Boys names

Damian has sidestepped its demonic horror movie overtones, leaving a basically friendly and charming Irish image. A well-used upper-class name in England, it is growing in popularity here.

This name was transposed from the word for a church officer to a baby name when Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe chose it for their son, after a baseball player ancestor, and Don Johnson followed suit. Its popularity also got a boost from Nashville character Deacon Claybourne -- only to fall a bit in recent years.

Spelling variation more popular in Germany than the original, which is also well-used there.

Henry is back. The classic Henry climbed back onto the Top 10 in the US in 2021 for the first time in over a century, and now stands at Number 8.

Kellan Lutz is the attractive young actor who plays Emmett Cullen in the Twilight series.

The related Lucas and Luke are both hugely popular boy names in the US and internationally, and now Luca has joined them on boys' popularity lists around the world.

Few people would have considered the surname of this famous Victorian poet as a first name until Russell Crowe chose it for his son in 2006. But, as a rhythmic three-syllable patronymic, Tennyson has a lot going for it, not least of all the appealing nickname Tenny; it would make a novel choice for the son of a Dennis.

Wolf is a name with a split personality. It can be seen as one of the fierce animal names, like Fox and Bear and Puma, with a touch of the werewolf, or it can be viewed as a quieter, Wolf Blitzer kind of name, fairly common in German (where is pronounced Vulf) and Jewish families, sometimes as a short form of Wolfgang, or even Wolfram or Wolfhart.