Hipster country classic baby boy names

  1. Ashby
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "ash tree farm"
    • Description:

      This Ashley-like surname name actually made the US Top 1000 around the turn of the 20th century. Used very quietly today in equal numbers -- about a dozen each -- for boys and girls. Ashby is a major thoroughfare in Berkeley, California.
  2. Barrett
    • Origin:

      German
    • Meaning:

      "bear strength"
    • Description:

      Barrett is one of many surname names that are up and coming for boys in recent years. Barrett joints Bennett, Beckett, and others in the trend of "-tt" ending boy names taking over the charts.
  3. Booker
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "scribe"
    • Description:

      Booker would make for a very cool name, for writers, reformers, R & B fans and those wanting to pay tribute to Booker T. Washington.
  4. Briar
    • Cable
      • Origin:

        French
      • Meaning:

        "rope"
      • Description:

        Drop the C and arrive at an established biblical name.
    • Cashel
      • Origin:

        Irish
      • Meaning:

        "castle, stone fort"
      • Description:

        Cashel is one of the many appealing Irish names that have not yet emigrated to the US. Cashel was chosen by actor Daniel Day-Lewis and his writer-director wife Rebecca Miller for their son.
    • Colton
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "from the coal or dark town"
      • Description:

        Colton is a trendy two-syllable choice, with the popular 'on/en' ending.
    • Dalton
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "the settlement in the valley"
      • Description:

        Dalton is a name with multi-faceted appeal. Many are attracted to the name's resemblance to other two-syllable n-ending favorites: Colton, Holden, and cousins. Others see it as a trendy Western name, recalling the legendary Dalton Brothers gang. It also has something of an upscale, preppy feel connected to the exclusive New York private school.
    • Finn
      • Origin:

        Irish
      • Meaning:

        "fair or white"
      • Description:

        Finn is a name with enormous energy and charm, that of the greatest hero of Irish mythology, Finn MacCool (aka Fionn mac Cuumhaill), an intrepid warrior with mystical supernatural powers, noted as well for his wisdom and generosity.
    • Flynn
      • Origin:

        Irish
      • Meaning:

        "descendant of the red-haired one"
      • Description:

        Flynn, a charming Irish surname, is still used only quietly, despite its easygoing, casual cowboy charm, unlike Finn which is a star of this genre. Flynn was the choice of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr for their baby boy, and is also the middle name -- used as his first -- of a son of Miranda's fellow supermodel Elle Macpherson, of Gary Oldman's son Gulliver and Marley Shelton's daughter West.
    • Forrest
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "dweller near the woods"
      • Description:

        Forrest is one of the earliest appealingly sylvan, outdoorsy choices, borne by newsman Sawyer, actor Whitaker, and football Hall of Famer Gregg. Forrest Gates was a character on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer."
    • Holden
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "hollow valley"
      • Description:

        Holden is a classic case of a name that jumped out of a book and onto birth certificates--though it took quite a while. Parents who loved J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye are flocking to the name of its hero, Holden Caulfield -- not coincidentally in tune with the Hudson-Hayden-Colton field of names. (Trivia note: Salinger supposedly came up with the name while looking at a movie poster promoting a film starring William Holden and Joan Caulfield, though other sources say he was named after Salinger's friend Holden Bowler.) Another impetus was provided by a soap opera character introduced in 1985.
    • Lawson
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "son of Lawrence"
      • Description:

        Appealing way, à la Dawson, to honor an ancestral Lawrence. Lawson is also an English pop rock band. Lawson has history or use that dates far back, but it fell off of the charts in 1950. The name resurfaced in 2001 and has been climbing since. Lawson has that surname feel and -son suffix that parents are loving in recent years.
    • Leon
      • Origin:

        Greek variation of Leo
      • Meaning:

        "lion"
      • Description:

        Currently overshadowed by the bright and lively Leo, Leon feels a slightly more serious, more quietly confident than its short and trending counterpart.
    • Lincoln
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "town by the pool"
      • Description:

        Lincoln cracked the Top 50 for boys' names for the first time in 2016, more than 150 years after the death of its most famous bearer. This is especially remarkable because, as crazy as it seems now, Lincoln was deeply out of fashion as recently as the late 90s, consistently hovering near the bottom of the Top 1000.
    • Louis
      • Origin:

        German and French
      • Meaning:

        "renowned warrior"
      • Description:

        Kate and William shocked the world when they announced that they'd named their third child Louis -- Prince Louis Arthur Charles, to be more precise. But we've been predicting a comeback for this classic name for a long time.
    • Milo
      • Origin:

        Latin and Old German
      • Meaning:

        "soldier or merciful"
      • Description:

        Milo is most commonly considered to be Germanic name derived from the Latin word miles, meaning "soldier." However, there is evidence to suggest it also may have independently spawned from the Slavic root milu, meaning "merciful." Milo predates brother name Miles, a variation that evolved when the name immigrated to the British Isles in the Middle Ages. Mylo is an alternate spelling.
    • Sawyer
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "woodcutter"
      • Description:

        Sawyer is a surname with a more relaxed and friendly feel than many others, and is one of the hottest occupational names right now, with the Nameberry seal of approval. Sawyer is becoming one of the top unisex names. Both Sara Gilbert and Diane Farr used Sawyer for their daughters, while it was given a boost as a boys' name by the character Sawyer on Lost, an alias for the character really named James Ford.
    • Tilden
      • Origin:

        English place-name
      • Meaning:

        "fertile valley"
      • Description:

        Though it has some distinguished political and tennis world associations, most modern parents would go for the more contemporary sounding Holden. Tilden Park is a beautiful hillside wilderness in the San Francisco Bay Area.