Boy

For anyone seeking a more unusual version of Alexander, this is a real winner.

Alexander has been in a Top 25 boys' name in the US for 30 years now. But namers are still attracted to its imposing historic pedigree.

Finnian is a fair jig of a name, energetic and easy on the ear. Finnian (and brother Finian) is also familiar in its alternate spelling through the classic 1968 Broadway musical Finian's Rainbow, later made into a film starring Fred Astaire as Finian McLonergan.

Lucian is a sleeker, more sophisticated version of Lucius that is climbing in tandem with other Lu-starting names.

Warm-hued spelling spin on Rowan that was chosen by Sharon Stone for one of her three young sons.

Ronan is the compelling legendary name of twelve Irish and Scottish saints that is now drawing some deserved attention; this cousin of the ascending Roman and Rowan was chosen by actor Daniel Day-Lewis and his writer-director wife Rebecca Miller in 1998, and more recently by actress Catherine Bell.

This unusual Welsh mythological name just might appeal to architect parents wishing to honor Frank Lloyd Wright, who called his two famous residences Taliesin and Taliesin West.

Some sources give Thorin as a variation of the thunder god name Thor, equivalent to Thoren, while others says it comes from the verb að þora, meaning "to dare." This is a dwarf's name that first appeared in the thirteenth century mythology compilation Prose Edda, which, along with the Poetic Edda, represents nearly all of pagan Scandinavian mythology. Tolkien later used the name for character Thorin II Oakenshield of The Hobbit.