boys names I like

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn was born on the Greek Island of Lefkada, the origin of the name he used as a first. But as a writer, he was known as Koizumi Yakumo, a collector of Japanese folk tales and ghost stories. Truly an international choice.

The great African-American Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes put this one on the map; actor Laurence Fishburne adopted it for his now grown son, born in 1987. Despite these popular associations, the name didn't make it into the US Top 1000 until 2013. This name is even less used in England or Wales, where as recently as 2014 no births were registered using this name.

The fashionable occupational last name category gets some French flair with this, Tennessee Williams's middle name.

Leo is a strong-yet-friendly name that was common among the Romans, used for thirteen popes, and is now at its highest point ever in the US thanks in part to Leonardo "Leo" DiCaprio.

Leonard is the name of several saints, including one who is the patron saint of childhood, and another medieval saint who's the patron of prisoners--known for freeing prisoners he deemed worthy of God. Popular from 1900 to 1930, Leonard is perhaps more notable for those who dropped the name when they entered show biz than those who kept it: former Leonards include Roy Rogers and Tony Randall. Two musical Leonards did keep their names though--composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein and poet-singer Leonard Cohen. Leonard Woolf was the husband and publisher of great English novellist Virginia Woolf. These days, modern parents tend to prefer Leo or the romantic Italian Leonardo, especially since Leonard does not get pronounced with the trendy "Leo" sound.

Liam is the top boys' name in the US, holding the Number 1 spot for the past seven years and also ranking as one of the most popular boys' names around the western world.

Lionel is one leonine name that hasn't taken off as cousins Leo and Leonardo have, though it did reenter the Top 1000 in 2010 after several years away; it was at its highest point in the 1920s and 1930s.

While Marlowe (and Marlow and Marlo) are surname names that are not intrinsically or traditionally gendered and so in theory work equally well for boys and girls, only about 5 percent of the babies given these attractive names are male.

Miller is an up-and-coming choice in the stylish occupational genre, among the fastest-rising names for both boys and girls in the US in 2023.

Morrison is one of the more uncommon patronymics; it could be used to honor an ancestral Morris, or one of the well-known surnamed Morrisons: Toni, Jim or Van.

This evocative green nature name, heard much more frequently as a surname, is associated with playwright Moss Hart (born Robert), who co-wrote (with George S. Kaufman) such enduring Broadway comedies as The Man Who Came to Dinner and You Can't Take it With You.

Takes Monroe out of the Dead Presidents category and gives it new life.

Evocative of the great Nobel Prize winning poet Pablo Neruda, real last name Basoalito, who took on the surname Neruda to honor a Czech poet of that name. One of the most poetic boy names starting with N, or with any letter, for that matter.

Somehow more modern and likable than Morris or Doris.

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.

More and more frequently heard as the Gallic version of Oliver, Olivier could be seen as a tribute to the great British actor, Sir Laurence O.

In the past, Orson has felt like a one-person moniker, tied to film director Orson Welles, who dropped his given name of George in favor of his more distinctive middle. While the Citizen Kane creator seemed to own the name during his lifetime, it's now an interesting possibility for any parent seeking an unusual yet solid name. It's started to appear to the celeb set too -- both Paz Vega and Lauren Ambrose have little Orsons.