200+ Indie Boho Boy Names with Meanings

This is a collection of 200+ indie boho names for boys, and it leans earthy and literary on purpose — folklore over franchise, old family trees over trending charts. You’ll find Welsh legend sitting next to Harlem Renaissance poetry, familiar enough to say out loud but unusual enough to stand out on a school roster. Each name below comes with a little history worth knowing before it goes on a birth certificate.

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

Here’s what’s in store – 

“Boho” doesn’t mean unserious. The names in this list carry real etymology — Celtic saints, Roman naturalists, Norse wanderers, Harlem Renaissance poets, Sufi mystics, Shakespeare’s forgotten characters. What they share is a quality of aliveness, a sense that the name has been somewhere and seen something. Some will feel immediately right. Others will take a week to grow on you, and then you won’t be able to imagine anything else.

This list has grown well past 200 names, organized by theme rather than alphabet. Whether you’re drawn to dark consonants (Flint, Knox, Thorn), soft vowel sounds (Oisín, Emrys, Roan), or place-rooted names that feel like standing in a grove of old trees (Cedar, Walden, Forrest) — you’ll find your section here. Every name gets its meaning, its origin, and one honest sentence explaining what it actually brings to a birth certificate.

A note on rarity: some of these names were given to fewer than 50 babies in the US last year. Others are common in Ireland or Scandinavia but barely register here. Rarity isn’t a goal on its own, but if you want something unlikely to appear on three lunchboxes in kindergarten, this is a good place to start.

Names Rooted in the Natural World

The best nature names don’t announce themselves. They sit quietly on a person and grow more interesting over time — the way the landscape itself does. These names draw from trees, terrain, weather, and wild creatures.

River

• Origin: English
• Pronunciation: RIV-er · ˈrɪvər
• Meaning: a naturally flowing body of water
• Popularity: #112 and rising (#116 → #112, 2024)

Feels both rooted and in motion, which is exactly right.

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 surname Wilder worn as a first name without apology.

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)

Clean and herbal, it works on a baby and a grown man equally.

Flint

• 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: #1,970 and rising (#2,133 → #1,970, 2024)

Short, sharp, and surprisingly tender in practice.

Cedar

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

Smells like mountains, sounds like a folk song.

Cypress

• Origin: English (nature name)
• Meaning: the tall, aromatic cypress tree
• Popularity: #1,416 and rising (#1,550 → #1,416, 2024)

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

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)

Wild and clever; a totem name that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Lark

• Origin: English
• Pronunciation: LARK · ˈlɑːrk
• Meaning: the songbird
• Popularity: #13,368 and falling (#10,333 → #13,368, 2024)

Hawk

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

Bold and elemental; cool without effort.

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)

Grounded the way few names are.

Moss

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

Soft and earthy, genuinely rare.

Glen

• Origin: Scottish/Irish Gaelic, via English surname
• Pronunciation: GLEN · ˈglɛn
• Meaning: valley
• Popularity: #2,315 and rising (#2,398 → #2,315, 2024)

Tucked-away and serene, with a quiet vintage quality.

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)

Short, strong, wildfire cool without the rock star connotations.

Reed

• Origin: English (surname, multiple origins)
• Pronunciation: REED · ˈriːd
• Meaning: a surname of debated origin: red-haired (variant of Reid), a clearer of land, or a topographic name for a dweller by the reeds
• Popularity: #421 and rising (#429 → #421, 2024)

Musical instrument connotations make it feel creative.

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)

A totem animal name with ancient roots in Germanic cultures.

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)

Coastal and calm.

Canyon

• Origin: English (modern word/nature name)
• Meaning: a large, steep-sided ravine
• Popularity: #1,433 and falling (#1,390 → #1,433, 2024)

Dramatic, wide-open American West energy.

Dale

• Origin: English (surname)
• Pronunciation: DAYL · ˈdeɪl
• Meaning: topographic surname for someone who lived in a valley (dale)
• Popularity: #1,306 and rising (#1,414 → #1,306, 2024)

Gentle and pastoral; softer than it first appears.

Elm

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

Quiet strength; almost never used as a given name.

Heath

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

Literary thanks to Heathcliff, but stands on its own.

Grove

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

Serene and rooted.

Thorn

• Origin: Old English (surname/place name)
• Meaning: thorn bush
• Popularity: #13,992 and falling (#9,642 → #13,992, 2024)

Sharp and distinctive, surprisingly wearable.

Wren

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

Tiny but mighty is the whole personality.

Briar

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

Romantic without being soft.

Cove

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

Quiet, nautical, and almost unused as a name.

Fern

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

Delicate-looking but deeply resilient, like the plant itself.

Brook

• Origin: English (topographic surname)
• Meaning: a small stream
• Popularity: #6,206 and falling (#5,489 → #6,206, 2024)

Gentle and flowing; rarer on a boy than Brooks.

Old Soul Vintage Indie Names

These names were everywhere a century ago and then quietly disappeared — which means they now feel fresh. They have the worn-in quality of a good denim jacket: they’ve lived somewhere before arriving here.

Arlo

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

Indie folk cool since Arlo Guthrie, but not overplayed.

Barnaby

• Origin: Aramaic (medieval English vernacular form of Barnabas)
• Meaning: son of the prophet
• Popularity: #9,996 and rising (#12,463 → #9,996, 2024)

Cheerful and unexpected; Dickens used it, which only helps.

Basil

• Origin: Greek (via Latin Basilius)
• Pronunciation: BAY-zul · ˈbeɪzəl
• Meaning: royal, kingly
• Popularity: #2,009 and rising (#2,030 → #2,009, 2024)

Dignified and aromatic; common in the UK, rare in the US.

