Two Syllable Boy Names

Matthias is the ancient Biblical form of Matthew, widely used along with brother Mathias in the US for the past 20 years.

A variation of Lionel that has made slow but substanial gains in recent years, perhaps helped by the resurgence of Leo. It is also the Spanish and Portuguese variant.

Jamal is an Arabic boys’ name meaning "beauty." Jamal and its variants are popular in the Muslim community, although Jamal’s popularity within the US has decreased in recent years.

Rigby is a rather stiff British surname, which might call to mind the Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" or, from the recent past, Cathy Rigby, the first American woman to win a medal in World Gymnastics competition. The problem with Rigby may be its similarity to the word "rigid."

Long-time connection to the movie biz doesn't lend it any pizzazz.

Attractive British place-name with a sense of humor. Fun fact: John Wayne played five characters with the first or second name of Kirby.

Chelsea for a boy? Yes--and we've got two maleberry Chelseas to prove it (one of whom even wrote a blog for us about his experience)! Boy Chelseas would more likely be named for the British football team than the old Joni Mitchell song sung by Judy Collins.

Multipurpose pet name serving Isidore, Isaac, Israel, and -- increasingly -- Isabel.

This spelling is now more popular than the original, though it's not quite as popular as Jayden or Jaden.

Immigrated into American pop culture in the person of 1940s superstar Tyrone Power, Jr. It has been on a steady decline since the 1970s.

Ukrainian Artem (ar-TEM) and Russian Artyom/Artiom (which can also be transcribed as Artem, though still pronounced ar-TYOM in Russian) are ultimately derived from the name of the Greek goddess Artemis: goddess of the moon and hunting. The meaning of her name is unknown, though it may be related to the Greek for "safe" or for "butcher".

Lovers of the name Carter and the Kardashians method of baby naming have popularized this choice, one of many boys' names starting with K that began life as boys' names starting with C. Karter has been in the charts since 2005, riding on the success of the original Carter. Since 2014, Karter has been just inside the Top 200.

Tennis star Novak Djokovic introduced this new first name to the English-speaking world, though it had long been familiar as a surname. The celebrity Novak, one of the greatest tennis players of all time, might be an inspirational role model for a baby Novak. And the name Novak goes well with other stylish names that mean new, including Nova, Neo, and Nouvel.

Although now usually considered a female name in the US, Carol actually had a good run of popularity for boys too, peaking at #325 in 1937 and remaining in the US Top 1000 until the mid 1960s, when its popularity for both sexes began to decline. It derives from Carolus, the Latin form of Charles.

This is the Turkish form of Alif, the name of the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. Actor Natalie Portman gave another spelling to her son, Aleph. Elif can also mean "slender", from the Turkish phrase elif gibi, literally "shaped like Elif."

Aro is a cute name from Scandinavia which, given the popularity of similar names like Milo, Arlo etc might be ripe for more usage outside of the Nordic countries.

Currently in the Danish Top 50, Milas blends the trendiness of Silas with the old-school bookishness of Miles. Milas might derive from Latin roots, meaning soldier, or from Slavic roots meaning great/powerful.

A rarely used last-name-first-name, never as popular as cousins Garrett or Derek.

Kareem is the more popular form in the US, thanks to basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but Karim is right on his heels after being among the fastest-rising names of 2022. French soccer player Karim Benzema's recent success on the elite team Real Madrid may play in a part in the name's upswing.

Ethereal Japanese boy name.