Five Letter Boy Names

What with Mason scooting up the charts, this attractive place-name, with its thick Georgia accent, could make a more distinctive alternative.

Conjures up the rich brown colors of raw and burnt umber, but it may be too close to girls' Amber.

Yancy has two separate American origins — first as the Native American term for "Yankee," and second as the Americanized variation of the common Dutch surname Jansen. Jan being the Dutch form of John, Yancy could work to honor anyone in your life with a John-related name.

Varin was derived from the Germanic tribe name Varni, who took their name from a word meaning "to defend." Varin was used in the Middle Ages, along with the variation Warin.

Kalel first entered the US Top 1000 as a one-off appearance in 2009, then reentered in 2013. It's possible that some parents see it as a spelling variant of the classic Arabic name Khalil, meaning friend. Or maybe some—Nicolas Cage, we're looking at you—were inspired by the birth name of Clark Kent, AKA Superman, Kal-El. Cage was long associated with attempts to remake a big screen story about the Man of Steel. He and wife Alice Kim gave the name to their son in 2005.

The name of the great French novelist, author of the timeless The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, would make a surprising middle name choice.

Orcus is the Roman equivalent of the Greek Hades, god of the underworld. His name is ultimately derived from the Greek word hórkos, meaning "oath,"

If Viola is a credible girl's name, why not the mellow Cello for a boy.

Halen is a cool surname name that will be especially appealing to fans of Van Halen.

Derivation of Hutchinson.

This Farsi name, reminiscent of Bodhi, is popular among the North African and Persian diaspora in France, where it ranks in the top 400. The name derives from Mahdi, who in Islam is the prophesied redeemer who will rule before the Day of Judgment and will rid the world of evil.

Lively Italian name borne by composer Ennio Morricone, best known for his film music. If you're interested in Italian names for boys, this makes a choice that's off the beaten track.

Popular Japanese name exemplified by the distinguished conductor Seiji Ozawa.

Dark horse Irish surname.

Takes Monroe out of the Dead Presidents category and gives it new life.

A Quranic name especially popular in South Asia, it is also used across Europe, from Bosnia to France, from Spain to England. It appears in the Quran as the name of Maryam's (the Virgin Mary) father, and as the father of Moses, making it a counterpart to Hebrew Joachim or a variant of Hebrew Amran. The meaning of Imran isn't listed in the Quran, however, from its Hebrew roots, it could mean "exalted nation", or it could come from the Arabic word eimran meaning "prosperity".

A geographical term for a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, caused by glaciation.

Despite Eneko's very sweet meaning, it packs a lot of historical punch. Eneko Aritza was the first Basque king of Pamplona. It is somewhat related to the more well known Inigo.