Clem

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

Short for Clement but wears well on its own; vintage warmth without the fussiness.

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)

Italian Renaissance cool that’s been quietly cool for centuries.

Dashiell

• Origin: French (surname, etymology undocumented)
• Pronunciation: DASH-ul · ˈdæʃəl
• Meaning: of uncertain origin, possibly Old French surname
• Popularity: #2,057 and rising (#2,418 → #2,057, 2024)

Famously noir via Dashiell Hammett; dashingly literary.

Edmund

• Origin: Old English
• Pronunciation: ED-mund · ˈɛdmənd
• Meaning: wealthy protector
• Popularity: #1,182 and falling (#1,098 → #1,182, 2024)

Ezra

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

Biblical roots with indie-folk credibility via Ezra Koenig and others.

Fletcher

• Origin: English (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: FLETCH-er · ˈflɛtʃər
• Meaning: arrow maker
• Popularity: #564 and rising (#631 → #564, 2024)

Occupational name with real texture and a medieval craft feel.

Gideon

• Origin: Hebrew
• Pronunciation: GID-ee-un · ˈɡɪdiən
• Meaning: hewer, feller (one who cuts down trees)
• Popularity: #331 and falling (#318 → #331, 2024)

Biblical name with a fierce, quiet energy.

Jasper

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

Gem name with more gravitas than most.

Huck

• Origin: English (surname of obscure origin, also a pet form of Hugh/Hugo)
• Pronunciation: HUK · ˈhʌk
• Meaning: adventurous; short for Huckleberry
• Popularity: #1,733 and falling (#1,634 → #1,733, 2024)

Pure irreverence and river-mud freedom.

Leif

• Origin: Old Norse/Scandinavian
• Pronunciation: LAYF · ˈleɪf
• Meaning: heir or descendant (literally ‘relic, that which remains’)
• Popularity: #925 and falling (#859 → #925, 2024)

Clean Scandinavian minimalism; quietly everywhere in Scandinavia, rare here.

Levi

• Origin: Hebrew
• Pronunciation: LEE-vy · ˈliːvaɪ
• Meaning: traditionally ‘joined, attached’ per the Genesis naming story; true root uncertain
• Popularity: #12, holding steady (2024)

Effortlessly cool with deep biblical roots and zero pretension.

Milo

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

Gentle strength; steadily rising but not peaked yet.

Monty

• Origin: English (diminutive)
• Meaning: mountain; short for Montgomery
• Popularity: #1,826 and rising (#1,872 → #1,826, 2024)

Cheerful and distinguished; vintage without being fussy.

Ned

• Origin: English (nickname)
• Meaning: wealthy guardian; short for Edward
• Popularity: #7,567 and falling (#6,131 → #7,567, 2024)

Underused and charmingly humble.

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)

Soulful thanks to Otis Redding; this one swings.

Otto

• Origin: Germanic
• Pronunciation: AH-toh · ˈɑːtoʊ
• Meaning: wealth, fortune (short form of Old Germanic compound names built on the ‘wealth’ element)
• Popularity: #274 and rising (#282 → #274, 2024)

Palindrome charm and solid vintage cool.

Percy

• Origin: Norman French (place name, ultimately Latin)
• Pronunciation: PUR-see · ˈpɜːrsi
• Meaning: pierces the valley
• Popularity: #1,257 and rising (#1,562 → #1,257, 2024)

Literary and gentle; Percy Shelley wore it well.

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)

Rhythmic and unusual; almost no one uses it here.

Silas

• Origin: Aramaic (biblical, Hellenized as Greek Σίλας, Latinized as Sīlās)
• Pronunciation: SY-lus · ˈsaɪləs
• Meaning: of the forest; man of three
• Popularity: #81, holding steady (2024)

Quiet, rooted, and slowly rising.

Solomon

• Origin: Hebrew
• Pronunciation: SOL-uh-mun · ˈsɑːləmən
• Meaning: peace
• Popularity: #417 and rising (#438 → #417, 2024)

Wise and unhurried; the name of a builder of temples.

Thaddeus

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

Rare and stately; call him Thad or Teddy.

Theodore

• Origin: Ancient Greek
• Pronunciation: THEE-oh-dor · ˈθiːədɔːr
• Meaning: gift of God
• Popularity: #4 and rising (#7 → #4, 2024)

Classic but deeply warm; Teddy is an unimpeachable nickname.

Walden

• Origin: Old English (place name/surname)
• Meaning: valley of the Welsh/foreigners (from walh ‘Welshman, foreigner’ + denu ‘valley’)
• Popularity: #3,202 and falling (#2,475 → #3,202, 2024)

Thoreau-resonant and literary; the name of a pond and a philosophy.

Angus

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic
• Pronunciation: ANG-gus · ˈæŋɡəs
• Meaning: one choice, unique choice
• Popularity: #2,149 and falling (#1,986 → #2,149, 2024)

Rugged and rare outside Scotland; deeply rooted in Celtic soil.

Obadiah

• Origin: Hebrew
• Meaning: servant of the Lord/God
• Popularity: #1,412 and rising (#1,554 → #1,412, 2024)

Wildly rare, biblical, and immediately earns the nickname Obie.

Mythic and Mystical Names

These names arrive trailing stories — constellations, enchantments, sea voyages, ancient battles. They carry weight without heaviness. If you want a name your child can grow into rather than out of, this section is worth reading slowly.

