an interesting middle name option. Van reached as high as Number 265 in 1946.

Wilbur is a stylish name in the UK whose merits are just starting to be discovered in the US. Wilbur, the loveable pig who Charlotte of the Web called Some Pig, is an inspirational hero. And Wilbur and Orville Wright were early aviationists.

Wilbur

Chef Wolfgang Puck has helped soften this thunderous Germanic name; music-lovers will appreciate its association with Mozart, though the composer's middle name Amadeus is more appealing. 

Wolfgang

A New Testament tax collector was called Zaccheus, the freshest spin on this biblical favorite. 

Zaccheus

Authors or Francophiles – or both – could consider this zippy name in honor of renowned French writer Émile Zola, author of Germinal, Thérèse Raquin and the infamous open letter J'Accuse...!.

Zola

undefined's list "Wearable GPs for boys" of 53 great name ideas: Apollo - Zola!

Wearable GPs for boys

Guilty pleasure names for boys that might just work.