Two Syllable Boy Names

Ashkan, also spelled Ashkahn, is derived from Ashk, the name of an ancient Persian king. The Ashkan or Parthian empire was in what is now central Iran.

Friday became famous as a name via the sidekick character in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, morphing into a generic term for an all-around professional assistant, as in "girl Friday." As a word for the day of the week, Friday is associated with the old English goddess Frigg and the Roman goddess Venus, though the character makes Friday more of a male name.

Proper Bostonian.

A popular name in the Middle East and one of the most evocative choices of its genre. One of the 99 names of Allah. The feminine form is Zahira.

Enigmatic choice of enigmatic John Malkovich.

Darrell and all its variations was a trendy name in the 1950s and 1960s, an update on David and Daniel that began to fall out of favor by the 1970s and fell out of the Top 1000 completely at the turn of this century.

The surname of the great artist is pronounced the same way as Mathis, the German and French form of Matthew, so it's not a stretch for use as a first name.

The chic Euro spelling of Henry is rising along with the original form.

Perfect name for TV Frasier's effete brother. In the 2020 film Palm Springs, Andy Samberg plays a character with the updated spelling Nyles.

Yusuf is the Arabic form of Joseph, used in the Middle East, as well as internationally from France and the US, to the UK, Turkey and Azerbaijan - where, as of 2023, it ranked in the Top 100.

Name long associated with eloquent Black Panther activist Eldridge Cleaver and jazz great Roy Eldridge.

Gone with Richard and Rick, Ricky has been falling since the turn of the 21st century. Probably still suffering from overuse in the 1990s.

This name, with its great meaning, has seen a notable rise for boys since the mid-2010s. It debuted on the US charts for girls in 2021.

Though Collins makes the Top 1000 for girls, it sounds strong and handsome for boys too, kind of like the newly-stylish Brooks. The final s updates it from the 80s-ish Colin or the Twilightish Cullen. Might make an innovative honorific for a grandpa Nick.

Kali is a popular girls' name in the US with dark origins: She is the Hindu goddess of death and destruction, though we'd wager many parents see the name as simply a respelling of Callie.

While it looks like a creative respelling of the ubiquitous Aidan, Aydin has Turkish roots and means "intelligent." While there will most certainly be issues with spelling, those attracted to the Turkish lineage can be assured of a smooth path to assimilation due to the current popularity of soundalike names. The name is spelled with an ı (dotless i) in Turkish.

This name of a town in Scotland, one of the earliest recorded surnames in the whole British Isles, has more vitality than Kelsey.

Olaf, though sainted and regal in Norway, is slightly oafish here. It is one of those names that has become completely familiar in the U.S. without ever becoming assimilated. Now that he's a comical character in Disney's Frozen, he might get some more attention.

See AMIAS.

A variant form of the Latin clan name Varius. It has been used for a major character in the online role-playing game World of Warcraft.