200+ Boho Baby Boy Names (With Meanings & Origins)

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The boho girl name list has been thoroughly mapped — Indigo, Clover, Wren, Juniper. We know them all. But her brother’s list is thinner, the territory less charted, and the names that genuinely fit a wanderer-soul boy are scattered across vintage grandpa lists, overlapping “edgy” roundups, and one-syllable minimalist suggestions that blur into each other. The masculine counterpart to the boho aesthetic deserves its own careful treatment.

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Popularity below is calculated from Social Security Administration data through 2024, the most recent year on record.

Here’s what’s in store –

Earth, Stone & Botanical Names

Wanderer, Wind & Open Road Names

Celestial, Mystic & Star Names

Global Roots & World-Traveler Names

Old Soul, Artsy & Vintage Names

Wild & Untamed Names

Short, Strong & Unforgettable

Rare & Under-the-Radar Boho Names

A boho boy name tends to carry weight in three directions at once: it sounds beautiful out loud, it means something worth knowing, and it wears well across decades. It comes from somewhere — a language, a landscape, a mythology — and it carries that somewhere gently, without requiring explanation. These are names that belong to boys who might grow up to be painters, musicians, wilderness guides, or monks. They don’t shout. They resonate.

The free-spirit dad in the title is a specific kind of person: he has a dog-eared copy of something by Kerouac or Whitman on the nightstand, he knows which roast his coffee is, he’s camped somewhere genuinely remote at least once. He wants a name that honors that spirit — earthy but not precious, unusual but not invented, masculine but not rigid. He’s been scrolling past names like Brantley and Hunter because they’re close but not quite it.

This list is organized by theme and feel: earth and botanical names, wanderer names, celestial and mystic names, global roots, artsy vintage picks, wild and untamed choices, short punchy options, and genuinely rare finds most lists skip entirely. Every name here is real, with an accurate meaning and origin. Consider this the deep dive.

Earth, Stone & Botanical Names

The most grounded tier of boho naming — these are names made of actual matter. They belong to boys raised barefoot, to families with vegetable gardens and rock collections on the windowsill. These names don’t gesture at nature; they are nature.

Jasper

Origin: Old Persian
Pronunciation: JAS-per · ˈdʒæspər
Meaning: treasurer
Popularity: #133 and falling (#122 → #133, 2024)

The warm-toned gemstone name that’s been quietly beloved by artists and potters for decades.

Flint

Origin: English
Pronunciation: FLINT · flɪnt
Meaning: A hard stone historically used for tool-making and striking sparks to start fires; used as a transferred word/surname name.
Popularity: #1,970 and rising (#2,133 → #1,970, 2024)

Single-syllable and tough in the best way — it carries the smell of campfire.

Slate

Origin: English (surname, occupational — ‘one who works with slate/a slate-roofer’)
Pronunciation: SLAYT · sleɪt
Meaning: “grey-blue stone”
Popularity: #3,376 and falling (#2,724 → #3,376, 2024)

Moodier and more architectural than Flint, and far rarer as a given name.

Clay

Origin: English (Old English clǣġ)
Pronunciation: KLAY · ˈkleɪ
Meaning: clay, earth; occupational surname for a clay-worker
Popularity: #543 and rising (#581 → #543, 2024)

Elemental in the truest sense — a name literally shaped from soil.

Moss

Origin: English (nature word)
Pronunciation: MAWSS · ˈmɔːs
Meaning: the moss plant
Popularity: #6,065 and falling (#5,000 → #6,065, 2024)

One of the quietest, most textured botanical names for boys currently sitting unused.

Ash

Origin: Old English (word name/surname)
Pronunciation: ASH · ˈæʃ
Meaning: ash tree (one who lived near ash trees)
Popularity: #1,147 and falling (#1,064 → #1,147, 2024)

The tree name that carries both strength and softness — and it’s short enough to wear every single day.

Cedar

Origin: English
Pronunciation: SEE-dur · ˈsiːdər
Meaning: the cedar tree
Popularity: #1,197 and rising (#1,252 → #1,197, 2024)

Fragrant, tall, deeply rooted — this name belongs to the Pacific Northwest.

Elm

Origin: English (vocabulary/nature name)
Pronunciation: ELM · ɛlm
Meaning: the elm tree (nature name)
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The quieter cousin of Oak and Cedar, with an understated staying power all its own.

Rowan

Origin: Irish
Pronunciation: ROH-en · ˈroʊən
Meaning: little red one
Popularity: #71 and rising (#76 → #71, 2024)

Celtic, nature-soaked, and one of the few tree names that works effortlessly across genders.

Sage

Origin: English (from Old French/Latin)
Pronunciation: SAYJ · ˈseɪdʒ
Meaning: a wise person; also linked to the sage herb plant
Popularity: #413 and rising (#416 → #413, 2024)

Both a culinary herb and a philosophical ideal compressed into four letters.

Reed

Origin: English (surname, multiple disputed origins)
Pronunciation: REED · ˈriːd
Meaning: a surname of debated origin: ‘red-haired’ (variant of Reid), a clearer of land, or a place name — not the reed plant
Popularity: #421 and rising (#429 → #421, 2024)

Musical and minimal — it sounds like something in wind.

Heath

Origin: English (from Old English hǣþ)
Pronunciation: HEETH · ˈhiːθ
Meaning: heathland; open, shrubby moorland
Popularity: #848 and rising (#1,053 → #848, 2024)

Wild and windswept; it carries a Brontë-esque romance without trying.

Fern

Origin: English (nature name)
Pronunciation: FURN · ˈfɜːrn
Meaning: the fern plant
Popularity: #5,719 and rising (#12,957 → #5,719, 2024)

Soft and botanical — more historically neutral than its current perception, and rarely chosen for boys.

Briar

Origin: English (Middle English)
Pronunciation: BRY-er · ˈbraɪər
Meaning: thorny shrub or bramble
Popularity: #698 and falling (#670 → #698, 2024)

The tougher, thornier botanical — this one has an edge Fern doesn’t.

Forrest

Origin: English
Pronunciation: FOR-ist · ˈfɔːrɪst
Meaning: One who lived or worked near a forest, originally a wooded area reserved for hunting; from the English surname.
Popularity: #407 and rising (#424 → #407, 2024)

The full name behind Forest, with a literary resonance that the single-syllable version lacks.

Grove

Origin: English (surname/place name)
Pronunciation: GROHV · ɡroʊv
Meaning: small wood, grove of trees
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

A name that sounds like a clearing you’d want to camp in.

Ridge

Origin: English (topographic surname)
Pronunciation: RIJ · ˈrɪdʒ
Meaning: a long, raised strip of land or hilltop
Popularity: #528 and falling (#505 → #528, 2024)

Topographical and strong — a landscape compressed to a single word.

Crag

Origin: Scottish Gaelic (Celtic)
Pronunciation: KRAG · kræɡ
Meaning: a steep, rugged rocky cliff or outcrop
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Extremely rare as a given name, rawly earthy, and unmistakably grounded.

Fen

Origin: Old English
Pronunciation: FEN · ˈfɛn
Meaning: “marshy ground, wetland”
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Minimalist to the extreme — three letters, all texture, genuinely unused.

Thorne

Origin: English
Pronunciation: THORN · ˈθɔːrn
Meaning: thorn bush; in some cases a shortened form of the surname Hawthorne
Popularity: #8,879 and rising (#9,643 → #8,879, 2024)

The surname-as-first-name with genuine dark botanical edge.

Stone

Origin: English (surname, from Old English “stan”)
Pronunciation: STOHN · ˈstoʊn
Meaning: from the English word for stone/rock; originally a surname for someone who lived near a notable stone or worked with stone
Popularity: #1,048 and falling (#995 → #1,048, 2024)

Elemental and blunt — a sculptor’s name.

Linden

Origin: English
Pronunciation: LIN-den · ˈlɪndən
Meaning: the linden (lime) tree
Popularity: #1,548 and rising (#1,739 → #1,548, 2024)

The honey-scented flowering tree, elegantly understated for a boy.

Bay

Origin: English (from a common word)
Pronunciation: BAY · ˈbeɪ
Meaning: from the ordinary English word ‘bay’ — either a coastal inlet or the bay (laurel) tree
Popularity: #11,071 and rising (#12,368 → #11,071, 2024)

This coastal botanical crossover works as both a nature name and a geography name.

