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Boho boy names pull from a different toolbox than their girl counterparts. Where a lot of girl names in this vein lean on wildflowers and soft vowel sounds, boy names in the same free-spirit tradition tend to reach for something sturdier: tree bark, mountain rock, the surnames of folk musicians who played protest songs on borrowed guitars, Sanskrit words picked up on a yoga mat or a backpacking trip through the Himalayas. It’s less about being delicate and more about being unbothered — a name that sounds just as good shouted across a campsite as it does printed on a diploma twenty years later.
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When referencing popularity, I am referring to baby name data from Social Security Administration database in the United States for 2025, which is the most current year of data available.
Here’s what’s in store –
Rooted in the Land: Nature & Earth Names
Peace, Folk Music & Free-Spirit Names
This list pulls from eight overlapping traditions that all land somewhere under the “boho” umbrella: the natural world, the sky and its mythology, rivers and open water, Celtic and Arthurian legend, totem-animal names, the folk-and-protest music canon of the 1960s and ’70s, a set of vintage names that have the same lived-in quality despite being a century or more old, and naming traditions from outside the Western canon entirely.
None of these are invented. Every name below has a documented meaning, a real linguistic root, or a specific person, place, or story attached to it — a poet, a mythological figure, a river, a Beatle, a Roman statesman. That matters if you’re the kind of parent who wants to answer “why did you pick that name?” with something more substantial than “it sounded nice.”
If you found your way here from the companion list of boho girl names, think of this as the sibling volume — same sensibility, different sonic register. Scroll through, bookmark the ones that make you stop, and read on for guidance on narrowing two hundred options down to one.
Rooted in the Land: Nature & Earth Names
These names come straight from the ground up — trees, stone, open land, the kind of scenery you’d actually camp in. They read less delicate-flower and more sturdy-oak.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Wooded land; from Old French forest, adopted as an English surname and later used as a given name.
- Popularity: #724
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: little red one
- Popularity: #71
In Celtic folklore the rowan tree was planted near homes for protection.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: the cedar tree
- Popularity: #1197
Cedar wood is referenced throughout the Hebrew Bible as a material fit for temples and palaces.
- Origin: English (nature name/surname)
- Meaning: the birch tree
- Popularity: #9873
Birch bark was the traditional material for canoes among many Northeastern Native American tribes.
- Origin: Old English (word name/surname)
- Meaning: ash tree (one who lived near ash trees)
- Popularity: #1147
In Norse mythology, the first man, Ask, was said to have been carved from an ash tree.
- Origin: English (place name/surname)
- Meaning: oak clearing (a clearing or meadow in an oak forest)
- Popularity: #157
Oak trees held sacred status in both Celtic and Germanic tree lore.
- Origin: English (from Old French/Latin)
- Meaning: a wise person; also linked to the sage herb plant
- Popularity: #146
Sage has been burned in cleansing rituals across many cultures for centuries.
- Origin: English (surname, from Old English “stan”)
- Meaning: from the English word for stone/rock; originally a surname for someone who lived near a notable stone or worked with stone
- Popularity: #1048
- Origin: English
- Meaning: A hard stone historically used for tool-making and striking sparks to start fires; used as a transferred word/surname name.
- Popularity: #1970
The city of Flint, Michigan, takes its name from the mineral.
- Origin: Spanish *cañón*
- Popularity: #1433
- Origin: English (diminutive of Clifford/Clifton)
- Meaning: short form of Clifford or Clifton, from Old English clif ‘cliff, steep bank’
- Popularity: #2995
- Origin: Middle English (probably of Scandinavian origin)
- Meaning: a large rock, especially one rounded by water or erosion
- Popularity: Rare
Boulder, Colorado, was named for the abundant rock formations at the base of the Rockies.
- Origin: English (topographic surname)
- Meaning: a long, raised strip of land or hilltop
- Popularity: #528
- Origin: English (surname/place name)
- Meaning: small wood, grove of trees
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: English (from Old English hǣþ)
- Meaning: heathland; open, shrubby moorland
- Popularity: #848
Actor Heath Ledger carried the name.
- Origin: English (nature word)
- Meaning: the moss plant
- Popularity: #6065
- Origin: English (nature name)
- Meaning: the fern plant
- Popularity: #1261
- Origin: English (vocabulary/nature name)
- Meaning: the elm tree (nature name)
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: English
- Meaning: the linden (lime) tree
- Popularity: #1548
Linden trees line famous European boulevards, including Berlin’s Unter den Linden.
