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

68 names, uncommon — 100 to 499 a year, in the United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Maximilian Maximilian is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "greatest."
Latin 497 in 2025
Gregory Gregory is a boy's name from the Greek for watchful or alert.
Greek 493 in 2025
Roland Roland is a boy's name meaning famous land, and its bearer is the hero of France's national epic — a knight who dies at Roncevaux because he is too proud to blow his horn for help.
Germanic 466 in 2025
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
Germanic 461 in 2025
Dominick Dominick means of the Lord, and it was given to children born on a Sunday — dies dominica is the Lord's day, and the name records the day of birth rather than a hope for the child.
Latin 448 in 2025
Gustavo Gustavo has no settled meaning, and the two accounts disagree on the language — a Norse staff of the Geats, or a Slavic name reshaped by Swedish, and neither has carried the field.
Italian 447 in 2025
Arturo Arturo means bear, probably — but Arthur is one of the unsolved names, with a Celtic word for bear and a Roman family name both proposed and neither established.
Italian 446 in 2025
Nathanael Nathanael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has given," and it is the same name as Nathaniel with the spelling closer to the Greek.
Hebrew 442 in 2025
Raul Raul means wolf counsel, and it is the same name as Ralph and Rudolph — one Norse compound that entered Spanish, English and German separately and ended up looking like three different names.
Spanish 440 in 2025
Shane Shane is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious," and it exists because English speakers wrote down how Ulster pronounced Seán.
Irish 439 in 2025
Leonard Leonard is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "lion-strong," and its saint is the patron of prisoners and of women in labor.
Germanic 438 in 2025
Julio Julio means downy-bearded, and France ranks it 517th — above the United States at 641st, which is not where a Spanish form of a Roman family name would be expected to lead.
Spanish 436 in 2025
Sam Sam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has heard," a short form of Samuel.
Hebrew 452 in 2025
Phillip Phillip is a boy's name meaning lover of horses, the doubled-l spelling of Philip.
Greek 425 in 2025
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 419 in 2025
Valentin Valentin is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "strong" or "healthy," the French form of Valentine.
French 418 in 2025
Ahmad Ahmad is a boy's name of Arabic origin meaning "most praiseworthy".
Arabic 407 in 2025
Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.
Scottish Gaelic 395 in 2025
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 394 in 2025
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 385 in 2025
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 381 in 2025
Julien Julien is a boy's name, the French form of Julian, from a Roman family name whose meaning was never established.
French 390 in 2025
Marcel Marcel is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "little warrior," a diminutive of Marcus and so ultimately from Mars.
French 364 in 2025
Hugh Hugh is a boy's name from a Germanic word for mind or spirit, brought to Britain by the Normans.
Germanic 360 in 2025
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 351 in 2025
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 341 in 2025
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 337 in 2025
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
English 329 in 2025
Tony Tony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning has never been established.
Latin 325 in 2025
Calum Calum is a boy's name, the Scottish Gaelic form of Latin Columba, meaning dove.
Scottish Gaelic 313 in 2025
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 301 in 2025
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 301 in 2025
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 300 in 2025
Alvin Alvin means elf-friend, from an Old English name that treats elves as beings whose favor was worth having.
English 294 in 2025
Alfred Alfred is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "elf counsel."
English 293 in 2025
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 292 in 2025
Jimmy Jimmy is a boy's name, the pet form of James, meaning supplanter.
Hebrew 291 in 2025
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 288 in 2025
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 288 in 2025
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 288 in 2025
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 281 in 2025
Lucien Lucien is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "light," the French form of Lucian.
French 265 in 2025
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 249 in 2025
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 249 in 2025
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 230 in 2025
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 223 in 2025
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 223 in 2025
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 213 in 2025

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