Cove

Origin: English
Pronunciation: KOHV · ˈkoʊv
Meaning: small sheltered bay/inlet
Popularity: #1,207 and rising (#1,319 → #1,207, 2024)

Sea-shaped and sheltered — a name for a quiet, observant soul.

Bramble

Origin: Old English
Pronunciation: BRAM-bul · ˈbræmbəl
Meaning: a thorny, tangled shrub such as a wild blackberry bush
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Wild hedgerow energy — real and rare as a given name.

Juniper

Origin: English
Pronunciation: JOO-nih-per · ˈdʒuːnɪpər
Meaning: the juniper tree/shrub; occasionally a folk-etymology variant of Jennifer (from Welsh Guinevere)
Popularity: #3,180 and rising (#3,665 → #3,180, 2024)

A name that smells like rain and pine — increasingly common for girls, which makes it fresher for boys.

Birch

Origin: English (nature name/surname)
Pronunciation: BURCH · ˈbɜːrtʃ
Meaning: the birch tree
Popularity: #9,873 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The white-barked tree of northern forests and Nordic poetry.

Hazel

Origin: Old English
Pronunciation: HAY-zel · ˈheɪzəl
Meaning: the hazel tree, and by extension its light-brown color
Popularity: #2,837 and rising (#4,383 → #2,837, 2024)

More commonly female today, but historically unisex and still genuinely at home on a boy.

Colt

Origin: English
Pronunciation: KOHLT · ˈkoʊlt
Meaning: young horse
Popularity: #276 and falling (#264 → #276, 2024)

Where boho meets Western — untamed, energetic, unmistakably masculine.

Timber

Origin: Old English (word/nature name)
Pronunciation: TIM-ber · ˈtɪm.bər
Meaning: wood cut for building; lumber
Popularity: #3,258 and rising (#3,333 → #3,258, 2024)

One of those names that sounds like it belongs to someone who builds things with his hands.

Wanderer, Wind & Open Road Names

These names carry movement in them — the sense of someone always one step ahead of where they started. They belong to boys with stamps in their passports and sand in their pockets, to families who think of travel as a form of education.

Wilder

Origin: English (occupational surname)
Pronunciation: WYL-dur · ˈwaɪldər
Meaning: wild one; also historically ‘a hunter of wild game’
Popularity: #392 and rising (#422 → #392, 2024)

The boho boy name that says everything in one word — worn by adventurers, artists, and Billy Wilder fans alike.

Caspian

Origin: English (from Latin ‘Caspius’)
Pronunciation: KAS-pee-an · ˈkæspiən
Meaning: of/from the Caspian Sea
Popularity: #578 and rising (#664 → #578, 2024)

C.S. Lewis secured its romantic, adventure-soaked legacy; it remains one of the most evocative place-name names.

Atlas

Origin: Greek (possibly pre-Greek substrate)
Pronunciation: AT-luss · ˈætləs
Meaning: possibly ‘the enduring one’ (disputed, may be pre-Greek with no recoverable meaning)
Popularity: #101 and rising (#111 → #101, 2024)

The titan who held up the sky — a name built for a boy destined to carry big things.

Zephyr

Origin: Greek
Pronunciation: ZEF-er · ˈzɛfər
Meaning: the west wind
Popularity: #1,133 and falling (#1,121 → #1,133, 2024)

Journey

Origin: English
Pronunciation: JER-nee · ˈdʒɜːrni
Meaning: a trip or passage from one place to another
Popularity: #1,836 and falling (#1,673 → #1,836, 2024)

Uncommon as a male name in the US, but effortlessly cool when it lands.

Beckett

Origin: English (surname)
Pronunciation: BEK-it · ˈbɛkɪt
Meaning: beehive; bee cottage
Popularity: #166 and rising (#196 → #166, 2024)

Samuel Beckett’s brooding literary legacy gives this name a slightly weathered, theatrical edge.

Lennox

Origin: Scottish (place name / surname)
Pronunciation: LEN-uks · ˈlɛnəks
Meaning: person from the Lennox district (the Loch Lomond/River Leven region of Scotland)
Popularity: #263 and rising (#265 → #263, 2024)

A Scottish surname-name that travels easily across cultures and sounds genuinely strong.

Flynn

Origin: Irish
Pronunciation: FLIN · ˈflɪn
Meaning: Descendant of Flann; Flann is an old Irish byname meaning “red” or “ruddy,” likely describing hair color or complexion.
Popularity: #737 and rising (#782 → #737, 2024)

Sun-bleached and swashbuckling — Errol Flynn and the explorer archetype in one.

Rafferty

Origin: Irish (Ó Rabhartaigh surname)
Pronunciation: RAF-ur-tee · ˈræfərti
Meaning: descendant of Rabhartach, a name rooted in the word for flood or spring tide
Popularity: #5,182 and rising (#5,611 → #5,182, 2024)

Rare, musical, and unmistakably wandering in spirit.

Gulliver

Origin: Old French (English surname)
Pronunciation: GUL-ih-ver · ˈɡʌlɪvər
Meaning: a surname nickname for a big eater, from the Old French word for ‘mouth’
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Reclaimed entirely by Lemuel Gulliver — the traveler who saw more worlds than most.

Canyon

Origin: English (modern word/nature name)
Pronunciation: KAN-yuhn · ˈkænjən
Meaning: “large gorge”
Popularity: #1,433 and falling (#1,390 → #1,433, 2024)

Geographic and grand — naming your son after a landscape he could stand inside.

Cayo

Origin: Spanish (surname, equivalent of Gaetano, from Latin Caietanus)
Pronunciation: KAH-yoh · ˈkaɪoʊ
Meaning: man from Gaeta (a town in Italy)
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The Caribbean adventurer’s name — sun-soaked and mobile.

Cruz

Origin: Spanish
Pronunciation: KROOZ · ˈkruːz
Meaning: cross
Popularity: #303 and rising (#329 → #303, 2024)

Sharp and directional — worn across the Spanish-speaking world and spreading outward.

Levon

Origin: Armenian, variant of Leon
Pronunciation: luh-VON · ləˈvɑːn
Meaning: lion
Popularity: #1,782 and falling (#1,688 → #1,782, 2024)

Gale

Origin: English (word for a strong windstorm)
Pronunciation: GAYL · ˈgeɪl
Meaning: a strong windstorm
Popularity: #6,562 and falling (#6,026 → #6,562, 2024)

Free-moving and atmospheric — both a weather event and a verb.

Everett

Origin: Old English/Germanic (Eoforheard/Eberhard)
Pronunciation: EV-er-et · ˈɛvərɪt
Meaning: wild boar + hardy, brave (a Germanic compound name)
Popularity: #85 and rising (#88 → #85, 2024)

Adventure-ready with real gravitas — Everett has the heft of someone who finishes the climb.

Ridley

Origin: Old English (surname/place name)
Pronunciation: RID-lee · ˈrɪdli
Meaning: reed clearing, or cleared-land clearing (a topographic place name with no meaning beyond the landscape description)
Popularity: #2,248 and falling (#2,073 → #2,248, 2024)

Ridley comes from Old English words for reeds (or cleared land) plus ‘clearing’ — a topographic place name unrelated to the color red.

Lander

Origin: English (surname, disputed/uncertain origin)
Pronunciation: LAN-der · ˈlæn.dər
Meaning: “one who lands / owns land”
Popularity: #3,733 and falling (#3,091 → #3,733, 2024)

Nautical and purposeful — a name for someone who always finds shore.

Quest

Origin: Latin, via Old French
Pronunciation: KWEST · kwɛst
Meaning: a search or long journey
Popularity: #2,122 and falling (#1,889 → #2,122, 2024)

Used as a given name — one of the boldest, most literal adventure names on this list.

Arlo

Origin: Italian (uncertain origin)
Pronunciation: AR-loh · ˈɑːrloʊ
Meaning: “fortified hill”
Popularity: #146 and rising (#158 → #146, 2024)

Arlo Guthrie locked in its free-spirit, folk-music, open-highway legacy decades ago.

Arrow

Origin: English (word name)
Pronunciation: AIR-oh · ˈæroʊ
Meaning: a shaft-like projectile shot from a bow
Popularity: #1,672 and falling (#1,517 → #1,672, 2024)

Directional and purposeful — this one has found real favor in musical families.