- Origin: Greek, *kyparissos*
- Popularity: #1416
In Greek myth, the youth Cyparissus was transformed into a cypress tree by Apollo.
- Popularity: #2450
- Origin: English surname
- Popularity: #1759
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: a thorny, tangled shrub such as a wild blackberry bush
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Old English (surname/place name)
- Meaning: thorn bush
- Popularity: #13992
- Origin: English (occupational surname)
- Meaning: wild one; also historically ‘a hunter of wild game’
- Popularity: #392
Actor Gene Wilder, born Jerome Silberman, adopted it as a stage surname.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: the hawthorn tree, literally ‘hedge-thorn’
- Popularity: #5732
In Celtic folklore, hawthorn trees were believed to mark boundaries of the fairy realm.
- Origin: Celtic (river name) / English (plant name)
- Meaning: rough (Celtic river name); also the yarrow herb
- Popularity: #8922
Its scientific name, *Achillea*, honors Achilles, whose soldiers reportedly used it on the battlefield.
- Origin: English (modern coinage, nature name)
- Meaning: named for the aspen (quaking) tree
- Popularity: #265
Aspen, Colorado, was named for the groves surrounding it.
- Origin: Old French (via the plant name)
- Meaning: the sorrel plant (a tart, sour-leaved herb); also a reddish-brown color
- Popularity: #14992
- Origin: English (from Latin ‘laurus,’ via the plant name)
- Meaning: laurel tree; symbolically, honor or victory
- Popularity: #728
In myth, the nymph Daphne was turned into a laurel tree to escape the god Apollo.
- Popularity: #6037
- Origin: Surname (multiple unrelated origins)
- Meaning: fern (one of several surname origins)
- Popularity: #12497
- Origin: English
- Popularity: #4998
Actor Rock Hudson, born Roy Fitzgerald, made it a household name.
Sky, Sun & Celestial Names
Where the earth-and-tree names feel grounded, this group looks up — to the sun, the winter constellations, and the gods once said to steer them across the sky.
- Origin: Ancient Greek (etymology uncertain)
- Meaning: uncertain; possibly ‘heaven’s light’ (a speculative Akkadian derivation, not firmly established)
- Popularity: #325
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: the mythical firebird symbolizing rebirth and renewal
- Popularity: #275
- Origin: Spanish/Latin (‘sun’), or a short form of Solomon (Hebrew)
- Meaning: sun; also used as a short form of Solomon
- Popularity: #819
Sol was the personification of the sun in Roman mythology.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: lion
- Popularity: #24
- Origin: Greek (via Italian Cosimo)
- Meaning: order, the ordered universe (and by extension, beauty/adornment)
- Popularity: #1683
It’s the full first name of Kramer’s character on “Seinfeld,” Cosmo Kramer.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: the west wind
- Popularity: #1133
- Origin: German (Germanic)
- Meaning: counsel of the army
- Popularity: #2615
Poet Rainer Maria Rilke carried the name.
- Origin: English (the word ‘blaze,’ meaning flame/fire; Wiktionary also derives the given-name spelling from ‘Blaise,’ i.e. Latin Blasius)
- Meaning: flame, bright fire (the modern sense); historically the given name arose partly as a respelling of Blaise
- Popularity: #761
- Origin: English (modern vocabulary-word name)
- Meaning: a glowing coal or fragment from a dying fire
- Popularity: #137
- Origin: English
- Meaning: cheerful, full of sunshine
- Popularity: #372
It’s the title of Bobby Hebb’s 1966 soul classic “Sunny.”
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: peace
- Popularity: #417
King Solomon of Israel was renowned in the Bible for his wisdom.
- Popularity: #2085
- Origin: English (word for a strong windstorm)
- Meaning: a strong windstorm
- Popularity: #6562
- Origin: Italian (from Latin/Greek)
- Meaning: a pet form of Lucius, or of Loukanos (‘man from Lucania’)
- Popularity: #23
Luca Brasi is a memorable character in “The Godfather.”
- Popularity: #2246
- Origin: English (surname)
- Meaning: an English surname built from the compass direction ‘north’, later adopted as a given name
- Popularity: #10581
- Origin: Latin *aurum*
- Popularity: #3690
Roman Emperor Aurelian reunified the empire in the 3rd century AD.
