If you love one-syllable names...

Clay is a rich, earthy one-syllable name with a southern-inflected handsome-rogue image, featured on soap operas and reality TV. Its longer forms are Clayton and Clayborne.

As flinty and steely as Mr. Eastwood.

This kind of plainspoken nature name (think River and Sunshine) may still carry a whiff of the hippie, but this one has a nice, airy feel.

Clove is a spice name that is a tad more piquant than Saffron or Cinnamon. It might get more attention now as a member of The Hunger Games family of names.

Even though in the past Clyde may have been identified as half of the infamous outlaw duo with partner Bonnie Parker—especially after the 1967 movie in which he was played by Warren Beatty—Clyde has always had an element of jazzy cool that could overcome all the rest.

Cole -- a short name that embodies a lot of richness and depth -- has long been associated with the great songwriter Cole Porter. It's quite popular in Scotland.

Colm is a popular Irish name for boys that could immigrate, especially with its peaceful meaning. Colm Toibin is a contemporary Irish novelist and critic, author of The Master and Brooklyn; Colm Meaney is an Irish actor. Pronunciation is two syllables instead of one, like Colin with an 'm' at the end. Colm is related to Columba, Colom, Colum, Callum, and Malcolm.

Colt is the kind of unconventionally macho name that is so trendy right now, because of or in spite of its association with horses and guns.

Cove is an up-and-coming nature name whose cool sound and peaceful image saw it rising for both sexes... until COVID-19 hit. It remained steady in use for boys in 2021, but actually increased for girls, although it remains a seriously rare and distinctive choice for either gender.

Though rarely heard now, Coy has been around for a century and was not an uncommon name a hundred years ago. There have been a couple of NFL players named Coy, Coy Bowles is in the Zac Brown band, and of course there was Coy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard. Due to the flirty connotations of the word "coy", McCoy is a more popular and recommended choice today.

Cool, solid, and often spiritual, Creed derives from the Latin word credo meaning "I believe". It appeared sporadically in the US Top 1000 back in the late 19th century, but remained only quietly used the 2000s. By 2016 it was back in the charts, and as of 2023, Creed is given to around 400 babies each year.

Pronunciation would not be obvious to Americans.

A light and breezy nature name that's currently in style limbo, despite its pleasant meaning.

Dane is a more masculine Dana alternative, with added style edge. Dane has been on the US Top 1000 for more than seventy years, having entered the list in 1945.

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

Dawn's heyday in the US, Canada and the UK came in the 1960s and 70s. It peaked at #14 in the US in 1971, but has since sunk from sight to be eclipsed by other names with the same meaning, such as Aurora, Roxana or Zariah.

A bright and optimistic middle name choice.

Dean may sound to some like a retro surfer boy name, but it is once again climbing up the popularity chart in the USA. For decades it was associated with Dean (born Dino) Martin; more recent representatives include Dean Cain, Dean McDermott and Dean Koontz -- not to mention Jared Padalecki's dreamy Dean Forester in Gilmore Girls.