Literary and Bohemian Influences

Izan, pronounced with the same vowel sounds and emphasis as Ethan, ranks among the Top 20 boys' names in Spain, where it's been popular for two decades.

Used more for girls in Europe, but definitely sounds masculine enough for a boy here.

An Ancient Greek name with a huge dose of literary credibility. Laertes was the father of Odysseus in Greek mythology, who therefore pops up in Homer's The Odyssey.

The father of Oedipus in Greek mythology, a king of Thebes and husband of Jocasta. After hearing a prophecy that he would be killed by his son, Laius left the infant Oedipus for dead. The boy survived and years later he killed Laius in a quarrel on the road.

Lucan is a rarely heard Irish name, a Luke form with the trendy an ending.

Malcolm is a warm and welcoming Scottish appellation (originally Mael-Colium) that fits into that golden circle of names that are distinctive but not at all odd. A royal name in Scotland, Malcolm is also a hero name for many via radical civil rights activist Malcolm X.

Maren is one of the many twenty-first-century takes on Mary--but we find the more classic Marin spelling preferable. When spelled Maren, the pronunciation seems more clearly to resemble Mary, with the emphasis on the first syllable. Marin, the spelling also used for the beautiful coastal county north of San Francisco, is often pronounced with the emphasis on the second syllable, as in Marie.

Nimue (Lady of the Lake) is the ruler of Avalon in the Arthurian legend. Nimue plays a pivotal role in many stories, including giving King Arthur his sword Excalibur, enchanting Merlin, and raising Lancelot after the death of his father.

An old name wrapped in myth and legend, Pelleas is most familiar as the male lead in Debussy's opera Pelleas et Melisande, based on a play by the same name by Maurice Maeterlinck. Pelleas, sometimes spelled Pellias or some other way, is also the name of one of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table.

This ancient name makes an intriguing alternative to River.