- Origin: Italian (from Greek)
- Meaning: the sun (from Helios)
- Popularity: #507
Elio Perlman is the central character of “Call Me by Your Name.”
- Origin: English (short form of Raymond; for girls, sometimes of Rachel)
- Meaning: protector (from Raymond)
- Popularity: #779
- Popularity: #414
NASA later chose the name for its Moon-landing program.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: the sun
- Popularity: #2881
- Origin: English
- Meaning: taken directly from the English word ‘storm’ (tempest, violent weather)
- Popularity: #1621
- Popularity: #2720
River, Sea & Water Names
Water has always drawn free-spirited namers, from communal-living parents in the 1970s to today’s van-life families. This set covers rivers, coastlines, and the mythology built up around the sea.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: a naturally flowing body of water
- Popularity: #112
Actor River Phoenix’s parents embraced a countercultural, back-to-nature lifestyle in the 1970s.
- Origin: Germanic/Scandinavian (also popularly linked to Hawaiian)
- 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
- Origin: Old English *mere* + *lāf*
- Popularity: #624
Playwright Christopher Marlowe was a contemporary and rival of Shakespeare.
- Origin: Latin *marinus*
- Popularity: #1900
Marin County, California, is known for its rugged coastline and redwoods.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: small sheltered bay/inlet
- Popularity: #1207
- Origin: English (from a common word)
- Meaning: from the ordinary English word ‘bay’ — either a coastal inlet or the bay (laurel) tree
- Popularity: #6954
- Origin: English (word name)
- Meaning: a ridge of rock or coral near the water’s surface
- Popularity: #2584
- Origin: Germanic (common word, not a dedicated given name)
- Meaning: the rise and fall of the sea
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Old English (surname)
- Meaning: a ford, or place to cross a river
- Popularity: #341
- Origin: English (occupational surname)
- Meaning: one who fishes
- Popularity: #897
- Origin: English (word name)
- Meaning: a body of water
- Popularity: #1632
- Origin: English (surname)
- Meaning: one who lived near a brook
- Popularity: #67
Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson carried it.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: Originally a surname for someone who lived near a river ford, a shallow place where a river could be crossed.
- Popularity: #570
Actor Harrison Ford made the surname a household name.
- Origin: English
- Popularity: #1940
It’s the fish Santiago battles in Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.”
- Origin: English (from Latin ‘Caspius’)
- Meaning: of/from the Caspian Sea
- Popularity: #578
Prince Caspian is a central character in C.S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia.”
- Popularity: #166
Playwright Samuel Beckett wrote “Waiting for Godot.”
- Origin: English, ultimately Greek (Ōkeanos)
- Meaning: the sea
- Popularity: #591
Singer Frank Ocean, born Christopher Breaux, took it as a stage name.
- Popularity: #3874
- Popularity: #5816
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Spanish/Portuguese
- Meaning: river
- Popularity: #516
Rio de Janeiro means “January River,” named for the date Portuguese explorers arrived.
Folklore, Myth & Legend Names
Long before “boho” was a word, storytellers were naming heroes, wizards, and tricksters who lived in forests and answered to no king but their own instincts.
- Origin: Old French (diminutive of Robert)
- Meaning: pet form of Robert, whose Germanic roots mean roughly ‘bright fame’; the female/modern use is also commonly linked directly to the robin bird
- Popularity: #799
Robin Hood is the legendary outlaw of Sherwood Forest.
- Origin: Welsh (via Medieval Latin Merlinus, Old French Merlin)
- Meaning: a fortress by the sea, from Celtic roots for ‘sea’ and ‘stronghold’
- Popularity: #2083
The legendary wizard and advisor to King Arthur.
- Origin: Celtic (Welsh), disputed — possibly a Latinized Romano-British name
- Meaning: possibly ‘bear’ (etymology disputed)
- Popularity: #105
The legendary king of Camelot.
- Origin: Welsh/Brythonic (via Old French/Middle English)
- Meaning: white hawk
- Popularity: Rare
A Knight of the Round Table and nephew of King Arthur.
- Origin: Celtic (Pictish/Brythonic, via Arthurian legend)
- Meaning: tumult, riot
- Popularity: #267
Hero of the medieval romance “Tristan and Iseult.”
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: enthusiasm, ardor
- Popularity: #354
Borne by several medieval Welsh rulers, including Rhys ap Gruffydd, a 12th-century Prince of Deheubarth.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: Welsh name via Latinized ‘Griffinus’, from Gruffudd (deeper root meaning not attested in our sources)
- Popularity: #223
The mythical creature with a lion’s body and an eagle’s head and wings, said to guard treasure.
