Boy Names: The Complete Guide to Naming a Son

Boy Names

I firmly believe there’s never been a better time to name a son. We have more freedom than ever when it comes to choosing our children’s names, and parents are exercising it for all children, boys and girls alike.

At the same time, it’s tough to know how far to go. Is Rowan truly unisex, or will your son dislike sharing his name with girls? Should you use a name like Wilder or Hayes if it’s not on your family tree? Is any kid really cool enough to answer to Cannon or King? And what if you just plain prefer traditional boy names? Can a Thomas or a William still love his name in a generation of kids called Maverick and River?

The answers will depend on your family. That’s tough to hear, right? I mean … you were probably looking for a more definitive answer. Sorry ’bout that.

But I can offer some good advice for figuring out what works for your particular circumstances, and tons of lists once you’ve narrowed down your style.

CLASSIC BOY NAMES

If you’re looking for the most classic of the classics, start with this list.

SWEET SPOT BOY NAMES

Trying to balance the current and the traditional-ish? Sweet spot boy names might be for you.

LONG NAMES AND SHORT NAMES, TOO

Thinking you’d like to keep it simple? Or do you know that you like your boy names long and elaborate? Either way, there’s a list for you.

MEANINGFUL CHOICES

If finding a name with a great meaning is important, start here.

You might also consider this list of modern virtue names.

BORROWED FROM NATURE

The most popular boy names from nature can be found here. You might also consider winter boy names or autumn boy names, or this list of summer-inspired choices.

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT?

This list of the rarest boy names given in 2019 is a good start.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

STARTING WITH A

Abbán
Abel
Abner
Abram
Ace
Achilles
Adam
Adlai
Adonis
Adrian
Aiden
Aidric
Aladar
Alaric
Alasdair
Albert
Alexander
Alfred
Aloysius
Alvar
Amaru
Ambrose
Amory
Amedeo
Amos
Anakin
Anders
Andrew
Angus
Ansel
Anselm
Anthony
Antonio
Aoyun
Apollo
Archer
Ari
Ariel
Arjen
Arlo
Arsenio
Arthur
Arto
Avery
Asa
Asher
Ashley
Atlas
Atticus
Aubrey
August
Axel
Ayrton

STARTING WITH B

Balthasar
Banister
Barnaby
Bart
Bartholomew
Bayard
Baylor
Beau
Bede
Beckett
Benedict
Benjamin
Berlin
Bernard
Bertram
Bishop
Blaine
Blair
Blaise
Blake
Blue
Boaz
Booker
Boris
Bowie
Bram
Bramwell
Brandon
Brannan
Brendan
Brennan
Bridger
Brighton
Brio
Brooklyn
Bruce
Bruno
Byron

STARTING WITH C

Caden
Cadogan
Caelin
Cairo
Caius
Calder
Calvin
Callum
Camden
Campbell
Caradoc
Carlin
Carter
Cashel
Casimir
Casper
Caspian
Cassius
Cecil
Cedric
Chadwick
Chance
Charles
Chauncey
Chayton
Chester
Christian
Christopher
Cian
Ciarán
Ciel
Cillian
Clarence
Clark
Claus
Clayton
Clifford
Clive
Clyde
Cobalt
Cohen
Cole
Conan
Conrad
Constantine
Conway
Cooper
Corbin
Coriander
Cormac
Cormoran
Cornelius
Cosmo
Cove
Craig
Credence
Crescent
Crew
Crimson
Crispin
Crosby
Cruz
Cullen
Curtis
Cynewulf
Cyril
Cyrus

STARTING WITH D

Dallas
Damian
Dana
Daniel
Dante
Dashiell
David
Davis
Dawson
Deckard
Declan
Delmer
Denny
Desmond
Devlin
Devon
Dexter
Diego
Dimitri
Dirk
Dixon
Django
Dominic
Donald
Donncha
Doyle
Drummer
Duncan
Dune
Dylan

STARTING WITH E

Eames
Eamon
Eben
Edgar
Edward
Edwin
Egan
Elam
Elgin
Eli
Elijah
Ellington
Elliot
Ellis
Elmer
Eloy
Elvis
Elwood
Emil
Emmett
Endeavour
Ender
Enoch
Eric
Errol
Esteban
Ethan
Etienne
Eugene
Eustace
Evan
Ever
Everest
Everett
Everly
Evren
Ewan
Ezekiel
Ezra

STARTING WITH F

Fabian
Fabrizio
Fahim
Fate
Felix
Ferdinand
Fergus
Ferris
Fifer
Finn
Finnian
Fintan
Flannery
Flint
Florin
Flynn
Forrest
Fox
Francis
Frank
Frankie
Fraser
Frederick

STARTING WITH G

Gabriel
Gage
Gail
Garrett
Gaspar
Gavin
Gentry
Geoffrey
George
Giacomo
Gideon
Gilbert
Giles
Glenn
Gordon
Grady
Graeme
Grant
Gray
Gregor
Griffin
Grover
Gulliver
Guy

STARTING WITH H

Habakkuk
Hartley
Haddon
Hadrian
Hamish
Hammond
Harbor
Harley
Harold
Harpo
Harris
Harrison
Harry
Harvest
Harvey
Haven
Hawthorne
Hayes
Heath
Heathcliff
Hector
Hendrix
Henley
Henning
Henry
Henson
Herschel
Hiram
Hoke
Holden
Holland
Horatio
Hosea
Hudson
Hugh
Hugo
Huxley