Shore

Origin: English (word origin debated); also an English and Ashkenazi Jewish surname
Pronunciation: SHOR · ʃɔːr
Meaning: land at the edge of a body of water
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Surf-boho, clean, minimal, and almost never used as a first name.

Cade

Origin: English (surname, multiple possible roots)
Pronunciation: KAYD · ˈkeɪd
Meaning: from an English surname with several possible roots: a personal-name element meaning ‘lump/swelling,’ an occupational term for a barrel-maker, or a word for a hand-reared farm animal
Popularity: #272 and rising (#280 → #272, 2024)

Short, quietly adventurous, and just sharp enough to be interesting.

Dune

Origin: English (nature/vocabulary word)
Pronunciation: DOON · duːn
Meaning: a hill or ridge of sand shaped by the wind
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Desert and coastal landscape in one syllable — rare and vivid.

Indigo

Origin: Greek (via the color/dye name)
Pronunciation: IN-dih-goh · ˈɪndɪˌɡoʊ
Meaning: named after the deep-blue indigo dye/color
Popularity: #1,629 and rising (#1,718 → #1,629, 2024)

More often given to girls, but as a deep, wandering name for a boy it carries remarkable weight.

Prospero

Origin: Italian/Latin (variant of Prosper)
Pronunciation: PROS-pə-roh · ˈprɒspəroʊ
Meaning: fortunate, favorable
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Shakespeare’s magician-wanderer stranded on his island — eccentric and literary.

Caius

Origin: Latin (variant of Gaius)
Pronunciation: KY-us · ˈkaɪəs
Meaning: traditionally glossed ‘to rejoice,’ though the Roman name’s real root is unknown
Popularity: #1,061 and rising (#1,347 → #1,061, 2024)

Caesar’s birth name — clean and ancient, a wanderer’s name with world-historical cred.

Leander

Origin: Greek
Pronunciation: lee-AN-der · liˈændər
Meaning: man of the people (Greek ‘people’ + ‘man’)
Popularity: #1,752 and falling (#1,512 → #1,752, 2024)

He swam the Hellespont every night to reach Hero; the original hopeless romantic with a swimmer’s endurance.

Vasco

Origin: Portuguese (short form of Velasco)
Pronunciation: VAS-koh · ˈvæskoʊ
Meaning: crow
Popularity: #5,855 and rising (#12,137 → #5,855, 2024)

Tobias

Origin: Hebrew
Pronunciation: toh-BY-us · toʊˈbaɪəs
Meaning: ‘God is good’ (Hebrew Toviyah: ‘good’ + short form of Yahweh)
Popularity: #280 and falling (#279 → #280, 2024)

The son of Tobit in the Apocrypha traveled far on a dangerous journey guided by an angel — a wanderer with a purpose.

Celestial, Mystic & Star Names

Sky-gazers and night-walkers, philosophers and spell-casters — these names belong to boys who grow up studying the dark above the campfire and asking questions no one has answered yet.

Orion

Origin: Ancient Greek (etymology uncertain)
Pronunciation: oh-RY-un · oʊˈraɪən
Meaning: uncertain; possibly ‘heaven’s light’ (a speculative Akkadian derivation, not firmly established)
Popularity: #325 and rising (#373 → #325, 2024)

‘Hunter’ isn’t an etymological meaning — it describes the mythological figure, not the word’s origin, which is actually uncertain (a speculative Akkadian ‘heaven’s light’ derivation remains unproven).

Cassian

Origin: Latin (Roman family name)
Pronunciation: KAS-ee-an · ˈkæsiən
Meaning: “hollow, empty”
Popularity: #616 and falling (#531 → #616, 2024)

An early Christian saint’s name with deep, resonant spiritual weight — quietly gaining ground.

Cosmo

Origin: Greek (via Italian Cosimo)
Pronunciation: KAHZ-moh · ˈkɑːzmoʊ
Meaning: order, the ordered universe (and by extension, beauty/adornment)
Popularity: #1,683 and rising (#1,746 → #1,683, 2024)

The universe named you and then gave you the universe as a name.

Oberon

Origin: Old French (from Middle High German)
Pronunciation: OH-ber-on · ˈoʊbərɑːn
Meaning: elf king / fairy king
Popularity: #3,744 and rising (#4,302 → #3,744, 2024)

The fairy king of A Midsummer Night’s Dream — magical and commanding without being overwrought.

Osiris

Origin: Ancient Egyptian (via Greek/Latin transliteration)
Pronunciation: oh-SY-riss · oʊˈsaɪrɪs
Meaning: Egyptian god of the afterlife and the dead, associated with resurrection and rebirth
Popularity: #976 and falling (#943 → #976, 2024)

Sirius

Origin: Greek (via Latin)
Pronunciation: SEER-ee-uhs · ˈsɪriəs
Meaning: the scorching one
Popularity: #2,657 and falling (#2,530 → #2,657, 2024)

The brightest star in the night sky — a name of blazing, undeniable presence.

Sol

Origin: Spanish/Latin (‘sun’), or a short form of Solomon (Hebrew)
Pronunciation: SOHL · ˈsoʊl
Meaning: sun; also used as a short form of Solomon
Popularity: #1,135 and rising (#1,286 → #1,135, 2024)

The simplest solar name — warm and direct, used across Latin America and now gaining ground in English-speaking countries.

Lucian

Origin: Latin
Pronunciation: LOO-shan · ˈluːʃən
Meaning: light
Popularity: #485 and rising (#488 → #485, 2024)

The poet and philosopher’s version of Lucas — classical, literary, slightly otherworldly.

Altair

Origin: Arabic
Pronunciation: al-TAIR · ælˈtaɪər
Meaning: the flying eagle (referring to the star Alpha Aquilae)
Popularity: #4,063 and rising (#5,938 → #4,063, 2024)

It isn’t the generic word for ‘star’ — it’s Arabic for ‘the flying eagle,’ naming one specific bright star, not stars in general.

Phelan

Origin: Irish
Pronunciation: FAY-luhn · ˈfeɪlən
Meaning: anglicized from Ó Faoláin, ‘descendant of Faolán’; Faolán is a pet form of ‘faol’ (wolf), roughly ‘little wolf’
Popularity: #9,624 and falling (#9,523 → #9,624, 2024)

Phelan doesn’t mean ‘wolf’ outright — it’s an anglicized surname meaning ‘descendant of Faolán,’ and Faolán is the diminutive (‘little wolf’) that carries the wolf sense.

Rune

Origin: Old Norse
Pronunciation: ROON · ˈruːn
Meaning: secret, mystery
Popularity: #1,925 and rising (#2,288 → #1,925, 2024)

Literally the symbol of arcane wisdom — as a name it carries quiet, brooding depth.

Soren

Origin: Danish (Scandinavian), ultimately Latin
Pronunciation: SOR-en · ˈsɔːrən
Meaning: stern, severe
Popularity: #571 and falling (#542 → #571, 2024)

Kierkegaard’s name — the philosopher of despair who somehow sounds like the calmest person in the room.

Perseus

Origin: Greek
Pronunciation: PUR-see-us · ˈpɜːrsiəs
Meaning: uncertain; popularly linked to a Greek root meaning ‘to destroy’ (disputed)
Popularity: #1,290 and rising (#1,469 → #1,290, 2024)

The hero who slew the Gorgon and flew on winged sandals — mythic and commanding.

Draven

Origin: modern coinage (English)
Pronunciation: DRAY-vin · ˈdreɪvɪn
Meaning: “of the raven”
Popularity: #1,120 and rising (#1,192 → #1,120, 2024)

Gothic, dark-atmospheric, and genuinely striking for a boy drawn to mystery.

Ansel

Origin: Germanic
Pronunciation: AN-sel · ˈænsəl
Meaning: “divine protection, follower of a noble”
Popularity: #1,285 and falling (#1,201 → #1,285, 2024)

Ansel Adams gave it wide-open-landscapes, light-and-shadow soul.