- Origin: Old French (Arthurian; probably from Welsh/Celtic)
- Meaning: probably from the Welsh Arthurian name Peredur, reshaped in Old French to resemble ‘pierce’ + ‘valley’
- Popularity: #1768
An Arthurian knight who achieves the Holy Grail quest in later versions of the legend.
- Origin: Irish Gaelic
- Meaning: little fierce one
- Popularity: #7513
Borne by several medieval Irish kings.
- Origin: Irish or Old Norse
- Meaning: fair (Irish) or Sami/Finn (Norse)
- Popularity: #198
The legendary hero Fionn mac Cumhaill led the warrior band known as the Fianna.
- Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
- Meaning: son of the charioteer
- Popularity: #1254
Cormac mac Airt was a legendary High King of Ireland renowned for wise judgments.
- Origin: Irish (variant of Oisín/Ossian)
- Meaning: little deer, fawn
- Popularity: #4145
A legendary poet-warrior, son of Fionn mac Cumhaill, said to have lived for centuries in the Otherworld.
- Origin: Welsh (from Latin Ambrosius, ultimately Ancient Greek)
- Meaning: immortal, divine one
- Popularity: #1138
The early Welsh name for the wizard Merlin, Myrddin Emrys.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: traveler or pilgrim (from a Latin word originally meaning ‘foreigner’)
- Popularity: #3365
Historically given to a firstborn son born while parents were on pilgrimage abroad.
- Origin: Latin (via French Sylvain/Swedish Sylvan)
- Meaning: of the forest
- Popularity: #1911
Sylvanus was the Roman god of woods and fields.
- Origin: Old English
- Popularity: #4328
Popularized as the protagonist of Roger Zelazny’s “Chronicles of Amber” novels.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: hewer, feller (one who cuts down trees)
- Popularity: #331
A judge and military leader in the Book of Judges.
- Popularity: #81
Title character of George Eliot’s novel “Silas Marner.”
- Origin: German
- Meaning: wolf’s path, from Old High German ‘wolf’ (wolf) and ‘gang’ (path, course)
- Popularity: #1534
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
- Origin: Old French (from Middle High German)
- Meaning: elf king / fairy king
- Popularity: #3744
The king of the fairies in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
- Origin: Old English (via Middle English pouke)
- Meaning: a mischievous goblin or nature spirit
- Popularity: Rare
The trickster fairy of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: little wolf
- Popularity: #6250
- Origin: Welsh
- Popularity: #11099
Bran the Blessed, a giant king in Welsh mythology, whose head was said to protect Britain when buried beneath the White Hill.
- Origin: Anglo-Norman French / Latin (surname)
- Meaning: raven, crow
- Popularity: #473
- Origin: Irish Gaelic
- Popularity: #9889
The god of love, youth, and poetic inspiration in Irish mythology.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic
- Meaning: fair stranger
- Popularity: Rare
A legendary warrior-giant whose name was given to Fingal’s Cave on the Scottish isle of Staffa.
- Origin: Welsh
- Popularity: #6663
Borne by Llywelyn the Great and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, medieval Welsh princes who resisted English rule.
- Origin: Welsh (traditionally linked to Latin Gaius)
- Meaning: traditionally said to mean ‘rejoice’ (as a Welsh form of Gaius), though the ultimate origin of Gaius itself is uncertain
- Popularity: #1902
Sir Kay, foster brother of King Arthur, is one of the earliest Knights of the Round Table in Welsh tradition.
Animal Spirit & Totem Names
Totem-animal names have circulated in free-spirit naming circles for decades, borrowed from the idea that a creature’s traits might rub off on the child who carries its name.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: from the wolf; or short for Germanic ‘wolf’ names
- Popularity: #1812
Root of Wolfgang and Rudolph.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: The fox, the animal; a transferred use of the English surname/word, occasionally chosen in tribute to Quaker founder George Fox.
- Popularity: #1111
A recurring trickster figure from Aesop’s fables to Japanese kitsune legends.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: bear (the animal)
- Popularity: #826
Adventurer and TV host Bear Grylls, born Edward Michael Grylls.
- Origin: English (from Old French talon, “heel”; modern sense “claw”)
- Meaning: a bird of prey’s claw
- Popularity: #1045
- Origin: English (word/nature name)
- Meaning: the bird of prey (hawk)
- Popularity: #3343
Legendary skateboarder Tony Hawk.
