classic and unusual character names for men

Heard in a sixties spy movie, The Quiller Memorandum, this uncommon occupational name has an offbeat charm.

An Irish last-name-first-name that could make a child feel distinctive, while still having the regular guy nickname of Quinn. Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller spelled their son's name Quinlin.

An adolescent boy might have problems with the first syllable.

Raphael is a romantic archangel name that sounds both artistic and powerful. Raphael is also a great cross-cultural choice, with significance for people with both Latinate and Jewish roots, plus plenty of grounding in the English-speaking world.

Though it's used for boys, most non-French people would hear it as a girls’ name. Most would be surprised to learn that Rene has always charted in the US Top 1000 for boys.

Variation on Rhidian, a Welsh saint's name.

Rider is a rock-and-roll baby name, in every sense of the term, though usually spelled Ryder, as in the sons of Kate Hudson and John Leguizamo.

Now that it's no longer fashionable for girls, Robin is rising for boys again. Robin Hood, Robin Williams, Christopher Robin, and Robin the Boy Wonder are all male namesakes, after all. It reentered the US Top 1000 boys names in 2015 for the first time since 1999 and continues to bounce around the lower end of the Top 1000.

This lovely, quintessentially British appellation, also spelled Rosamond, is the name of a legendary twelfth-century beauty. Rare on these shores, it is more than worthy of importation.

Runes are symbols in ancient Germanic alphabets. They are often viewed as mysterious and therefore as a name, Rune imparts a feeling of folkloric mystery. As intriguing as that might be, the homonym ruin creates a lot of teasing potential.

Russian form of Roderick given to a small number of American boys each year.

Sabbath is a faith-inspired word name, like Sunday or Faith, that is attracting some notice since heavy metal musician Zakk Wylde chose it for his son. But then there's the band Black Sabbath, which gives the name a more devilish twist. While there's nothing intrinsically male or female about Sabbath as a first name, it squeaked onto the Social Security roster for five boys in 2012, but was not recorded for girls. Sabbath comes from the word for "day of rest" in many ancient cultures.

Fervent fans of The Catcher in the Rye might want to consider this as a literary tribute. More mainstream alternative: Holden.

An unusual name related to the willow family.