character names-- boys edition

Oliver is an international star, ranking near the top of the charts in the US and throughout the English-speaking world, along with a host of European and Latin American countries, from Norway to Chile, Slovenia to Switzerland.

Otto is cool again. Long a quintessential Old Man Name, Otto has been promoted to trending darling of adventurous baby namers.

The French-accented Pascal was historically used for sons born at Easter, and can make an interesting choice for a boy with Gallic roots arriving around that holiday.

Paxton stands out from a lot of other two-syllable surname names for two reasons: the dynamic letter X in the middle, and its admirable peace association, providing the great nickname Pax.

Paz is an appealing Spanish name meaning "peace", derived from the Latin "pax". It's usually feminine in Spanish, but could also make an interesting literary choice for a boy, honoring the writer Octavio Paz.

Effortlessly cool with a hint of the mystical, Phoenix rolls a lot of trends into one: it's a place-name and a bird name, it ends in the stylish letter x, it's got in-built nicknames, and it's unisex too. Familiar but not over-popular, Phoenix ranks in the US and UK Top 1000s.

Britney Spears put this old-fashioned surname name back on the map when she chose it as her son Sean's middle name, which the family uses as his first.

This name, similar to Ryan and Rylan, dropped out of the Top 500 in 2016 after a six year stint in it. It's the full birth name of legendary musician Ry Cooder.

The energetic Russian nickname name Sasha is being used increasingly on its own, though since the prominence of the First Daughter, more than 90% of the American babies named Sasha are girls. Sacha Baron Cohen bears one of the alternate spellings.

Seneca's distinguished heritage as the name of the ancient Roman philosopher-playwright who tutored Nero, and of an Iroquois tribe makes this an interesting choice for either sex.

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.

The connection to Freud is a strong one, but this German name has a strong and interesting sound and great nickname potential: Ziggy, Iggy, Sim, Sid...

Sleek and smart, with a hint of mystique about it, Silas is a recent addition to the US Top 100. Both mythological and Biblical in origin, Silas joins the ranks of Isaiah, Atlas, Elias, and Sebastian: polished and contemporary feeling names with plenty of history.

Could be a novel way for a boy's name to honor an ancestral Claire.

This gentle Scandinavian name, soft and sensitive, is being discovered in a major way by parents in the US. It's most closely identified with the nineteenth century philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, but there have been modern fictional Sorens as well, in The Matrix Reloaded and the book series Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Charlie and Lola, and Underworld.

Spencer is a name that has everything: it's both distinguished sounding and accessible, dignified but Spencer Tracy-like friendly. Picked by several celebrities (a couple of times even for a girl), adding up to an enthusiastically recommended choice.

Easy to pronounce and with good nickname potential, this bird name is given to a handful of boys and girls each year in the US

A name with some sterling qualities, most associated with the British currency and silver markets. Sterling has several recent TV associations, with characters Roger Sterling (on Mad Men) and Sterling Archer (on Archer), and actor Sterling K. Brown (on This is Us).

Sullivan is a jaunty Celtic three-syllable name, with a real twinkle in its eye. It was immortalized in the 1930s classic film Sullivan's Travels and was chosen for one of Patrick Dempsey's twin boys. Nickname Sully is equally jaunty.