Caelum

Origin: Latin (constellation name)
Pronunciation: SEE-lum · ˈsiːləm
Meaning: named for a southern constellation representing an engraver’s chisel, from a Latin word ‘caelum’ meaning ‘chisel’ — a different word from the more common caelum meaning ‘sky/heaven’
Popularity: #2,026 and rising (#2,275 → #2,026, 2024)

Lyric

Origin: English (word name, ultimately Greek lyrikos, ‘of the lyre’)
Pronunciation: LIR-ik · ˈlɪrɪk
Meaning: words of a song
Popularity: #1,365 and falling (#1,180 → #1,365, 2024)

Musical and mystical in equal parts — it floats.

Zen

Origin: Japanese (from Chinese Chan, ultimately Sanskrit dhyāna)
Pronunciation: ZEN · ˈzɛn
Meaning: meditation
Popularity: #959 and falling (#935 → #959, 2024)

One of the cleanest, most intentional mystic names for a boy.

Lune

Origin: French (from Latin luna)
Pronunciation: LOON · lyn
Meaning: moon
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Rare and poetic — the moon in French, worn as a name almost nowhere.

Vesper

Origin: Latin
Pronunciation: VES-per · ˈvɛspər
Meaning: evening; the evening star (the planet Venus at dusk)
Popularity: #7,199 and rising (#10,728 → #7,199, 2024)

More often given to girls, but as a male name it carries a quiet, dusk-wandering energy.

Stellan

Origin: Swedish (etymology not firmly established)
Pronunciation: STEL-an · ˈstɛlən
Meaning: “calm, peaceful one”
Popularity: #1,441 and rising (#1,485 → #1,441, 2024)

Swedish in origin, carried elegantly by actor Stellan Skarsgård — atmospheric and cool.

Ciel

Origin: French (from Latin caelum)
Pronunciation: SYEL
Meaning: sky, heaven
Popularity: #3,991 and falling (#3,637 → #3,991, 2024)

The French sky as a name — rare, beautiful, barely audible on the page.

Zenith

Origin: English word name (ultimately Arabic, via Old Spanish/Medieval Latin)
Pronunciation: ZEE-nith · ˈziː.nɪθ
Meaning: the highest point; peak
Popularity: #2,906 and rising (#3,289 → #2,906, 2024)

The peak of the celestial sphere — ambitious and serene at once.

Ptolemy

Origin: Ancient Greek
Pronunciation: TOL-uh-mee · ˈtɒləmi
Meaning: often linked to Greek ‘polemos’ (war), giving a sense of ‘warlike’
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The astronomer-king’s name — ancient, eccentric, and wildly distinctive.

Castor

Origin: Greek
Pronunciation: KASS-ter · ˈkæstər
Meaning: beaver (mythological Gemini twin’s name)
Popularity: #6,887 and rising (#7,359 → #6,887, 2024)

One of the Gemini twins, a bright star — Castor and Pollux, balance and brotherhood.

Halcyon

Origin: Greek (via Latin)
Pronunciation: HAL-see-uhn · ˈhælsiən
Meaning: the mythical kingfisher of Greek legend, whose story gave rise to the figurative sense ‘calm and peaceful’
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The mythic bird that calmed the seas during its nesting days — a name for a deeply settled soul.

Merlin

Origin: Welsh (via Medieval Latin Merlinus, Old French Merlin)
Pronunciation: MUR-lin · ˈmɜrlɪn
Meaning: a fortress by the sea, from Celtic roots for ‘sea’ and ‘stronghold’
Popularity: #2,083 and rising (#2,284 → #2,083, 2024)

The wizard’s name — mystical, unmistakably powerful, underused as a baby name.

Omen

Origin: Latin
Pronunciation: OH-mən · ˈoʊmən
Meaning: a sign or portent
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Unconventional and bold — some families are using it, and it’s more beautiful than it sounds dangerous.

Global Roots & World-Traveler Names

These names come from across the map — South Asian, Arabic, Celtic, Slavic, Italian, Persian, West African, and beyond. A boho boy’s name often reflects a family whose idea of culture includes more than one language. These travel well.

Malik

Origin: Arabic
Pronunciation: mah-LEEK · mɑːˈliːk
Meaning: king, ruler, sovereign
Popularity: #429 and falling (#383 → #429, 2024)

Regal and pan-cultural, worn with ease across the Arab world, West Africa, and now everywhere.

Bodhi

Origin: Sanskrit/Pali (Buddhist term)
Pronunciation: BOH-dee · ˈboʊdi
Meaning: awakening or enlightenment
Popularity: #302 and falling (#294 → #302, 2024)

Bram

Origin: Dutch (short form of Hebrew Abraham)
Pronunciation: BRAM · ˈbræm
Meaning: father of multitudes (via Abraham)
Popularity: #2,948 and rising (#3,062 → #2,948, 2024)

Luca

Origin: Italian (from Latin/Greek)
Pronunciation: LOO-kah · ˈluːkə
Meaning: a pet form of Lucius, or of Loukanos (‘man from Lucania’)
Popularity: #23 and rising (#24 → #23, 2024)

Italian form of Luke — casual, warm, and effortlessly embraced worldwide.

Idris

Origin: Welsh / Arabic (dual origin)
Pronunciation: ID-ris · ˈɪdrɪs
Meaning: Welsh: traditionally glossed ‘ardent/fiery lord’; Arabic: tied to a root meaning ‘to study’, associated with the prophet Idris (identified with Enoch)
Popularity: #739 and rising (#790 → #739, 2024)

Simultaneously a Welsh giant and an Islamic prophet — and now, Idris Elba.

Kiran

Origin: Sanskrit
Pronunciation: KEER-un · ˈkɪrən
Meaning: ray of light / beam of light
Popularity: #1,344 and rising (#1,597 → #1,344, 2024)

Unisex across India — warm, bright, and beautifully accessible in English.

Zaid

Origin: Arabic
Pronunciation: ZAYD · ˈzeɪd
Meaning: increase, growth
Popularity: #662 and rising (#725 → #662, 2024)

Clean, modern, widely used across the Arabic-speaking world and growing in the West.

Enzo

Origin: Italian (from German Heinz/Heinrich, ultimately Germanic)
Pronunciation: EN-zoh · ˈɛnzoʊ
Meaning: ruler of the home
Popularity: #74 and rising (#90 → #74, 2024)

The sourced etymology doesn’t back either idea — Enzo traces to the Italian form of Heinz/Heinrich, meaning ‘ruler of the home,’ not a diminutive of Vincenzo or Lorenzo.

Sasha

Origin: Russian/Ukrainian (diminutive of Alexander and Alexandra)
Pronunciation: SAH-shah · ˈsɑːʃə
Meaning: protector/defender of people (via Alexander/Alexandra)
Popularity: #2,355 and rising (#2,793 → #2,355, 2024)

Remy

Origin: French
Pronunciation: REM-ee · ˈrɛmi
Meaning: oarsman, from Latin Remigius
Popularity: #400 and falling (#390 → #400, 2024)

French, gender-flexible, and carrying effortless Parisian cool.

Milo

Origin: uncertain (Latinate variant of Miles, possibly Germanic or Slavic)
Pronunciation: MY-loh · ˈmaɪloʊ
Meaning: “soldier / gracious”
Popularity: #120 and rising (#121 → #120, 2024)

Old world and new world compressed into four letters — the rare name that sounds classic and fresh simultaneously.

Dario

Origin: Italian/Spanish (from Darius)
Pronunciation: DAR-ee-oh · ˈdɑːrioʊ
Meaning: variant of Darius, traditionally rendered “possessing/upholding goodness”
Popularity: #635 and rising (#663 → #635, 2024)

Ciro

Origin: Italian/Spanish (from Latin Cyrus, Greek Kỹros, Old Persian Kuruš)
Pronunciation: CHEE-roh · tʃiːɹoʊ
Meaning: “sun”
Popularity: #2,394 and rising (#3,183 → #2,394, 2024)

The Italian form of Cyrus — fiery and bright, almost never heard in American nurseries.

Jovan

Origin: Serbian (South Slavic)
Pronunciation: YOH-vahn · ˈjoʊvɑːn
Meaning: God is gracious
Popularity: #1,748, holding steady (2024)

The Slavic John — rare in English-speaking countries and musical in a way its English counterpart isn’t.