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)

The constellation name that never stops feeling right.

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)

Strong, worldly, unforgettable.

Caspian

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

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)

Shakespeare’s fairy king from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

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 other name in Welsh legend; luminous and rare.

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)

Theron

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

Clean Greek name with the quiet confidence of someone who knows where they’re going.

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)

Rarely used anywhere; strikingly celestial.

Endymion

• Origin: Greek (mythological name)
• Meaning: to enter; the eternal sleeper
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The shepherd loved by the moon in Greek myth; poetic and rare.

Gwydion

• Origin: Welsh (mythological)
• Meaning: born of trees; wizard of light
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The magician-trickster of the Mabinogion; deeply Welsh and deeply rare.

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)

A giant and astronomer in Welsh legend; striking on a child.

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 for Hero in Greek myth; romantic and strong.

Lysander

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

Dashing, Shakespearean, and completely unused.

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 name worn lightly; elegant without the costume.

Phineas

• Origin: disputed (Ancient Greek / Hebrew / Egyptian)
• Pronunciation: FIN-ee-us · ˈfɪniəs
• Meaning: oracle; one who opens
• Popularity: #1,538 and rising (#1,715 → #1,538, 2024)

Quirky and rare with ancient depth; Phin is a great nickname.

Roland

• Origin: Germanic (Frankish, via Old French)
• Pronunciation: ROH-lund · ˈroʊlənd
• Meaning: famous land
• Popularity: #663 and falling (#661 → #663, 2024)

Medieval hero of the Chanson de Roland; epically unused.

Ronan

• Origin: Irish
• Pronunciation: ROH-nun · ˈroʊnən
• Meaning: little seal
• Popularity: #257 and rising (#290 → #257, 2024)

Stellan

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

Luminous Scandinavian name slowly finding its audience.

Taliesin

• Origin: Welsh
• Pronunciation: TAL-ee-ES-in · ˌtæliˈɛsɪn
• Meaning: shining/radiant brow (tal ‘brow’ + iesin ‘radiant, shining’)
• Popularity: #10,750 and falling (#9,629 → #10,750, 2024)

Sixth-century Welsh poet and prophet; also Frank Lloyd Wright’s home.

Zephyr

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

Light, airy, supremely rare; the god of gentle winds.

Evander

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

Legendary figure who brought the Greek alphabet to Italy.

Alaric

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

Visigoth king who sacked Rome in 410; sounds like a fantasy hero, is actual history.

Finnian

• Origin: Irish
• Meaning: little fair one
• Popularity: #1,520 and rising (#1,591 → #1,520, 2024)

Sixth-century Irish saint; lyrical and rare in the US.

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)

Ancient Roman name, clean and direct; worn by Shakespearean characters.

Aurelius

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: golden one
• Popularity: #1,118 and rising (#1,216 → #1,118, 2024)

Marcus Aurelius resonance baked in; stoic, philosophical, and rich.

Earthy Artisan Names

These names have the feel of hands in soil, wood shavings on a floor, ink on paper. Occupational and craft-rooted names that arrived with a purpose and kept it.

Colt

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

Raw and open, like something not yet broken to the saddle.

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)

Cooper

• Origin: English (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: KOO-per · ˈkuːpər
• Meaning: barrel maker
• Popularity: #50 and rising (#52 → #50, 2024)

Classic occupational name with quietly cool indie credentials.

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)

Rooted and green; the double-R spelling is deliberate here.

Hale

• Origin: Old English
• Pronunciation: HAYL · ˈheɪl
• Meaning: healthy, robust; or (as a surname) ‘hollow, nook’
• Popularity: #6,961 and falling (#6,659 → #6,961, 2024)

Strong, simple, and underused by decades.

Hunter

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

Active and outdoorsy; plain enough to stay interesting.

Miller

• Origin: English (surname)
• Pronunciation: MIL-er · ˈmɪlər
• Meaning: one who grinds grain
• Popularity: #438 and rising (#528 → #438, 2024)

Soft consonants and an artisan soul; gentler than it sounds.

Porter

• Origin: Old French (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: POR-ter · ˈpɔːrtər
• Meaning: one who carries goods, or a doorkeeper/gatekeeper
• Popularity: #615 and falling (#501 → #615, 2024)

Warm working-class craft cool.

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)

Clean and strong; this one ages extremely well.

Ryder

• Origin: English (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: RY-der · ˈraɪdər
• Meaning: rider or cavalryman, from the occupational surname for one who rides
• Popularity: #134 and falling (#128 → #134, 2024)

Free and kinetic; already has indie credibility.

Sawyer

• Origin: English (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: SAW-yer · ˈsɔːjər
• Meaning: one who saws wood; a woodcutter
• Popularity: #132 and falling (#127 → #132, 2024)

Earthy and Huck Finn-adjacent without the weight of literary baggage.

Slade

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

Earthy and atmospheric; almost no one uses it.

Sterling

• Origin: English (surname)
• Pronunciation: STUR-ling · ˈstɜːrlɪŋ
• Meaning: originally a surname referring to the starling bird, or a variant of the Scottish surname/place name Stirling
• Popularity: #372 and rising (#403 → #372, 2024)

Artisan quality feel, literal and figurative.

Tanner

• Origin: English (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: TAN-er · ˈtænər
• Meaning: leather worker (one who tans hides)
• Popularity: #443 and falling (#432 → #443, 2024)

Earthy and textured; the craft process embedded in the name.

Wade

• Origin: Old English (surname)
• Pronunciation: WAYD · ˈweɪd
• Meaning: a ford, or place to cross a river
• Popularity: #341, holding steady (2024)

Simple, elemental, underused.

