Classic Boy Names

Names that have never really left. They rise and fall within a band rather than disappearing, which makes them the safest choice on the site and the hardest to say anything surprising about.

Rankings for

301 names, most popular first in the United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Lionel Lionel means little lion, and it entered English through Arthurian romance — Sir Lionel is a knight of the Round Table, and the name was rare before the stories carried it.
French #659 in US
Valentin Valentin is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "strong" or "healthy," the French form of Valentine.
French #660 in US
Ahmad Ahmad is a boy's name of Arabic origin meaning "most praiseworthy".
Arabic #671 in US
Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.
Scottish Gaelic #690 in US
Tomas Tomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," a form of Thomas used across Ireland, Scandinavia and the Hispanic world.
Irish #691 in US
Marvin Marvin is a boy's name from the Welsh Merfyn, and the sea friend reading usually given for it is not supported — the Welsh elements point to marrow and eminent instead.
Welsh #699 in US
Dennis Dennis is a boy's name that traces back to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstatic release — one of the few widely used Christian names derived from a pagan deity.
Greek #708 in US
Julien Julien is a boy's name, the French form of Julian, from a Roman family name whose meaning was never established.
French #709 in US
Marcel Marcel is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "little warrior," a diminutive of Marcus and so ultimately from Mars.
French #730 in US
Hugh Hugh is a boy's name from a Germanic word for mind or spirit, brought to Britain by the Normans.
Germanic #732 in US
Bruno Bruno is a boy's name from the Germanic word for brown, and it founded the Carthusians — the strictest order in the Western church, whose monks still live largely in silence.
Germanic #740 in US
Salvador Salvador means savior, and it names a country and an ocean crossing — El Salvador is the only nation named directly for Christ, and San Salvador was the first island Columbus reached.
Spanish #756 in US
Magnus Magnus is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "great," which became a Scandinavian royal name through a misunderstanding about Charlemagne's Latin title.
Latin #764 in US
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
English #776 in US
Tony Tony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning has never been established.
Latin #783 in US
Calum Calum is a boy's name, the Scottish Gaelic form of Latin Columba, meaning dove.
Scottish Gaelic #799 in US
Alberto Alberto means bright nobility, and both halves are compliments — the Germanic joins a word for noble descent to one meaning bright or famous, with nothing descriptive about the person at all.
Italian #820 in US
Alfredo Alfredo means counsel of the elves, and the elves were taken seriously — Anglo-Saxon naming treated them as beings whose advice was worth invoking, not as decoration for a children's story.
Italian #822 in US
Nelson Nelson means son of Neil, and the admiral made it a given name — it was a surname until Trafalgar, after which parents across the English-speaking world started using it as a first name outright.
English #826 in US
Alvin Alvin means elf-friend, from an Old English name that treats elves as beings whose favor was worth having.
English #839 in US
Alfred Alfred is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "elf counsel."
English #841 in US
Ben Ben is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "son," used both as a short form of Benjamin and as a name in its own right.
Hebrew #845 in US
Jimmy Jimmy is a boy's name, the pet form of James, meaning supplanter.
Hebrew #846 in US
Neil Neil means champion or cloud, from Irish, and it traveled to Iceland with the Vikings and back to England with the Normans — so the English Neil arrived by way of Scandinavia and France.
Irish #850 in US
Ramon Ramon means protecting counsel, and both halves are Germanic — the Visigoths brought it to Iberia, so a name that reads as thoroughly Spanish is Gothic underneath, like Fernando and Alonzo.
Spanish #851 in US
Derrick Derrick means ruler of the people, and the crane is named after a man — Thomas Derrick, an Elizabethan hangman whose gallows design was distinctive enough that his name became the word for it.
Germanic #852 in US
Rex Rex means king, and it is the plain Latin nominative — which makes it the pair to Regis, the genitive meaning of the king.
Latin #859 in US
Lucien Lucien is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "light," the French form of Lucian.
French #897 in US
Eugene Eugene is a boy's name from the Greek for well-born, and it is the source of the word eugenics — a connection worth knowing, since the name long predates and has nothing to do with that movement.
Greek #944 in US
Salvatore Salvatore means savior, and it is a title rather than a description — Italian Catholic families gave it as a devotional name naming Christ's role directly, in the way Spanish families use Jesús.
Italian #947 in US
Joe Joe is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," a short form of Joseph that has become the English word for an ordinary person.
Hebrew #995 in US
Alfonso Alfonso completes a set on this site — Alphonse in French, Alonzo in Spanish and Italian, and Alfonso the Iberian dynastic form, all descending from one Visigothic compound.
Spanish #1,012 in US
Allan Allan has no settled meaning at all — handsome, little rock and a deer are all proposed for the Breton original, and the name reached England through Brittany rather than through Ireland or Scotland at all.
Breton #1,013 in US
Ernest Ernest is a boy's name from a Germanic word meaning serious or resolute, and it is far stronger in Europe than in America — 252nd in England and Wales and 276th in France against 1,042nd in the United States.
Germanic #1,042 in US
Ralph Ralph is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
Norse #1,046 in US
Karim Karim means generous, and it is one of the ninety-nine names of God in Islam — al-Karim, the Generous — which is why the name carries weight beyond its ordinary sense as an adjective.
Arabic #1,089 in US
Rene Rene is a name from the Latin for reborn, given at baptism to mark spiritual rebirth.
French #1,093 in US
Brendan Brendan is not Irish in origin — it comes from a Welsh word meaning a prince, borrowed into Irish, and its saint is credited with a transatlantic voyage six centuries before Columbus.
Irish #1,099 in US
Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.
Germanic #1,134 in US
Adrien Adrien is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "from Hadria," a town that also gave the Adriatic its name.
French #1,161 in US
Will Will means will-helmet, and the compound is stranger than it looks — the Germanic joins desire to a piece of armor, so the name reads as protection by determination.
English #1,195 in US
Norman Norman means a Northman — a Viking.
English #1,197 in US
Marc Marc is a boy's name from a Roman name probably meaning dedicated to Mars, the god of war, and it is the source of the month of March.
French #1,240 in US
Pierre Pierre is a boy's name, the French form of Peter, from the Greek for rock.
French #1,253 in US
Jerome Jerome is a boy's name meaning sacred name, and it belongs to the scholar who translated the Bible into Latin — the version Western Europe read for over a thousand years.
Greek #1,259 in US
Seamus Seamus is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter," the Irish form of James, and it was used in Britain as a slur for an Irishman.
Irish #1,277 in US
Reginald Reginald means counsel-power, and England and Wales ranks it 229th on 217 births against 1,285th in the United States — one of the sharpest British-versus-American splits in this group.
English #1,285 in US
Bernard Bernard is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning brave as a bear.
Germanic #1,364 in US

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