Ilyas

Origin: Arabic (Quranic form of Hebrew Elijah)
Pronunciation: il-YAHSS · ɪlˈjɑːs
Meaning: my God is the LORD (via the prophet Elijah)
Popularity: #1,252 and rising (#1,253 → #1,252, 2024)

Emrys

Origin: Welsh (from Latin Ambrosius, ultimately Ancient Greek)
Pronunciation: EM-riss · ˈɛmrɪs
Meaning: immortal, divine one
Popularity: #1,138 and rising (#1,623 → #1,138, 2024)

Merlin’s name in Welsh mythology — deeply Celtic, rarely used outside Wales.

Cael

Origin: Irish/Scottish Gaelic (variant of Kyle)
Pronunciation: KAYL · ˈkeɪl
Meaning: narrow or slender, from the same Gaelic root (caol) as the name Kyle
Popularity: #2,369 and rising (#2,955 → #2,369, 2024)

An ancient Irish warrior name — clean, minimal, and almost entirely undiscovered in the US.

Tarquin

Origin: Etruscan
Pronunciation: TAR-kwin · ˈtɑːrkwɪn
Meaning: “from Tarquinia”
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The name of two early Roman kings — strikingly ancient and rarely bold enough to use.

Piero

Origin: Italian (from Latin Petrus/Greek Petros)
Pronunciation: PYEH-roh · ˈpjɛːro
Meaning: rock, stone
Popularity: #4,279 and falling (#3,771 → #4,279, 2024)

The Italian form of Peter — warmer, more artistic, associated with Renaissance painters.

Lior

Origin: Hebrew
Pronunciation: LEE-or · ˈliːɔːr
Meaning: my light
Popularity: #2,427 and falling (#2,333 → #2,427, 2024)

An Israeli given name that works universally — lyrical and warm.

Rafiq

Origin: Arabic
Pronunciation: rah-FEEK · rɑːˈfiːk
Meaning: companion, close friend
Popularity: #9,638 and rising (#11,917 → #9,638, 2024)

Deeply social and warm — a name that carries its meaning in every introduction.

Amias

Origin: uncertain (sometimes linked to Latin, but scholars disagree)
Pronunciation: AY-mee-us · ˈeɪmiəs
Meaning: “loved”
Popularity: #693 and falling (#682 → #693, 2024)

A medieval English name related to Amy — rare and genuinely beautiful for a boy.

Caelan

Origin: Irish Gaelic (related to Caolán)
Pronunciation: KAY-luhn · ˈkeɪlən
Meaning: slender, from the Irish root caol
Popularity: #3,330 and falling (#2,292 → #3,330, 2024)

The Gaelic original behind modern Kaelyn — strong and ancient.

Thierry

Origin: French (form of Theodoric)
Pronunciation: tee-AIR-ee · tiˈɛri
Meaning: people’s ruler
Popularity: #5,616 and falling (#5,043 → #5,616, 2024)

French form of Theodoric — chic and uncommon in English-speaking countries.

Zephyrin

Origin: Greek (via Latin Zephyrinus)
Pronunciation: ZEF-er-in · ˈzɛfərɪn
Meaning: west wind
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The full, elaborated form of Zephyr — a name almost no one has heard.

Rajan

Origin: Sanskrit
Pronunciation: RAH-juhn · ˈrɑːdʒən
Meaning: king, ruler
Popularity: #6,713 and rising (#9,540 → #6,713, 2024)

A royal Indian name with clean sounds and real presence.

Caio

Origin: Portuguese (from Latin Gaius)
Pronunciation: KY-oh · ˈkaɪoʊ
Meaning: traditionally glossed as ‘rejoice’ (as a Portuguese form of Gaius), though the ultimate origin of Gaius is uncertain
Popularity: #3,695 and falling (#3,063 → #3,695, 2024)

The Brazilian form of Gaius — light, musical, and almost never used in North America.

Old Soul, Artsy & Vintage Names

These belong to boys who will grow up to have strong opinions about music, make things with their hands, and know who Ira Gershwin was. They’re names that feel slightly worn in — like a good jacket with real history — and they carry an artist’s quiet intensity.

Amos

Origin: Hebrew
Pronunciation: AY-mus · ˈeɪməs
Meaning: carried, a burden
Popularity: #697 and falling (#647 → #697, 2024)

The Old Testament prophet’s name, worn beautifully by folk musician Amos Lee and by anyone who knows their way around a vinyl collection.

Ezra

Origin: Hebrew
Pronunciation: EZ-rah · ˈɛzrə
Meaning: help
Popularity: #13 and rising (#15 → #13, 2024)

Poet Ezra Pound, musician Ezra Koenig — the archetypal artsy name of this generation.

Ira

Origin: Hebrew (male) / Russian-Slavic (female, from Irina)
Pronunciation: EYE-ruh · ˈaɪrə
Meaning: a homograph of two distinct traditions: Hebrew Ira (male), meaning ‘watchful, alert’; and Russian/Slavic Ira (female), a diminutive of Irina/Irene, meaning ‘peace’
Popularity: #975 and falling (#878 → #975, 2024)

Ira Gershwin wrote the words to some of the greatest songs in the American canon — this name deserves a revival.

Albie

Origin: Germanic (pet form of Albert)
Pronunciation: AL-bee · ˈælbi
Meaning: affectionate short form of Albert, inheriting its sense of ‘noble and bright’
Popularity: #3,976 and falling (#3,558 → #3,976, 2024)

Diminutive of Albert — has a scruffy, paint-stained charm that Albert doesn’t.

Casimir

Origin: Polish (Slavic)
Pronunciation: KAZ-uh-meer · ˈkæzəmɪr
Meaning: proclaims/announces peace
Popularity: #2,393 and falling (#2,363 → #2,393, 2024)

Rare, aristocratic, carrying the quiet gravity of someone who reads old books by lamplight.

Percival

Origin: Old French (Arthurian, probably from Welsh/Celtic)
Pronunciation: PUR-si-vul · ˈpɜːrsɪvəl
Meaning: probably from the Welsh Arthurian name Peredur, reshaped in Old French to resemble ‘pierce’ + ‘valley’
Popularity: #1,768 and rising (#2,265 → #1,768, 2024)

The Arthurian knight on a holy quest — grand enough to be eccentric, and beautiful when shortened to Percy.

Thaddeus

Origin: uncertain (Aramaic or Ancient Greek, disputed)
Pronunciation: THAD-ee-us · ˈθædiəs
Meaning: “courageous heart”
Popularity: #850 and rising (#898 → #850, 2024)

An apostle’s name with a Victorian painter’s energy — underused and distinguished.

Augustine

Origin: Latin
Pronunciation: AW-guh-steen · ˈɔːɡəstiːn
Meaning: venerable, majestic (from Augustus)
Popularity: #551 and rising (#622 → #551, 2024)

The philosopher-saint’s name — weighty, beautiful, and stubbornly old-world in the best way.

Holden

Origin: Old English (surname)
Pronunciation: HOHL-din · ˈhoʊldən
Meaning: hollow valley
Popularity: #281 and rising (#286 → #281, 2024)

Holden Caulfield gave this name a permanently restless, literary, rain-on-windows soul.

Marlowe

Origin: English (place name: Marlow)
Pronunciation: MAR-loh · ˈmɑːrloʊ
Meaning: “driftwood / remnants of a lake”
Popularity: #2,768 and rising (#3,154 → #2,768, 2024)

Christopher Marlowe — the playwright who may have been Shakespeare — makes this one mysterious as well as beautiful.

Leroy

Origin: Old French (surname)
Pronunciation: LEE-roy · ˈliːrɔɪ
Meaning: the king
Popularity: #862 and rising (#872 → #862, 2024)

Old blues-musician energy, worn by artists and craftsmen — due for a real comeback.

Clem

Origin: Latin (short form of Clement)
Pronunciation: KLEM · klɛm
Meaning: merciful
Popularity: #8,283 as of 2017 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Short form of Clement — the underdog boho nickname that somehow sounds better than the full name.

Emerson

Origin: English (surname: ‘Emery’s son’, possibly Anglo-Saxon ‘Emar’s son’)
Pronunciation: EM-ur-sun · ˈɛmərsən
Meaning: son of Emery (or, per an alternate theory, Anglo-Saxon ‘Emar’s son’)
Popularity: #270 and falling (#268 → #270, 2024)

Walt

Origin: Germanic (short form of Walter)
Pronunciation: WAWLT · wɔːlt
Meaning: ruler of the army
Popularity: #3,443 and falling (#2,841 → #3,443, 2024)

Otis

Origin: English (patronymic surname, from a Germanic given name)
Pronunciation: OH-tis · ˈoʊtɪs
Meaning: a patronymic meaning ‘son of Ote/Ode’, a name cognate with Otto
Popularity: #730 and falling (#654 → #730, 2024)

Otis Redding’s soulful legacy lives in this name — warm, funky, effortlessly cool.