Walker

• Origin: Middle English (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: WAW-ker · ˈwɔːkər
• Meaning: occupational surname for a cloth fuller
• Popularity: #82 and rising (#85 → #82, 2024)

Laid-back and genuine.

Booker

• Origin: English (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: BUK-er · ˈbʊkər
• Meaning: one who made or copied books, i.e. a scribe or bookbinder
• Popularity: #1,286 and falling (#1,160 → #1,286, 2024)

That’s an oversimplification; Wiktionary’s surname etymology points instead to a scribe or bookbinder (with a separate, unrelated root meaning a bleacher of cloth), not literally someone who sold books.

Cormac

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

Ancient Irish kings named Cormac; earthy and Celtic.

Hendrix

• Origin: Dutch/Low German (patronymic surname, variant spelling of Hendricks, from Henry)
• Pronunciation: HEN-driks · ˈhɛndrɪks
• Meaning: son of Hendrick, tracing back to Henry’s ‘home ruler’
• Popularity: #296 and rising (#303 → #296, 2024)

Carries the musical legacy without being burdened by it.

Rhodes

• Origin: English/Greek (dual origin)
• Pronunciation: ROHDZ · ˈroʊdz
• Meaning: as an English surname, ‘one who lived near a woodland clearing’; also the Greek island Rhodes, whose own name origin is uncertain
• Popularity: #613 and rising (#707 → #613, 2024)

Geographic origin name with warmth built in.

Wiley

• Origin: English (surname, from a place name)
• Meaning: crafty, wily; clearing
• Popularity: #1,159 and falling (#1,136 → #1,159, 2024)

Playful and specific; the name of someone who finds a way.

Nash

• Origin: English (surname)
• Pronunciation: NASH · ˈnæʃ
• Meaning: dweller by the ash tree
• Popularity: #240 and rising (#259 → #240, 2024)

Spare and earthy; less familiar than it feels like it should be.

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)

Strong and unusual; John Knox gave it gravitas.

Cody

• Origin: Irish (surname, with two competing derivations: Ó Cuidighthigh ‘helpful’, or Mac Óda ‘son of Odo’)
• Pronunciation: KOH-dee · ˈkoʊdi
• Meaning: helpful
• Popularity: #289 and rising (#304 → #289, 2024)

Western Americana meets Irish roots.

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)

Short for Abraham or Bramwell; Bram Stoker wore it memorably.

Free-Spirit Wanderer Names

These names feel like they’ve crossed a border, navigated a coastline, learned a word in another language. They have the particular lightness of people who know there’s always somewhere else worth going.

Bodhi

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

Buddhist roots with surfer cool; spiritually grounded without being heavy.

Finn

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

Jago

• Origin: Cornish (form of James)
• Meaning: supplanter, heel-grasper
• Popularity: #9,252 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Rare and worldly; almost exclusively used in Cornwall.

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)

Multicultural and breezy; feels genuinely global.

Lachlan

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic
• Pronunciation: LOK-lun · ˈlɑːklən
• Meaning: land of the lochs (Scandinavia); a Norse settler
• Popularity: #691 and rising (#771 → #691, 2024)

Scottish with a traveler’s cadence.

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 warmth with genuinely global appeal; everywhere in Europe, still fresh here.

Mael

• Origin: Breton/Celtic
• Meaning: prince, chief
• Popularity: #1,057 and falling (#976 → #1,057, 2024)

Breton Celtic rarity with ancient authority.

Matteo

• Origin: Italian
• Pronunciation: muh-TAY-o · məˈteɪoʊ
• Meaning: gift of God — the Italian form of Matthew
• Popularity: #138 and rising (#144 → #138, 2024)

Italian warmth that travels well.

Niall

• Origin: Irish/Scottish Gaelic
• Pronunciation: NY-ul · ˈnaɪəl
• Meaning: of uncertain original meaning; often glossed as ‘champion’ or ‘cloud’
• Popularity: #1,582 and rising (#1,813 → #1,582, 2024)

Celtic strength; the founder of the Uí Néill dynasty.

Oisín

• Origin: Irish
• Meaning: little deer, fawn
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The mythical poet-hero of Ireland; pronounced OH-sheen, worth learning.

Remy

• Origin: French
• Pronunciation: REM-ee · ˈrɛmi
• Meaning: oarsman; remedy
• Popularity: #400 and falling (#390 → #400, 2024)

French and effortlessly cool; works on every continent.

Rio

• Origin: Spanish/Portuguese
• Pronunciation: REE-oh · ˈriːoʊ
• Meaning: river
• Popularity: #516 and rising (#570 → #516, 2024)

Lively and geographic; three letters that feel like an open window.

Roan

• Origin: Irish Gaelic
• Meaning: little red one
• Popularity: #1,350 and rising (#1,514 → #1,350, 2024)

Unusual and warm; also a beautiful horse color.

Rumi

• Origin: Japanese
• Pronunciation: ROO-mee · ˈruːmi
• Meaning: lapis lazuli; beauty; also poetic
• Popularity: #2,146 and rising (#2,268 → #2,146, 2024)

Sebastian

• Origin: Greek (via Latin)
• Pronunciation: sih-BAS-chun · səˈbæstʃən
• Meaning: venerable or revered one, from the place name Sebaste
• Popularity: #14 and falling (#13 → #14, 2024)

Worldly and elegant; common in Latin America, still fresh in the US.

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; smooth and rare in English.