- Origin: English (from Old French faucon, Late Latin falco)
- Meaning: a falcon, the bird of prey
- Popularity: #4920
Falconry has been practiced as a sport since at least 2000 BCE in Mesopotamia.
- Origin: English (word name; masculine use parallels Old Norse Hrafn)
- Meaning: the black-feathered bird
- Popularity: #388
In Norse mythology, Odin was accompanied by two ravens, Huginn and Muninn.
- Origin: Germanic (Middle English ‘stagge’); the retrieved Wiktionary etymology instead covers an unrelated nautical term
- Meaning: a mature male deer
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: English (nickname/surname, multiple disputed origins)
- 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: #2472
- Origin: Latin (from Greek lynx)
- Meaning: the lynx, a sharp-eyed wildcat
- Popularity: #2268
- Origin: English
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Old English/Old French (surname); unrelated Irish surname homographs also exist
- Meaning: The long-legged wading bird; as a surname, ‘Heron’ also has separate, unconnected origins, though its modern use as a nature name draws on the bird sense.
- Popularity: #4341
- Origin: Middle English
- Meaning: the sparrow bird
- Popularity: #3554
Popularized as a given name by Captain Jack Sparrow of “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
- Origin: English
- Meaning: young horse
- Popularity: #276
- Origin: English (Middle English)
- Meaning: the small songbird
- Popularity: #213
Old European folklore once crowned it “king of birds” after a flying contest.
- Origin: English
- Meaning: dragon
- Popularity: #661
Sir Francis Drake was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.
- Origin: Old French (via Middle English)
- Meaning: A small, hovering falcon; the word entered English via Old French, and its deeper root isn’t fully settled.
- Popularity: #11613
Central symbol of Barry Hines’s novel “A Kestrel for a Knave,” later filmed as “Kes.”
- Origin: Old French/Germanic
- Popularity: #13758
Hero of the medieval fable cycle “Reynard the Fox,” whose name became the standard French word for fox, *renard*.
- Origin: English (surname)
- Meaning: badger (one of two competing surname etymologies)
- Popularity: #705
- Origin: Old Norse (via Swedish/Danish/Norwegian/Icelandic Björn/Bjørn)
- Meaning: bear
- Popularity: #767
Tennis champion Björn Borg, winner of eleven Grand Slam titles.
Peace, Folk Music & Free-Spirit Names
This is the most literally countercultural group on the list: virtue words, Sanskrit spiritual vocabulary, and the names of the folk and protest musicians who soundtracked the era.
- Popularity: #14000
- Origin: English
- Meaning: a trip or passage from one place to another
- Popularity: #322
- Origin: Greek (via the color/dye name)
- Meaning: named after the deep-blue indigo dye/color
- Popularity: #923
- Origin: Japanese (from Chinese Chan, ultimately Sanskrit dhyāna)
- Meaning: meditation
- Popularity: #959
- Popularity: #8414
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Popularity: #2161
- Origin: Sanskrit/Pali (Buddhist term)
- Meaning: awakening or enlightenment
- Popularity: #302
The Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, India, is where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: faithful, genuine, and loyal
- Popularity: #986
- Origin: English (virtue name, from Latin)
- Meaning: justice, fairness (virtue name)
- Popularity: #1079
Supreme Court.
- Origin: English (from Latin sincerus)
- Meaning: genuine, honest, without pretense
- Popularity: #604
- Origin: English (surname, variant of Case); also Americanized German (Kirch/Kirsch)
- Meaning: surname origin, not from the word for money; a variant of Case, or an Americanized German immigrant surname (Kirch ‘church’ or Kirsch ‘cherry’)
- Popularity: #316
Country icon Johnny Cash was known for his outlaw spirit and prison-reform activism.
- Origin: Romani
- Popularity: #12750
Django Reinhardt was the pioneering Romani-French jazz guitarist.
- Origin: Welsh
- Meaning: son of the sea
- Popularity: #28
Poet Dylan Thomas’s name was later adopted as a stage name by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: champion (disputed; also linked to ‘cloud’ or ‘passionate’)
- Popularity: #863
Folk-rock musician Neil Young.