Origin: Scandinavian (Danish/Swedish, from Old Norse ‘búa, ‘ to dwell/live); the same spelling is also an established Chinese given name (a separate, unrelated origin), and occasionally a variant of Beau
Pronunciation: BOH · ˈboʊ
Meaning: to dwell, to live (the Scandinavian sense)
Popularity: #451 and rising (#479 → #451, 2024)

Bo Diddley, Bo Burnham — the shortest possible boho name, with enormous presence.

Dashiell

Origin: French (surname, etymology undocumented)
Pronunciation: DASH-ul · ˈdæʃəl
Meaning: “page boy, herald”
Popularity: #2,057 and rising (#2,418 → #2,057, 2024)

Dashiell Hammett’s name — hard-boiled mystery writer with a surprisingly gentle, rolling sound.

Beaumont

Origin: Old French (place name/surname)
Pronunciation: BOH-mont · ˈboʊmɑːnt
Meaning: beautiful hill
Popularity: #3,604 and rising (#4,010 → #3,604, 2024)

A surname-name with aristocratic French countryside energy — elegant and underused.

Lorcan

Origin: Irish Gaelic
Pronunciation: LOR-kuhn · ˈlɔːrkən
Meaning: little fierce one
Popularity: #7,513 and falling (#5,586 → #7,513, 2024)

The original Irish name behind Lawrence — rare and powerful, still in quiet use in Ireland.

Satchel

Origin: Old French/Latin
Pronunciation: SATCH-ul · ˈsætʃəl
Meaning: a small bag
Popularity: #13,993 as of 2022 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Satchel Paige, the legendary pitcher — this name carries both jazz-era cool and genuine athletic legacy.

Ignacio

Origin: Spanish (from Latin Ignatius)
Pronunciation: ig-NAH-see-oh · ɪɡˈnɑːsioʊ
Meaning: popularly glossed ‘fiery, ardent’ by resemblance to Latin ignis – a folk etymology (see Ignatius)
Popularity: #824 and rising (#882 → #824, 2024)

‘Fiery’ is a popular folk etymology from resemblance to Latin ignis; the name’s real root, Egnatius, has an uncertain, likely pre-Roman origin.

Barnaby

Origin: Aramaic (medieval English vernacular form of Barnabas)
Pronunciation: BAR-nuh-bee · ˈbɑːrnəbi
Meaning: son of the prophet
Popularity: #9,996 and rising (#12,463 → #9,996, 2024)

Barnaby Rudge, Barnaby Jones — vintage-quirky in the best way.

Cosimo

Origin: Italian (from Greek Kosmas)
Pronunciation: KOH-zee-moh · ˈkoʊzɪmoʊ
Meaning: order (the ordered universe/world)
Popularity: #5,081 and rising (#5,282 → #5,081, 2024)

The Medici name — patron of artists and wanderers, and one of the most beautiful Italian boy names almost never used in the US.

Leopold

Origin: Germanic
Pronunciation: LEE-uh-pold · ˈliːəpoʊld
Meaning: bold/brave people
Popularity: #2,082 and falling (#1,856 → #2,082, 2024)

Regal and creative — Mozart’s father’s name, and a name that sounds like someone who makes things of lasting value.

Huck

Origin: English (surname of obscure origin, also a pet form of Hugh/Hugo)
Pronunciation: HUK · ˈhʌk
Meaning: “mind, thought”
Popularity: #1,733 and falling (#1,634 → #1,733, 2024)

Huck Finn — the ultimate barefoot, raft-building, river-riding free-spirit boy in American literature.

Lysander

Origin: Greek
Pronunciation: ly-SAN-der · laɪˈsændər
Meaning: liberator of men
Popularity: #2,198 and rising (#3,760 → #2,198, 2024)

Shakespeare put him in A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a lover — poetic, romantic, rarely used.

Raffael

Origin: Hebrew (via German/Scandinavian spelling of Raphael)
Pronunciation: rah-fah-EL · ˌrɑːfɑːˈɛl
Meaning: God has healed
Popularity: #6,710 and rising (#8,111 → #6,710, 2024)

Wild & Untamed Names

No maps, no schedule, no apologies. These names carry the energy of something undomesticated — animal, elemental, moving on its own terms. They’re for boys who will grow up knowing the difference between a hawk and a falcon, and finding both names.

Wolf

Origin: Germanic
Pronunciation: WOOLF · ˈwʊlf
Meaning: from the wolf; or short for Germanic ‘wolf’ names
Popularity: #1,812 and falling (#1,783 → #1,812, 2024)

Rare as a legal given name but effortlessly cool — the apex predator as a first name.

Bear

Origin: English
Pronunciation: BAIR · ˈbɛr
Meaning: bear (the animal)
Popularity: #826 and falling (#820 → #826, 2024)

Solid, wild, present — carries the weight of something large and unhurried.

Hawk

Origin: English (word/nature name)
Pronunciation: HAWK · hɔːk
Meaning: the bird of prey (hawk)
Popularity: #3,343 and falling (#3,137 → #3,343, 2024)

Sharp-eyed and soaring — a one-syllable name with tremendous presence.

Buck

Origin: English (nickname/surname, multiple disputed origins)
Pronunciation: BUK · bʌk
Meaning: originally a nickname or surname with several competing roots: a reference to a male deer, an Old English/German word for beech tree or belly, or a short form of Burkhard
Popularity: #2,472 and falling (#2,150 → #2,472, 2024)

Rustic and real — not unheard of as a given name, and carries genuine outdoorsman energy.

Lynx

Origin: Latin (from Greek lynx)
Pronunciation: LINKS · lɪŋks
Meaning: the lynx, a sharp-eyed wildcat
Popularity: #2,268 and rising (#2,462 → #2,268, 2024)

One of the boldest animal names — solitary, nocturnal, and strikingly unusual.

Drake

Origin: English
Pronunciation: DRAYK · ˈdreɪk
Meaning: dragon
Popularity: #661 and rising (#681 → #661, 2024)

The dragon reading wins for boho purposes — old and fiery.

Coyote

Origin: Nahuatl (via Spanish)
Pronunciation: ky-OH-tee · kaɪˈoʊti
Meaning: coyote (the animal)
Popularity: #9,133 and falling (#5,106 → #9,133, 2024)

The Navajo trickster figure and Southwestern wildcat — used as a name in indigenous and boho communities, carrying a spirit of clever, untameable energy.

Finch

Origin: English (surname)
Pronunciation: FINCH · ˈfɪntʃ
Meaning: named for the finch bird
Popularity: #5,101 and rising (#7,030 → #5,101, 2024)

Atticus Finch’s surname worn as a given name — literary and bright, with birdsong lightness.

Wren

Origin: English (Middle English)
Pronunciation: REN · ˈrɛn
Meaning: the small songbird
Popularity: #1,025 and falling (#984 → #1,025, 2024)

Swift

Origin: Old English
Pronunciation: SWIFT · swɪft
Meaning: Quick-moving, fast; originally a nickname for an agile person (the swift bird takes its name from this same adjective).
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The bird was named after the adjective ‘swift’ (quick), so the name’s core meaning is ‘fast-moving’ — the bird sense is derivative, not the other way around.

Osprey

Origin: Latin (word name, via Old French)
Pronunciation: OSS-pree · ˈɒspri
Meaning: ‘bone-breaker’ (Latin ossifraga), the old name for the fish-hawk; used today as a modern nature word-name rather than a traditional given name
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The fishing hawk — wild and very rare as a given name.

Crane

Origin: English (surname from the bird name)
Pronunciation: KRAYN · ˈkreɪn
Meaning: crane (the bird)
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Tall, elegant waterbird — a surname-name with an aristocratic, long-necked grace.

Puma

Origin: Quechua
Pronunciation: POO-muh · ˈpuːmə
Meaning: mountain lion, cougar
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Bold South American wildlife energy — used in some Latin American communities as a given name.