Zion

• Origin: Hebrew
• Pronunciation: ZY-un · ˈzaɪən
• Meaning: biblical name for Jerusalem’s Temple Mount/city, extended to mean the people of Israel
• Popularity: #151 and falling (#125 → #151, 2024)

Elevated and geographic; carries weight with grace.

Bastian

• Origin: Greek (short form of Sebastian)
• Meaning: venerable, revered
• Popularity: #1,001 and rising (#1,066 → #1,001, 2024)

Short for Sebastian; breezy and free, like a nickname that outgrew the original.

Dax

• Origin: French (place name)
• Pronunciation: DAKS · ˈdæks
• Meaning: from Dax, France; leader
• Popularity: #636 and falling (#559 → #636, 2024)

Punchy and uncommon.

Soren

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

Kierkegaard’s first name; philosophical and deeply Scandinavian.

Cai

• Origin: Welsh (traditionally linked to Latin Gaius)
• Pronunciation: KY · ˈkaɪ
• Meaning: traditionally said to mean ‘rejoice’ (as a Welsh form of Gaius), though the ultimate origin of Gaius itself is uncertain
• Popularity: #1,902 and falling (#1,849 → #1,902, 2024)

Three letters, Welsh roots, completely open territory.

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)

Worldly and elegant; common in Italy, rare here.

Lars

• Origin: Scandinavian (via Latin)
• Pronunciation: LARZ · ˈlɑːrz
• Meaning: from Laurentum
• Popularity: #2,244 and falling (#2,163 → #2,244, 2024)

Quietly cool and clean Scandinavian minimalism.

Magnus

• Origin: Latin (adopted via Scandinavian/Scottish royal usage)
• Pronunciation: MAG-nus · ˈmæɡnəs
• Meaning: great (Latin ‘magnus’), adopted as a name via Charlemagne’s title
• Popularity: #749 and rising (#764 → #749, 2024)

Bold; used by Norwegian kings and almost nobody in the US.

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)

Rare in English, romantically European, unexpectedly strong.

Literary and Artistic Names

Surnames worn as first names, first names belonging to writers and artists who shaped how we see the world. These names carry associations without demanding you know the reference — they work on paper and in a classroom.

Atticus

• Origin: Latin (from Greek)
• Pronunciation: AT-ih-kus · ˈætɪkəs
• Meaning: person from Attica
• Popularity: #277 and rising (#284 → #277, 2024)

Harper Lee made this the gold standard of literary baby names.

Beckett

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

Samuel Beckett gives it existential weight; it wears it lightly.

Byron

• Origin: Old English (surname/place name)
• Pronunciation: BY-run · ˈbaɪrən
• Meaning: from a place name meaning ‘at the cattle sheds’ (byres)
• Popularity: #882 and falling (#835 → #882, 2024)

Lord Byron’s Romantic swagger embedded in every syllable.

Dorian

• Origin: Greek
• Pronunciation: DOR-ee-an · ˈdɔːriən
• Meaning: of the Dorians (an ancient Greek people/region, Doris)
• Popularity: #538 and rising (#608 → #538, 2024)

Oscar Wilde’s immortal protagonist; darker and more interesting than it first seems.

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)

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the transcendentalist; the name thinks big.

Holden

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

Holden Caulfield’s name; raw and searching, a name for someone who notices things.

Huxley

• Origin: English (Old English place name/surname)
• Pronunciation: HUKS-lee · ˈhʌksli
• Meaning: Hucc’s woodland clearing
• Popularity: #743 and falling (#618 → #743, 2024)

Aldous Huxley gives it visionary literary depth.

Keats

• Origin: English (surname/byname)
• Pronunciation: KEETS · ˈkiːts
• Meaning: kite (the bird) / bittern
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

John Keats wrote the most beautiful lines in the language; this carries that.

Langston

• Origin: English (place name/surname)
• Pronunciation: LANG-stun · ˈlæŋstən
• Meaning: tall stone
• Popularity: #909 and falling (#892 → #909, 2024)

Langston Hughes named it and the Harlem Renaissance lives in it.

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 predates Shakespeare; dark and brilliant.

Poe

• Origin: English/Irish (surname)
• Meaning: A surname originally a nickname meaning ‘peacock’; used as a given name mainly in tribute to the writer Edgar Allan Poe.
• Popularity: #13,694 and falling (#9,526 → #13,694, 2024)

Edgar Allan Poe; three letters containing multitudes.

Sinclair

• Origin: Scottish (surname, from the Norman place name ‘Saint-Clair’)
• Meaning: clear, bright
• Popularity: #6,755 and rising (#13,881 → #6,755, 2024)

Upton Sinclair’s moral clarity encoded in a clean two-syllable name.

Tennyson

• Origin: English (Middle English patronymic surname)
• Meaning: son of Dennis
• Popularity: #3,872 and rising (#4,868 → #3,872, 2024)

Lord Tennyson was Poet Laureate for 42 years; lyrical and distinguished.

Thoreau

• Origin: French (surname, transferred to given-name use)
• Meaning: wild bull; uncertain French origin
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Henry David Thoreau, the patron saint of intentional living.

Yeats

• Origin: Middle English (occupational surname, variant of Yates)
• Meaning: ‘at the yates’ — a dialectal form of ‘gates’, i.e., one who lived or worked by the gates; a gatekeeper
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

W.B. Yeats, mystical and lyrical; the greatest poet of the 20th century by many accounts.