- Origin: Old English/Germanic (diminutive of multiple names)
- Meaning: diminutive nickname with no single fixed meaning — most often short for Gerald/Gerard (‘spear ruler’, Germanic), but also used for Jeremy, Jeremiah, Jared, Jermaine, or Jerome
- Popularity: #867
Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia.
- Origin: English (place name/surname)
- Meaning: from an Old English place name whose first element is uncertain — ‘boundary’, ‘pleasant’, or ‘marten’ — combined with ‘woodland clearing’; a surname transferred to given-name use
- Popularity: #287
Reggae icon Bob Marley.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic surname
- Popularity: #12906
Folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote “This Land Is Your Land.”
- Popularity: #146
Folk singer-songwriter Arlo Guthrie, Woody’s son, known for “Alice’s Restaurant.”
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: priest
- Popularity: #239
Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen.
- Origin: from *Sieger*
- Popularity: Rare
Folk singer and activist Pete Seeger, who wrote “If I Had a Hammer.”
- Origin: English (surname, variant of Priestley)
- Meaning: priest’s clearing or meadow
- Popularity: #224
Elvis Presley.
- Origin: Dutch/Low German (patronymic surname, variant spelling of Hendricks, from Henry)
- Meaning: son of Hendrick, tracing back to Henry’s ‘home ruler’
- Popularity: #296
Guitarist Jimi Hendrix performed his iconic set at the 1969 Woodstock festival.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: the sun, or the sun-deity
- Popularity: #1216
Sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar performed at the Concert for Bangladesh and mentored George Harrison.
- Origin: English (patronymic surname)
- Meaning: patronymic surname meaning ‘son of Harry’
- Popularity: #121
Beatle George Harrison introduced Indian classical music and Hindu spirituality to Western pop culture.
- Popularity: #9133
- Popularity: #6214
- Origin: Greek (via Nicholas/Nicola/Nikos)
- Meaning: victory of the people
- Popularity: #213
Old Soul & Vintage Bohemian Names
Not every boho name is borrowed from nature — some of the most lived-in, unbothered names on this list are a century or more old.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: healer
- Popularity: #474
King Asa of Judah is noted in the Book of Kings for religious reforms.
- Origin: English (patronymic surname, from a Germanic given name)
- Meaning: a patronymic meaning ‘son of Ote/Ode’, a name cognate with Otto
- Popularity: #730
Soul singer Otis Redding.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: carried, a burden
- Popularity: #697
One of the twelve minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible.
- Origin: Greek/Latin (New Testament form of Hebrew Elijah)
- Meaning: my God is Yahweh
- Popularity: #25
- Origin: Old Persian
- Popularity: #254
Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: help
- Popularity: #13
A scribe who led Jewish exiles back to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity.
- Origin: Old Persian
- Meaning: treasurer
- Popularity: #133
- Origin: Latin (from Greek)
- Meaning: person from Attica
- Popularity: #277
Atticus Finch is the moral center of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
- Origin: Latin *cassus*
- Popularity: #567
Birth name of boxer Muhammad Ali, Cassius Clay.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: majestic and venerable
- Popularity: #408
The honorific title taken by Rome’s first emperor, Octavian.
- Origin: Aramaic (medieval English vernacular form of Barnabas)
- Meaning: son of the prophet
- Popularity: #9996
An early companion of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament.
- Origin: Latin (Roman cognomen); also a Scandinavian matronymic form of Catherine
- Meaning: wise, shrewd, clever (Latin ‘catus’)
- Popularity: #3048
Cato the Elder was a Roman statesman famous for his moral rigidity.
- Origin: Old French (from Latin ursus, ‘bear’)
- Meaning: bear cub
- Popularity: #1500
Filmmaker Orson Welles directed “Citizen Kane.”
- Origin: English (place name of Old Norse origin)
- Meaning: deer forest / roebuck wood
- Popularity: #2180
Silent-film comedian Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle.
- Origin: Germanic (Old German)
- Meaning: a Wend (member of a Slavic people)
- Popularity: #2068
Poet and farmer Wendell Berry, known for his writing on land and simplicity.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic (form of Alexander)
- Meaning: protector of men
- Popularity: #905
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: red, ruddy (often used to describe red hair)
- Popularity: #4151
- Origin: Germanic/Slavic
- Popularity: #120
Echoes Milo of Croton, the ancient Greek wrestler and six-time Olympic champion.
- Origin: Germanic (Latinized form of Hugh)
- Meaning: mind, thought
- Popularity: #403
French novelist Victor Hugo wrote “Les Misérables.”