Sparrow

Origin: Middle English
Pronunciation: SPAIR-oh · ˈspɛroʊ
Meaning: the sparrow bird
Popularity: #5,012 and rising (#5,883 → #5,012, 2024)

Captain Jack Sparrow notwithstanding, it’s a genuine English bird name with real sweetness.

Blaze

Origin: English (from the word ‘blaze’); also linked to ‘Blaise,’ from Latin Blasius
Pronunciation: BLAYZ · ˈbleɪz
Meaning: flame, bright fire (the modern sense); historically the given name arose partly as a respelling of Blaise
Popularity: #761 and rising (#766 → #761, 2024)

largely accurate for the modern word-name, but Wiktionary traces the given-name spelling to ‘Blaise’ (from Latin Blasius, traditionally glossed ‘stutterer’), so the fiery meaning may be a later reinterpretation rather than the original root.

Storm

Origin: English
Pronunciation: STORM · ˈstɔːrm
Meaning: taken directly from the English word ‘storm’ (tempest, violent weather)
Popularity: #1,870 and falling (#1,676 → #1,870, 2024)

Weather as a given name — rare but genuinely used, and more controlled than it sounds.

Hunter

Origin: English (occupational surname)
Pronunciation: HUN-ter · ˈhʌntər
Meaning: one who hunts
Popularity: #128 and falling (#115 → #128, 2024)

Classic outdoor name that holds its own between the boho and rugged registers.

Shade

Origin: Old English
Pronunciation: SHAYD · ʃeɪd
Meaning: shadow
Popularity: #5,602 and falling (#5,418 → #5,602, 2024)

Contemplative and mysterious — a name for a quiet, interior-dwelling kid.

Valor

Origin: Latin (via Old French/Middle English)
Pronunciation: VAL-er · ˈvælər
Meaning: bravery, courage
Popularity: #1,463 and rising (#1,470 → #1,463, 2024)

A virtue name with real warrior energy — and surprisingly musical.

Bravo

Origin: Spanish/Italian
Pronunciation: BRAH-voh · ˈbrɑːvoʊ
Meaning: wild, fierce, brave
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Theatrical and bold — used as a given name in Latin communities.

Falcon

Origin: English (from Old French faucon, Late Latin falco)
Pronunciation: FAL-kun · ˈfælkən
Meaning: a falcon, the bird of prey
Popularity: #4,920 and rising (#5,305 → #4,920, 2024)

The bird of prey as a direct name — soaring, trained, beautiful.

Roan

Origin: Irish/Old English
Pronunciation: ROHN · roʊn
Meaning: reddish-brown (as in a horse’s coat); also linked to Irish Ruadhán, ‘little red one’
Popularity: #1,350 and rising (#1,514 → #1,350, 2024)

The horse-coat color as a name — earthy, unexpected, and lovely.

Trace

Origin: English (short form of Tracy, also from Old French ‘trace’)
Pronunciation: TRAYS · ˈtreɪs
Meaning: a pet form of Tracy; also ‘a track or path’
Popularity: #704 and falling (#677 → #704, 2024)

The trail left behind — subtle wildness in one syllable.

Fable

Origin: English (from Latin fabula via Old French fable)
Pronunciation: FAY-bul · ˈfeɪbəl
Meaning: a short tale, often with animal characters, that teaches a moral lesson
Popularity: #3,708 and rising (#4,911 → #3,708, 2024)

A name for a child whose life will be one — rarer for boys than girls, and more interesting for it.

Griff

Origin: Welsh (short form of Griffith)
Pronunciation: GRIF · ɡrɪf
Meaning: short form of Griffith, traditionally glossed as ‘strong lord,’ though the exact roots are debated
Popularity: #7,384 and rising (#11,300 → #7,384, 2024)

Short form of Griffin — the mythic creature of lion and eagle combined.

Short, Strong & Unforgettable

Some of the best boho names land in one syllable or two and then just sit there, completely confident. These don’t need explanation or elaboration. They’re done before they’ve started, and that’s the whole point.

Beau

Origin: French
Pronunciation: BOH · ˈboʊ
Meaning: handsome
Popularity: #69 and rising (#80 → #69, 2024)

One syllable, charming and Southern and French all at once — the effortless boho gentleman name.

Bleu

Origin: French (the color word ‘bleu, ‘ blue)
Pronunciation: BLOO · bluː
Meaning: blue
Popularity: #3,099 and falling (#2,440 → #3,099, 2024)

The color as a name in French spelling — rare and quietly sophisticated for a boy.

Lev

Origin: Slavic/Russian; separately Hebrew
Pronunciation: LEV · ˈlɛv
Meaning: lion (Slavic, cognate with Latin leo); separately, ‘heart’ in Hebrew and Yiddish
Popularity: #1,040 and rising (#1,092 → #1,040, 2024)

Tolstoy’s first name — minimal and meaningful, carries the weight of the whole Slavic literary tradition.

Kai

Origin: Germanic/Scandinavian (also popularly linked to Hawaiian)
Pronunciation: KY · ˈkaɪ
Meaning: possibly from Latin Caius, or a Frisian pet form of Gerard/Cornelius/Nicholas (‘warrior’); popularly reinterpreted in the US as Hawaiian for ‘sea’
Popularity: #76 and falling (#61 → #76, 2024)

The most naturally global boho name — four letters, infinite roots.

Zane

Origin: English (surname of unknown origin)
Pronunciation: ZAYN · ˈzeɪn
Meaning: “God is gracious”
Popularity: #306 and falling (#277 → #306, 2024)

Zane Grey, Western novelist and adventurer — sharp and grounded.

Ace

Origin: English (from the word “ace”, ultimately Old French/Latin as, “a single unit”)
Pronunciation: AYSS · ˈeɪs
Meaning: one who excels; top-ranked
Popularity: #165 and falling (#157 → #165, 2024)

The nickname-name with instant, effortless confidence.

Fox

Origin: English
Pronunciation: FOKS · ˈfɑːks
Meaning: The fox, the animal; a transferred use of the English surname/word, occasionally chosen in tribute to Quaker founder George Fox.
Popularity: #1,111 and rising (#1,122 → #1,111, 2024)

Quick, red-haired, wild-energy in three letters.

Cole

Origin: English (Middle English)
Pronunciation: KOHL · ˈkoʊl
Meaning: coal-black, swarthy
Popularity: #162 and falling (#155 → #162, 2024)

Artists and minimalists both claim this one — it wears quietly and well.

Lux

Origin: Latin
Pronunciation: LUKS · ˈlʌks
Meaning: light
Popularity: #1,223 and falling (#1,153 → #1,223, 2024)

Brilliant and rare as a legal male name — the Latin root of everything luminous.

Finn

Origin: Irish or Old Norse
Pronunciation: FIN · ˈfɪn
Meaning: fair (Irish) or Sami/Finn (Norse)
Popularity: #198 and falling (#186 → #198, 2024)

Finn McCool — mythic, bright, effortless, and still somehow fresh.

Jude

Origin: Hebrew (via Greek Ioudas and Latin Judas)
Pronunciation: JOOD · ˈdʒuːd
Meaning: praised (ultimately from Hebrew, transmitted through Greek/Latin)
Popularity: #156 and rising (#161 → #156, 2024)

The Beatle and the Hardy novel — literary and understated in exactly equal measure.

Reid

Origin: Scottish/English (surname, from Older Scots ‘reid’)
Pronunciation: REED · ˈriːd
Meaning: red-haired or ruddy-complexioned
Popularity: #300 and rising (#315 → #300, 2024)

Knox

Origin: Scottish/Old English (surname and place name)
Pronunciation: NOKS · ˈnɑːks
Meaning: small hill with a rounded top
Popularity: #209 and falling (#208 → #209, 2024)

Slade

Origin: Old English (place name/surname)
Pronunciation: SLAYD · ˈsleɪd
Meaning: valley
Popularity: #1,051 and rising (#1,141 → #1,051, 2024)

The moodier, darker cousin of Slate — carries a slight edge.

Vance

Origin: English (surname)
Pronunciation: VANS · ˈvæns
Meaning: from the marshland
Popularity: #996 and falling (#955 → #996, 2024)

An American surname-name with mountain-music, Appalachian-country history.

Wyn

Origin: Welsh
Pronunciation: WIN · wɪn
Meaning: white, fair, blessed
Popularity: #8,255 and rising (#8,873 → #8,255, 2024)

The Welsh suffix as a standalone name — rare and clean.