Zola

• Origin: African (Zulu/Xhosa); unrelated Italian surname also exists
• Pronunciation: ZOH-lah · ˈzoʊlə
• Meaning: calm, tranquil
• Popularity: #1,106 and rising (#1,120 → #1,106, 2024)

Émile Zola wrote with fierce moral power; the name is quietly beautiful.

Faulkner

• Origin: Scottish/English (surname, variant of Falconer, ultimately from Anglo-Norman/Old French faucon ‘falcon’)
• Meaning: falconer — one who trains or handles falcons
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

William Faulkner’s Southern gothic world in a single word.

Fitzgerald

• Origin: Anglo-Norman/Irish (patronymic surname)
• Meaning: son of Gerald (fitz ‘son of’ + the name Gerald)
• Popularity: #2,239 and rising (#2,253 → #2,239, 2024)

F. Scott’s lyrical legacy; the whole Jazz Age is in it.

Ambrose

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

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)

Literary via Peregrine Pickle; real via countless saints; magnificent nickname Perry.

Chaucer

• Origin: Middle English / Old French (occupational surname)
• Meaning: one who makes hose (leg coverings), i.e. a hosier
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Kipling

• Origin: English (surname/place name)
• Meaning: from Kipling, England; curing fish
• Popularity: #11,692 and falling (#11,610 → #11,692, 2024)

Rudyard Kipling; adventurous and literary, rare to the point of exclusivity.

Neruda

• Origin: Czech (surname)
• Meaning: surname rooted in Czech ‘nerudný’ (bad-tempered, surly)
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Pablo Neruda, the love poet; striking and very rare as a given name.

Lorca

• Origin: Spanish (place name/surname)
• Meaning: from Lorca, Spain; place name
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Federico García Lorca’s poetic fire distilled into five letters.

Whitman

• Origin: Old English (surname)
• Meaning: descriptive surname meaning ‘white man’ — a fair-haired or fair-skinned man
• Popularity: #4,174 and falling (#3,991 → #4,174, 2024)

Walt Whitman, the poet of everything; this name contains multitudes.

Short and Strong Boho Names

One or two syllables, but no less depth. These names travel light. They work on a birth certificate, a gallery wall, and a kindergarten roll call equally well.

Axl

• Origin: Scandinavian/Germanic (variant of Axel)
• Pronunciation: AK-sul · ˈæksəl
• Meaning: father of peace (as a common spelling variant of Axel, ultimately from Absalom)
• Popularity: #1,027 and falling (#895 → #1,027, 2024)

Hard rock cool without requiring an explanation.

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.

Bo

• 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)

Short and full of warmth; globally friendly.

Beau

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

Southern charm meets boho ease.

Dex

• Origin: Uncertain (possibly a short form of Dexter)
• Meaning: right-handed; skillful
• Popularity: #3,809 and falling (#3,186 → #3,809, 2024)

Short for Dexter; energetic and clean.

Gray

• Origin: English (surname)
• Pronunciation: GRAY · ˈɡreɪ
• Meaning: surname either from a Norman place-name (ultimately ‘Greek’) or a nickname for gray hair/beard
• Popularity: #1,343 and falling (#1,174 → #1,343, 2024)

Quiet and atmospheric; a color name that works harder than it looks.

Gus

• Origin: short form (Latin/Swedish/Greek)
• Pronunciation: GUS · ˈɡʌs
• Meaning: short form of Augustus, Gustav, or Constantine — meaning varies
• Popularity: #1,212 and falling (#1,170 → #1,212, 2024)

Short for Augustus or Gustav; cheerful and strong.

Haze

• Origin: Old English (uncertain)
• Meaning: A light mist or atmospheric blur; the deeper root is uncertain, sometimes linked to Old English ‘hasu’ (grey).
• Popularity: #1,653 and falling (#1,379 → #1,653, 2024)

Dreamy and rare; barely used as a name anywhere.

Ike

• Origin: English (pet form of Isaac, also a nickname tradition from the surname Eisenhower)
• Meaning: pet form of Isaac (‘he laughs’)
• Popularity: #2,959 and falling (#2,665 → #2,959, 2024)

Short for Isaac; vintage and warm.

Jed

• Origin: Hebrew (via Jedediah/Jedidiah)
• Meaning: beloved of God
• Popularity: #1,985 and falling (#1,768 → #1,985, 2024)

Short for Jedidiah; laconic and strong.

Jet

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

Sharp and fast; the name of a stone and a color.

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)

Short, meaningful, and universal across cultures.

Lux

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

One syllable containing one of the most ancient ideas.

Max

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: MAX · ˈmæks
• Meaning: greatest
• Popularity: #175 and falling (#163 → #175, 2024)

Classic without being tired; still does exactly what it promises.

Nye

• Origin: English (topographic surname)
• Meaning: one who dwells by the island or river (English topographic surname)
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Short for Aneurin; Welsh and rare to the point of invisibility in the US.

Paz

• Origin: Spanish
• Pronunciation: PAHZ · ˈpɑːz
• Meaning: Peace (from Latin pax)
• Popularity: #6,084 and rising (#8,371 → #6,084, 2024)

Serene and global; the name of Nobel laureate Octavio Paz.

Rex

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: REKS · ˈrɛks
• Meaning: king
• Popularity: #794 and falling (#723 → #794, 2024)

Bold and direct; doesn’t pretend to be anything else.

Rhys

• Origin: Welsh
• Pronunciation: REES · ˈriːs
• Meaning: enthusiasm, ardor
• Popularity: #354 and falling (#353 → #354, 2024)

Welsh with a clean, energetic feel; one of the coolest names almost no one uses.