- Origin: Old Persian (per Wiktionary; Wikipedia says Aramaic)
- Meaning: treasurer, treasure-bearer
- Popularity: #879
- Origin: English (surname; diminutive of Emma)
- Meaning: whole, universal
- Popularity: #119
- Origin: Ancient Greek (poet’s name, disputed origin); unrelated English surname sense
- Meaning: uncertain — possibly Greek for ‘hostage, pledge’ (disputed); the unrelated English surname sense means ‘helmet-maker’ or a form of ‘Holme’
- Popularity: #4105
The poet traditionally credited with composing the “Iliad” and “Odyssey.”
- Origin: Old English/Germanic
- Popularity: #1329
The amateur-detective hero of the “Ellery Queen” mystery novels.
- Origin: Greek
- Popularity: #1425
The blanket-carrying philosopher of Charles Schulz’s “Peanuts.”
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: happy, fortunate, lucky
- Popularity: #177
Also the star of the classic 1920s cartoon “Felix the Cat.”
- Origin: Greek (pet form of Theodore/Theodora; occasionally short for other Theo- names)
- Meaning: gift of God (via Theodore/Theodora); has no fixed meaning of its own since it’s also used as a nickname for other names
- Popularity: #80
Theo van Gogh was the devoted brother and patron of painter Vincent van Gogh.
- Origin: Irish (surname)
- Meaning: a man from South Munster (from the Irish surname Ó Deasmhumhnaigh)
- Popularity: #368
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning anti-apartheid leader.
- Origin: Scottish (from the River Clyde)
- Meaning: named for the River Clyde in Scotland
- Popularity: #728
One half of the Depression-era outlaw duo Bonnie and Clyde.
Global Spirit & Sanskrit-Rooted Names
Many free-spirited families look beyond Western tradition entirely, drawing on naming customs that carry their own deep spiritual and linguistic histories.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: white, bright, shining
- Popularity: #581
The heroic archer-prince at the center of the “Bhagavad Gita,” part of the Hindu epic “Mahabharata.”
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: great, big
- Popularity: #937
The 15th-century mystic poet Kabir is revered by Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs alike.
- Origin: Sanskrit/Hindi
- Meaning: god, divine being
- Popularity: #1392
- Origin: Persian/Arabic
- Popularity: #1718
The 13th-century poet and Sufi mystic Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi.
- Origin: Buddhist) teachings (Tibetan
- Popularity: #2279
The given name of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: joy, bliss
- Popularity: #4186
- Origin: Sanskrit (also a French/Breton surname)
- Meaning: ascending, rising
- Popularity: #840
- Origin: Akan (Ghana)
- Meaning: day-name for a boy born on Friday
- Popularity: #3641
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
- Origin: Akan (Ghana) — traditional day-name
- Meaning: born on Saturday
- Popularity: #3297
Kwame Nkrumah, first president of independent Ghana.
- Origin: Arabic (via West African Wolof/Pulaar)
- Meaning: most praiseworthy
- Popularity: #2869
- Origin: Turkish
- Popularity: #1046
The noble lion-king of C.S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia.”
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: beauty
- Popularity: #1183
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: commander, prince
- Popularity: #95
- Origin: Welsh / Arabic (dual origin)
- 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
Actor Idris Elba.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: exalted, elevated (from Arabic sama, ‘to rise’)
- Popularity: #1263
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: archer, marksman
- Popularity: #1211
Actor Rami Malek.
- Origin: Arabic
- Popularity: #4163
Named for the medieval general Tariq ibn Ziyad, for whom Gibraltar — “Jabal Tariq” — is named.
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Meaning: wave
- Popularity: #7825
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Meaning: the coolness / cool breeze
- Popularity: #632
Actor Keanu Reeves.
- Origin: Hawaiian (phonological adaptation of Jim)
- Meaning: Hawaiian form of Jim (nickname for James); ultimately from Hebrew Jacob, popularly ‘supplanter’
- Popularity: #9443
- Origin: Sanskrit and/or Hawaiian/Polynesian (dual origin)
- Meaning: progenitor of humankind (Sanskrit) / bird (Hawaiian)
- Popularity: #5352
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Meaning: warrior, courage; also the name of a native Hawaiian tree
- Popularity: #292
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: form of the Arabic name Zubayr, traditionally understood as ‘strong one’ or ‘firm one’
- Popularity: Rare
- Origin: Swahili
- Meaning: brave, fearless
- Popularity: #1022
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: king, ruler, sovereign
- Popularity: #429
How to Choose a Name From This List
Say it out loud with your last name and imagine it on a resume, not just a nursery wall. A name like Zephyr or Bodhi reads differently in a toddler’s mouth than it does at a job interview thirty years from now — that’s not a reason to avoid it, but it’s worth picturing both versions before you commit.
