One Syllable Names for Boys

This presidential name is in style limbo today - or, some might say, in the the sweet spot of familiar but little-used.

Historically, Sire was a formal term for addressing male royalty, particularly a king. Sire can also mean "father" as both a noun and a verb.

An alternative transcription of Tzvi, the latter of which is a Top 100 pick in Israel. It's a cool, sharp-sounding micro name which would make for a great distinctive alternative to Levi.

Ubbe or Ubba was a 9th-century Viking and one of the commanders of the Great Heathen Army that invaded Anglo-Saxon England in the 9th century.

The sleek French form of Cosmo, which has leapt out of relative obscurity to well within the Top 100 boy names in France in the last decade, but still retains a sophisticated, vaguely aristocratic air. Pronunciation is like the English word comb.

One of those simple Norse names, like Lars, that is definitely worth thinking about.

If Holland works for a girl, why not Dutch for a boy? Gavin Newsom, Lt-Governor of California, kept up his geographical baby name theme when he called his 4th child Dutch William, (his other children are named Hunter, Montana and Brooklyn.)

While we're definite fans of Zaire -- the former name of the country now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo -- the "Y" really isn't necessary. This spelling variation debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2016.

A unisex Hebrew name often found in combination with others, as in Tal-El and Tal-Or.

Actor Mark Ruffalo honed this surname down to its basics when he chose it for his son. A more usable expansion might be the Irish surname Keenan/Keenen.

Sheikh, the Arabic royal title turned name, is among the Top 1000 boys' names in the UK though undiscovered in the US. With the ascendance of such royal names as King and Reign, Sheikh is sure to become more acceptable as a first name, even (dare we say?) chic.

Rock definitely has a macho image, if a somewhat caricatured one, ala The Rock. But with the rise of word names and also of tough guy names, Rock feels more plausible than it did a generation ago.

Baseball player Ryne Sandberg's nickname is RYNO. Need we say more?

Tim is a boyish short form very rarely given on its own.

This elegant surname has great potential to turn into an unusual first name, especially with its literary associations to both Stephen and Hart Crane.

Along with August, March is one of the month names perfectly suited to boys. This brisk single-syllable name – which derives from the name of Mars, the Roman god of war – is worth considering as either a first or middle option. As a surname, it brings warm memories of the girls of Little Women, and of twentieth century actor Fredric.

The kind of name last found in northern Wisconsin in the 1950s, and even then it was probably a nickname for Delbert.

In the Bible, Joram and "all his chariots" pass over Zair.