Taj

• Origin: Persian/Arabic
• Meaning: crown
• Popularity: #1,461 and rising (#1,462 → #1,461, 2024)

Regal and rare; carries a whole architectural wonder in three letters.

True

• Origin: Old English
• Pronunciation: TROO · ˈtruː
• Meaning: faithful, genuine, and loyal
• Popularity: #986 and falling (#982 → #986, 2024)

Simple truth as a name; indie charm at its most distilled.

Vann

• Origin: Uncertain (claimed Dutch or Khmer)
• Meaning: Origin unsettled; sometimes said to come from the Dutch surname element ‘van’ (meaning ‘of/from, ‘ not literally ‘water’) or from Khmer/Cambodian usage, though neither is well documented.
• Popularity: #5,206 and falling (#4,730 → #5,206, 2024)

Wes

• Origin: English (short form of Wesley/Weston)
• Pronunciation: WEZ · ˈwɛz
• Meaning: short form of Wesley (‘west meadow’) or Weston (‘west settlement’)
• Popularity: #744 and rising (#799 → #744, 2024)

Laid-back and directional; Wes Anderson made it cool on screen.

Zeb

• Origin: Hebrew (short form)
• Meaning: short form of Zebadiah/Zebedee (‘God has given’) or of Zebulun (‘honor’/’dwelling place’) — the specific source name isn’t fixed
• Popularity: #6,805 and falling (#6,505 → #6,805, 2024)

Short for Zebedee; quirky and rare; the name of a fisherman in the Gospels.

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 and strong; the name of something solid.

Rare Gems Worth Discovering

These names are genuinely uncommon in the US — some nearly absent from birth records. That rarity isn’t the whole point, but it doesn’t hurt. Each one earns its place on sound, meaning, and wearability.

Absalom

• Origin: Hebrew
• Meaning: father of peace
• Popularity: #7,735 and rising (#9,763 → #7,735, 2024)

King David’s most beautiful and tragic son; lush and biblical and completely unused.

Altair

• Origin: Arabic
• 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.

Aramis

• Origin: French (literary, ultimate root uncertain)
• Meaning: uncertain, possibly Basque place name
• Popularity: #2,871 and falling (#2,736 → #2,871, 2024)

One of Dumas’s Three Musketeers; swashbuckling and rare.

Bellamy

• Origin: Old French / Norman
• Pronunciation: BEL-uh-mee · ˈbɛləmi
• Meaning: fair friend
• Popularity: #690 and rising (#749 → #690, 2024)

Rising slowly, but still rare enough to be a find.

Casimir

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

Polish kings and saints; elegant and underused in English.

Cassius

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

Cillian

• Origin: Irish (contested)
• Pronunciation: KIL-ee-an · ˈkɪliən
• Meaning: of disputed origin: possibly ‘strife/war’ or ‘church’ (Old Irish ceallach/ceall), or separately from Latin Caecilianus
• Popularity: #463 and rising (#594 → #463, 2024)

Cillian Murphy made it visible; it remains rare and striking.

Euan

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic
• Meaning: born of the yew; youth
• Popularity: #5,099 and rising (#7,022 → #5,099, 2024)

Scottish and quiet; the yew is the tree of immortality.

Fionn

• Origin: Old Irish
• Meaning: fair, white/bright, or handsome
• Popularity: #4,594 and falling (#3,646 → #4,594, 2024)

Hero of the Fenian cycle; the most mythic name in Irish tradition.

Gulliver

• Origin: Old French (English surname)
• Meaning: a surname nickname for a big eater, from the Old French word for ‘mouth’
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

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

Inigo

• Origin: Basque
• Pronunciation: IN-ih-go · ˈɪnɪɡoʊ
• Meaning: fiery; ardent
• Popularity: #9,308 and falling (#6,317 → #9,308, 2024)

Inigo Jones the architect; Inigo Montoya the avenger; unforgettable.

Isidore

• Origin: Greek
• Meaning: gift of the goddess Isis
• Popularity: #3,473 and falling (#3,443 → #3,473, 2024)

Jovian

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: of or relating to Jove/Jupiter
• Popularity: #3,917 and rising (#4,800 → #3,917, 2024)

Rare and celestial; the Roman sky-god’s adjective as a given name.

Manfred

• Origin: Germanic (Alemannic)
• Pronunciation: MAN-fred · ˈmænfrɛd
• Meaning: man of peace
• Popularity: #11,764 as of 2022 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Lord Byron wrote an entire poem about a character by this name; dark and beautiful.

Merrick

• Origin: Welsh (anglicized form of Meurig, itself from Latin Mauricius)
• Pronunciation: MER-ik · ˈmɛrɪk
• Meaning: dark-skinned or Moorish, from Latin Maurus (‘a Moor’) — not related to ‘sea’ or ‘ruler’
• Popularity: #1,219 and falling (#1,041 → #1,219, 2024)

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

The fragrant Mediterranean plant as a name; rare, beautiful, slightly dangerous.

Ptolemy

• Origin: Ancient Greek
• Meaning: often linked to Greek ‘polemos’ (war), giving a sense of ‘warlike’
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Ancient Egyptian dynasty name; cinematic and wildly rare.

Cyprian

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: of/from Cyprus
• Popularity: #5,083 and rising (#5,285 → #5,083, 2024)

Saint Cyprian of Carthage; rare and sonorous.

Silvanus

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: from Latin silva, ‘forest’; also the Latinized form Paul used for his companion Silas in the New Testament
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Roman forest deity; nature mystical and almost never used.