Decide how much the meaning actually matters to you. Some parents want a name they can explain at a moment’s notice — “it means enlightenment,” “he was a Beatle who studied sitar” — while others are drawn purely to sound and don’t need the backstory to feel right. Either approach is fine; just be honest with yourself about which one you are, since it’ll shape whether you lean toward the Sanskrit and folklore sections or the plainer nature words.
Think about what nicknames the name will generate on its own, whether you want them or not. Wolfgang becomes Wolf on a playground within a week; Solomon becomes Sol; Peregrine becomes Perry. If you love the nickname as much as the full name, that’s a good sign.
Watch for names that are more distinctive on paper than they are easy to spell aloud over a phone. A name like Cai or Faolan is a great choice, but be ready to spell it out at doctor’s offices and school registration for the next eighteen years.
Finally, sit with your shortlist for a week before deciding. The name that still feels right after the initial excitement fades is usually the one that’ll still feel right in twenty years.
Name Art for Your Favorite
Love a name from this list? MinimalistMama offers custom Name Art prints — personalized, minimalist nursery art with the name you choose, designed to match your aesthetic. A perfect gift for baby showers or to hang above the crib.
Frequently Asked Questions
What actually makes a name “boho” or “hippie” instead of just a nature name?
It’s less a strict category and more a cluster of overlapping traditions: nature and earth words, Sanskrit and Eastern spiritual vocabulary, Celtic and Arthurian legend, and the names tied to 1960s and ’70s folk and protest music. A name can be “boho” through its meaning (Bodhi, Dharma), its sound (Zephyr, Rowan), or its association with a countercultural figure (Guthrie, Marley) — it doesn’t need to hit all three.
Will an unusual name like this be hard for teachers and doctors to spell?
Some will, some won’t. Names like Finn, Kai, and River are common enough now that most people can spell them on the first try. Less familiar choices — Faolan, Oisin, Cai — will need spelling out regularly. If that’s a dealbreaker, lean toward the more established names in the vintage and nature sections.
Are boho baby names still trending, or is the moment passing?
Nature names, virtue names, and surname-style names (River, Wilder, Atticus, Kai) have moved from unusual to genuinely common over the past decade in the U.S. and U.K. If you want something that still feels distinctive, the folklore, global-spirit, and vintage sections tend to have more headroom than the nature section.
Can I use one of these as a middle name instead of a first name?
Absolutely, and it’s a common way to use a name you love but aren’t ready to commit to as a first name. A conventional first name paired with a middle name like Wolf, Sage, or Rumi gives a child an easy default and a more distinctive option to grow into later.
Do names like this age well, or do they read as too “toddler”?
Most do, especially the ones with real historical or literary weight behind them — Atticus, Cyrus, Solomon, and Augustus have all been carried by adults for centuries. The names most likely to feel young forever are invented spellings or purely descriptive words with no deeper root; sticking to names with documented meanings and origins tends to protect against that.
What’s a good boho name that isn’t already everywhere?
Look toward the folklore and global-spirit sections rather than the nature section, since nature names (River, Sage, Wilder) have seen the most mainstream adoption. Names like Emrys, Lorcan, Zuberi, or Tenzin carry the same free-spirited sensibility with far less name-twin risk.
Should the name’s meaning match something specific about the pregnancy or birth?
It can, but it doesn’t have to. Some parents choose a name like Journey or Free to mark something about the path that led to their child; just as many pick a name purely because they love the sound of it. Either reason is a good one — the meaning is there if you ever want to use it, not a requirement you have to satisfy.
Final Thoughts
Two hundred names is a lot to sit with, but that’s the point — the right one is rarely the first name you see, it’s the one you keep coming back to after the list has closed. Take your time, read a few of these out loud in the room you’ll actually bring him home to, and trust the name that still feels right on the fifth read-through.
Read next; 👦 200+ Tomboy Girl Names That Are Strong and Spirited 👦 200+ Elegant Boy Names and Their Meanings 👦 200+ Southern Boy Names With Charm and Grit
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