Two Syllable Boy Names

Whitten is a stylish patronymic surname derived from Witt and Witte — German and Dutch nicknames-turned-surnames describing people with white-blonde hair or a pale complexion. Cool-guy nickname Whit only adds to the appeal.

Fenmore Baldwin is a character on The Young and the Restless, his first name being his mother's maiden name. In the real world, it was given to virtually no babies last year.

Better suited to a stuffy school than a little boy.

This Biblical name, which comes complete with cool nickname Ash, belonged to a son of Benjamin. Ashbel Smith was an American medical student befriended by James Fenimore Cooper when they were in Paris in the 1830s.

Again, North is so much crisper.

If Brave isn't enough for you, you might try Braver, which has an even stronger meaning. Braver's -er ending gives it surname style.

The spelling used by a character on TNT's Animal Kingdom and, we hope, few others.

Boys' names beginning with "El" were all the rage in the 1910s, but today Elmore - along with Elwin, Ellsworth and others - has barely been used for decades. It has literary connections through writer Elmore "Dutch" Leonard. More recently, several children's book characters have given the name a cuddly feel: Holly Hobbie's Elmore the Porcupine, and Elmore Green in Lauren Child's "The New Small Person".

Variously spelled Swithun or Swithin, and associated with St. Swithin's day, July 15th, which is famous as a weather predictor a la Groundhog's Day: supposedly, the weather on his feast day will continue for forty days. This would certainly make a unique choice.

Berold is one of the more obscure boy names meaning bear, which also include Arthur, Orson, and (in a different vein) Teddy.