Tiberius

• Origin: Latin
• Meaning: of the Tiber (river)
• Popularity: #2,585 and falling (#2,360 → #2,585, 2024)

Roman emperor’s name that sounds like it was made for a film score.

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)

Literary and warm; Tobias Wolff, Tobias Smollett — writers are keeping this alive.

Isambard

• Origin: Germanic
• Meaning: iron-bright
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Tarquin

• Origin: Etruscan
• Meaning: uncertain Etruscan origin
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Ancient Roman king name; sounds like a villain but wears like a poet.

Anatole

• Origin: Greek, via French
• Meaning: sunrise, dawn (the east)
• Popularity: #10,951 as of 2022 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

How These Names Are Trending

98 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 79 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.

How These Names Are Trending

98 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 79 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.

How These Names Are Trending

98 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 79 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.

How These Names Are Trending

98 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 79 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.

How These Names Are Trending

99 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 79 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.

The direction the sun rises, as a name; rarely used outside France.

How to Choose a Name From This List

Start with sound, not meaning. Say the name out loud ten times — in a quiet room, calling across a park, introducing him to someone you’ve just met. A name that feels awkward to say out loud will feel awkward for 18 years. The ones that roll naturally tend to be the keepers.

Pay attention to the last syllable. Names ending in vowels (Arlo, Bodhi, Luca, Remy) tend to feel lighter and more lyrical. Names ending in consonants (Flint, Knox, Reed, Ash) feel grounded and direct. Neither is better — it’s just useful to notice which register you’re drawn to.

Consider the nickname situation. Some of these names have obvious short forms (Thaddeus → Thad, Peregrine → Perry, Theodore → Teddy). Others are already so short there’s nowhere to go (Ash, Bo, Fen). If you love long full names but suspect a nickname will happen anyway, pick the one you’d actually use.

Think about the combination. Your last name matters. One-syllable names tend to need a multi-syllable surname to breathe. Long first names often want a short surname. Say the whole thing — first, middle, last — and check that it doesn’t sound like a mistake.

Finally: give it a week. Write it on paper. Put it in your phone. Introduce yourself as “I’m naming him [Name]” in a few different conversations and watch how it lands. The names that survive a week on the shortlist usually survive a lifetime.

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 makes a name “indie boho”?

There’s no exact definition, but indie boho names tend to share a few qualities: they feel rooted in something real (nature, myth, literature, craft), they’re not chasing a trend, and they have a texture or story behind them. They’re the opposite of names chosen because they sound “successful” — they’re chosen because they mean something to the person who chose them.

Are these names too unusual for everyday life?

Most of them land comfortably in “unusual but not baffling” territory. Names like Arlo, Silas, Jasper, and Ezra are genuinely unusual but easy to spell and pronounce. A handful — Taliesin, Oisín, Ptolemy — will require a pronunciation note for most people. That’s a reasonable trade if you love the name. It’s worth considering whether you want your child to correct people regularly or whether that becomes part of the name’s character.

Which of these names work as middle names?

Almost all of them, but the short punchy ones tend to work especially well in the middle slot: River, Gray, Ash, Lev, True, Wren, Fox, Sage. A two-syllable middle name often sounds better with a longer first name and vice versa. The literary surname names (Beckett, Keats, Marlowe) also make excellent middle names when you want the reference without committing to it as a primary identity.

What are the most wearable rare names from this list?

The rare names that tend to wear best on a real person are ones with intuitive pronunciation and clear nickname options: Tobias (call him Toby), Peregrine (call him Perry), Cassius (call him Cass), Isidore (call him Sid), Bellamy (call him Bell). Harder to wear but worth it if you love them: Taliesin, Oleander, Isambard, Ptolemy — these require commitment but become genuinely distinctive.

Are any of these names rising in popularity?

Yes. Arlo, Silas, Bodhi, Ezra, Atticus, and Jasper have all been climbing the US charts. Levi and Theodore are already in the top 20. If rarity matters to you, focus on the later sections of this list — names like Evander, Taliesin, Isambard, Anatole, and Halcyon have almost no presence on US birth records at all.

How do I handle pushback from family on an unusual name?

The most useful reframe is time. Names that sound strange in 2026 often sound completely normal by 2030, once a few kids in the neighborhood have them. Sharing the meaning and origin often helps — people receive names more warmly when they understand the story behind them. That said, you don’t owe anyone a justification. You’re the one who will say this name thousands of times.

What if I love the meaning but not the sound?

Look for names from other languages that share the meaning. “Light” appears as Lux (Latin), Luca (Italian), Leif (Norse — “light” is one interpretation), and others. “Wanderer” shows up in Peregrine (Latin), Rumi (Persian resonance), and Oisín (in the metaphorical sense of his myth). The meaning can guide you toward a whole cluster of names you might not have found otherwise.

📊 Curious how popular a name actually is? Look it up in our Baby Name Popularity Checker — pulls live SSA data to show ranking trends.

Final Thoughts

The name you choose is the first story you tell about your child — but it’s a story they’ll rewrite themselves. The best names leave room for that: they’re specific enough to mean something and open enough to contain whoever actually shows up. Whether you land on something rooted in nature, charged with myth, or quietly borrowed from a writer who saw the world clearly, the fact that you’re searching this carefully is already a good sign.

Read next;

👦 200+ Korean Boy Names with Meanings (Classic, *Modern* & K-Pop)

👦 130+ Strong Boy Names with Powerful Meanings

👦 185+ *Best* Middle Names for Boys (With Meanings)

✨ Love these names? Create free printable nursery art for any name →