Five Letter Boy Names

One of the relatives on the widely-branching family of John names, Yanis is in the French Top 50 and was a fast rising choice in the UK in 2022, when it went from being outside the Top 1000 to within the Top 700.

Boris is one of the old Russian names being revived by chic Europeans; it hasn't quite made a comeback yet in the U.S., but it does have potential.

Tully is a relaxed, rarely used Irish surname possibility which might provide an alternative to Tommy, Eli, or Troy. It has a long history of usage and a number of meanings, depending on which root you follow.

A surprising number of parents choose to put the nickname Tommy on their son's birth certificate rather than the more traditional Thomas. Perhaps even more surprising is thE fact that Tommy has never been off the United States popularity charts. More recently, however, the name has been trending downward.

More familiar to English speakers in the Italian Elio form.

The streamlined Spanish Ruben is much more popular than the original Biblical Hebrew version in the US.

Errol was a swashbuckling name in the Errol Flynn era, which still has a trace of jazz cool.m thanks to jazz pianist Erroll Garner.

Faron, a soft and gentle name, has a diverse group of references. There was the medieval Saint Faron, Bishop of Meaux (who has given his name to a cheese); Faron Young, a colorful midcentury country singer known as The Hillbilly Heartthrob, and a character from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

In English, a maven can be defined as an expert or connoisseur. Maven feels more nameworthy than some other word choices given its similarity to names like Raven and Haven.

Tobias-related name that makes an attractive and modern-sounding form of the biblical original. It was recently chosen by Karolina Kurkova for her son.

Allen is the spelling of this name -- other common spellings are Alan and Allan -- most associated with the surname; it might also be the most appropriate if you're trying to steer clear of Al as a nickname, as this can easily offer you Len or Lenny as options.

Ridge may be the quintessential daytime drama name, but it's still better than most. This is one word name rising rapidly through the ranks, reentering the US Top 1000 in 2015 for the first time since 1989.

Lighthearted, spirited Irish-accented name. Works particularly well with an O' surname, as in 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People'. Patrick Dempsey chose it for one of his twin boys.

Possibly related to the Ermin- names (which gave us Emma and her variants) or to Herman OR to the Persian/Kazakh/Armenian names Arman or Armen, this is an unusual choice which fits current trends.

Though there were two apostles named Judas, everyone remembers the one who betrayed Jesus, and the name has been permanently shunned.

Adolf may have been a Swedish royal name but the terrible dictatorship of Adolf Hitler has ruled out this name Adolf for any sensible parent. In the US last year, there were more than 100 boys' given the Spanish variation Adolfo and a handful given the old school Adolphus, but none named Adolf or Adolph....thank goodness.

Like Harbor, one of the new generation of word names with appealing meanings, though (female) memoirist Haven Kimmel has tipped it decidedly toward the girls' side.

Rollo is a livelier, roly-poly, o-ending version of Roland.

Artie is a cute short form rarely given on its own, unlike the more grownup Art. But for a young Arthur, it's adorable.

Usually adding an e to the end of a name makes it more feminine, but Locke is at most recent count used only for baby boys. Still, this stylishly strong one-syllable name is theoretically gender-neutral.