STARTING WITH I

Ian
Icarus
Icel
Iciar
Ignatius
Ilo
Indiana
Indigo
Inigo
Innes
Ira
Isaac
Ishmael
Ivan
Ivo

STARTING WITH J

Jack
Jackson
Jacob
Jacoby
Jago
Jair
James
Jarvis
Jason
Jasper
Javan
Javan (2)
Javier
Jax
Jay
Jayden
Jean-Marc
Jeb
Jeremy
Jesse
Jethro
Jett
Joaquin
Johann
Jonah
Jones
Jory
Joseph
Josiah
Joshua
Joss
Josue
Jotham
Jove
Jubal
Jubilee
Jude
Jules
Julian
Julius
Junipero
Junix
Jupiter
Justin

STARTING WITH K

Kahlo
Kai
Kalan
Keanu
Keats
Kelly
Kelson
Kemp
Kendall
Kenelm
Kennedy
Kenneth
Kingsley
Kirby
Kismet
Knox
Koa
Kyle

 STARTING WITH L

Lachlan
Lael
Lafcadio
Lance
Lando
Landon
Landry
Langley
Lars
Laszlo
Lawson
Lazarus
Leander
Leandro
Ledger
Leendert
Leif
Leighton
Leith
Leland
Lennon
Leo
Leofric
Leonardo
Levi
Lewis
Lex
Liam
Lincoln
Linden
Lindsay
Lindsey
Linus
Lionel
Logan
Loki
London
Lorcan
Lorenzo
Lorne
Lovett
Lowell
Lucian
Luciano
Lucifer
Lucius
Luke
Lux
Lyle
Lysander

STARTING WITH M

Mackenzie
Macsen
Magnus
Malachi
Malcolm
Marcel
Marco
Marcus
Marius
Mars
Marshall
Martin
Mason
Matisse
Matteo
Matthew
Matthias
Maurice
Maverick
Maximilian
Merritt
Michael
Miles
Milo
Monroe
Monroe (2)
Montgomery
Morgan
Moses
Moss

STARTING WITH N

Nash
Nathaniel
Neil
Neville
Newton
Nico
Nigel
Niles
Noah
Nolan
Nyx

BOY NAMES STARTING WITH O

Oakley
Olin
Oliver
Omar
Orion
Orlando
Orrin
Oscar
Osiris
Oswald
Otis
Otto
Ovid
Owen

 STARTING WITH P

Pacific
Patrick
Payton
Percival
Peregrine
Perseus
Peter
Philip
Philo
Phineas
Pierce
Pilot
Prentice
Primo
Ptolemy

STARTING WITH Q

Qirin
Quentin
Quest
Quillan
Quinlan
Quinn

STARTING WITH R

Rafferty
Rafiq
Raleigh
Ralph
Randall
Ranger
Ransom
Raphael
Raymond
Reason
Reginald
Reid
Red
Remember
Remus
Remy
Resolute
Rex
Reynard
Rhett
Rhodes
Rhys
Richard
Riley
Riordan
River
Roan
Roarke
Robin
Rocket
Rockwell
Roel
Roger
Rohan
Roland
Roman
Romeo
Ronan
Rory
Roscoe
Roswell
Roux
Rowan
Roy
Rudy
Rudyard
Rufinian
Rufus
Rumer
Rumi
Rupert
Russell
Ryan
Ryder

 STARTING WITH S

Sailor
Saint
Salvador
Samson
Samuel
Santiago
Sasha
Sawyer
Saxon
Sebastian
Seger
September
Sergio
Seth
Sequoia
Shannon
Shepherd
Shiloh
Siebrand
Sidney
Silas
Simeon
Simon
Sinclair
Sloane
Smith
Solace
Somerled
Sonnet
Soren
Spencer
St John
Stanley
Steinbeck
Stellan
Stephen
Sterling
Story
Stuart
Sullivan
Sundance
Sven
Swithun
Sylvester

 STARTING WITH T

Tadhg
Tahir
Taj
Tancred
Tannen
Taran
Tarquin
Tate
Tavish
Taylor
Thatcher
Theodore
Theodule
Theophile
Theophilius
Theron
Thomas
Thorsten
Thurl
Tiberius
Titus
Tizoc
Tobias
Torin
Tracy
Trasimond
Trent
Trevor
Tristan
True
Truett
Truman
Tryon
Turner
Tyler
Tynan

 STARTING WITH U

Urban
Ulysses

STARTING WITH V

Valen
Valentine
Valo
Valor
Vance
Varian
Vaughn
Victor
Vincent
Virgil
Vladimir

STARTING WITH W

Wade
Wallace
Wallis
Walker
Walter
Walton
Warren
Watson
Wells
Wendell
Wenzel
Wesley
Whitman
Wilbur
Wilder
William
Willis
Wilmer
Winslow
Winston
Winter
Wolf
Wolfgang
Wyatt
Wynn

STARTING WITH X

Xander
Xavier

STARTING WITH Y

Y
Yarden
Yarrow

 STARTING WITH Z

Zachariah
Zane
Zebedee
Zebulon
Zechariah
Zedekiah
Zenas
Zephyr
Zev
Zoltan

Last updated October 14, 2020