Crue

Origin: English (modern phonetic respelling of ‘Crew’)
Pronunciation: KROO · ˈkruː
Meaning: a close group of companions
Popularity: #629 and rising (#726 → #629, 2024)

Dax

Origin: French (place name)
Pronunciation: DAKS · ˈdæks
Meaning: “water / from Dax”
Popularity: #636 and falling (#559 → #636, 2024)

Named for a French town on the Adour River — short, punchy, and surprisingly European.

Jet

Origin: Old French (ultimately Greek)
Pronunciation: JET · dʒɛt
Meaning: black gemstone
Popularity: #1,353 and falling (#1,316 → #1,353, 2024)

The gemstone and the speed compressed into three letters.

Lake

Origin: English (word name)
Pronunciation: LAYK · ˈleɪk
Meaning: a body of water
Popularity: #1,632 and rising (#1,820 → #1,632, 2024)

Serene and elemental — a name that lands with unusual quiet.

Zev

Origin: Hebrew
Pronunciation: ZEV · ˈzɛv
Meaning: wolf
Popularity: #908 and falling (#877 → #908, 2024)

Short, strong, and connected to the wildness of the wolf in a quieter register than Wolf itself.

Grey

Origin: English (variant of Gray, surname)
Pronunciation: GRAY · ˈɡreɪ
Meaning: British spelling variant of Gray; surname from a Norman place-name (‘Greek’) or a nickname for grey hair/beard
Popularity: #876 and falling (#862 → #876, 2024)

A color name that wears elegantly on a boy — more understated than Blue or Indigo.

Kit

Origin: English (nickname, multiple source names); also a Ukrainian-derived name meaning ‘tomcat’
Pronunciation: KIT · ˈkɪt
Meaning: depends on the full name: ‘bearer of Christ’ (short for Christopher); popularly ‘pure’ when short for Katherine/Kathleen (though Katherine’s own etymology is actually uncertain)
Popularity: #1,150 and rising (#1,152 → #1,150, 2024)

Kit Marlowe, Kit Harington — the diminutive that outgrew the full name.

Bax

Origin: Old English (surname, origin disputed)
Pronunciation: BAKS · bæks
Meaning: “baker”
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

A short surname-name — rare, earthy, and quietly distinctive.

Rue

Origin: English
Pronunciation: ROO · ruː
Meaning: the rue plant, ‘herb of grace’; also English ‘rue’, meaning regret
Popularity: #5,596 and rising (#7,205 → #5,596, 2024)

The herb and the emotion — small and deeply memorable for a boy.

Rare & Under-the-Radar Boho Names

These are the ones that require a little more commitment — names with deep roots that most people have never considered for a baby. They reward the research.

Peregrine

Origin: Latin
Pronunciation: PAIR-uh-grin · ˈpɛrəɡrɪn
Meaning: traveler or pilgrim (from a Latin word originally meaning ‘foreigner’)
Popularity: #3,365 and rising (#3,855 → #3,365, 2024)

Balthazar

Origin: Akkadian (via Hebrew, Greek, and Latin biblical tradition)
Pronunciation: BAL-thuh-zar · ˈbælθəzɑːr
Meaning: Bel protects the king (Bel being a title of the Babylonian god Marduk)
Popularity: #7,796 and falling (#7,338 → #7,796, 2024)

One of the three Magi — opulent, exotic, and astonishingly rare as a given name.

Isidore

Origin: Greek
Pronunciation: IZ-uh-dor · ˈɪzədɔːr
Meaning: gift of the goddess Isis
Popularity: #3,473 and falling (#3,443 → #3,473, 2024)

Patron saint of farmers and, fittingly, the internet — ancient and eccentric in the best way.

Crispin

Origin: Latin
Pronunciation: KRIS-pin · ˈkrɪspɪn
Meaning: curly-haired
Popularity: #6,893 and rising (#7,371 → #6,893, 2024)

Patron saint of shoemakers — St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V gives it enduring literary resonance.

Evander

Origin: Greek
Pronunciation: ih-VAN-der · ɪˈvændər
Meaning: good man
Popularity: #771 and rising (#779 → #771, 2024)

The Greek hero and the boxing legend Evander Holyfield — rarely chosen, deeply strong.

Theron

Origin: Greek
Pronunciation: THAIR-on · ˈθɛrɑːn
Meaning: hunter
Popularity: #2,857 and rising (#2,996 → #2,857, 2024)

Cassius

Origin: Latin (Roman family name)
Pronunciation: KASH-us · ˈkæʃəs
Meaning: “hollow, empty”
Popularity: #567 and rising (#576 → #567, 2024)

Muhammad Ali’s birth name — reclaimed with such force that it now carries only power.

Anselm

Origin: Germanic (Proto-Germanic ansuz + Old High German helm)
Pronunciation: AN-selm · ˈænsɛlm
Meaning: divine protection, literally ‘god-helmet’
Popularity: #9,939 and falling (#8,972 → #9,939, 2024)

Anselm of Canterbury, the medieval philosopher who wrote the ontological argument — a name for a deep thinker.

Barnabas

Origin: Aramaic
Pronunciation: BAR-nuh-bus · ˈbɑːrnəbəs
Meaning: son of the prophet
Popularity: #4,571 and rising (#5,090 → #4,571, 2024)

The full, dramatic form of Barnaby — ancient, apostolic, and rarely used.

Cormac

Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
Pronunciation: KOR-mak · ˈkɔːrmæk
Meaning: son of the charioteer
Popularity: #1,254 and falling (#1,238 → #1,254, 2024)

Cormac McCarthy gave this name grave literary weight — it belongs to storytellers and wanderers.

Callum

Origin: Scottish Gaelic
Pronunciation: KAL-um · ˈkæləm
Meaning: dove (via the name Calum, ultimately Latin columba)
Popularity: #159 and rising (#222 → #159, 2024)

The Scottish saint’s name — peaceful, rare in the US, and sonically beautiful.

Alaric

Origin: Gothic (Germanic)
Pronunciation: AL-ar-ik · ˈælərɪk
Meaning: ruler of all
Popularity: #1,109 and falling (#1,073 → #1,109, 2024)

The Visigoth king who sacked Rome — powerful, rare, surprisingly elegant.

Finnegan

Origin: Irish (surname)
Pronunciation: FIN-ih-gun · ˈfɪnɪgən
Meaning: descendant of the fair one
Popularity: #492 and falling (#490 → #492, 2024)

The full form behind Finn — James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake gives it its most evocative literary weight.

Ambrose

Origin: Greek (via Latin)
Pronunciation: AM-brohz · ˈæmbroʊz
Meaning: immortal, divine (belonging to the immortals)
Popularity: #741 and rising (#788 → #741, 2024)

The bishop-saint of Milan with the bees mythology attached to his birth — rare and honey-sweet.

Florian

Origin: Latin
Pronunciation: FLOR-ee-an · ˈflɔːriən
Meaning: Blooming or flourishing; from the Latin name Florianus, related to florere “to bloom.”
Popularity: #3,230 and rising (#3,240 → #3,230, 2024)

The Roman saint and patron of Poland — quietly lovely and almost never used in the US.

Oleander

Origin: French/Italian (plant name: oléandre / oleandro)
Pronunciation: oh-lee-AN-der · oʊliˈændər
Meaning: named after the oleander flowering shrub
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Rare botanical name for boys — dramatic, beautiful, and genuinely striking.

Endymion

Origin: Greek (mythological name)
Pronunciation: en-DIM-ee-un · ɛnˈdɪmiən
Meaning: “to dive into, to enter”
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The sleeping shepherd loved eternally by the moon goddess Selene — deeply poetic and very rare.

Absalom

Origin: Hebrew
Pronunciation: AB-suh-luhm · ˈæbsələm
Meaning: father of peace
Popularity: #7,735 and rising (#9,763 → #7,735, 2024)

Corentin

Origin: Breton
Pronunciation: kaw-rahn-TAHN · kɔʁɑ̃tɛ̃
Meaning: “friend, companion”
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

A Breton saint’s name almost never heard in English-speaking countries — genuinely undiscovered.

Astrophel

Origin: Greek (via 16th-century English literary coinage)
Meaning: star lover
Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings