Friday, September 28, 2012

Word-Names for Boys

I do rather feel sorry for the boys. Girls can pull off anything it seems--soft names, strong names, virtue-names, nature-names, mythological names, surnames, even boys' names! Boys have a much smaller selection to choose from, and parents are more criticized for thinking outside the box. The category that seems most girl-dominated is probably word-names (excluding occupational, but even those are up for gender-reassignment, it seems!), so I'm going to try to compile a decent list of nature & word-names for boys, both established and theoretical.
*in some of these cases, the name was originally a nickname/surname that just happened to coincide with an English word (e.g.--Dirk is a short form of Diederik, but also a synonym for "dagger").

  • Alder (AHL-der)
  • Ash (ASH)
  • August (AW-gust)--adj. "noble, venerable"
  • Basil (BAZ-il, BAYZ-il)
  • Bramble (BRAM-bl)--n. "thorny shrub" [usually from the Rubus genus]
  • Brant (BRANT)
  • Briar (BRYE-ar)--n. "thorny plant" [usually from the Rose genus or Rubus genus]
  • Brock (BROK)--n. "badger"
  • Brooks (BROOKS)
  • Chase (CHAYS)
  • Clay (KLAY)
  • Clement (KLEM-ent)--adj. "merciful, mild"
  • Cliff (KLIF)
  • Colt (KOHLT)
  • Coy (KOY)--adj. "quiet, shy"
  • Curt (KURT)--adj. "concise, terse"
  • Cypress (SYE-pres)
  • Dale (DAYL)--n. "valley"
  • Dell (DEL)--n. "valley"
  • Dirk (DERK)--n. "dagger"
  • Drake (DRAYK)--n. "dragon" or "male duck"
  • Earl (URL)--n. "nobleman"
  • Earnest (UR-nest)--adj. "diligent, serious"
  • Flint (FLINT)
  • Ford (FOHRD)--"river crossing"
  • Forest (FOHR-rest)
  • Gage (GAYJ)--v. "measure" or n. "security pledge"
  • Glen (GLEN)--n. "valley"
  • Grant (GRANT)--n. "gift, concession"
  • Gray/Grey (GRAY)
  • Griffin (GRIF-fin)
  • Grove (GROHV)--n. "small forest"
  • Halcyon (HAL-see-on)--adj. "calm, peaceful" [derived from the bird-name]
  • Hale (HAYL)--adj. "healthy, robust"
  • Hardy (HAR-dee)--adj. "brave, strong"
  • Hawthorn (HAW-thohrn)
  • Heath (HEETH)--n. "shrubland" [more specifically, plants of the Erica genus]
  • Jasper (JAS-per)
  • Jay (JAY)
  • Justice (JUS-tis)
  • Kale (KAYL)
  • Lake (LAYK)
  • Lance (LANTS)--n. "spear"
  • Lane (LAYN)
  • Linden (LIN-den)
  • Marten (MAR-ten) 
  • Merit (MEHR-it)
  • Merle (MURL)--n. "blackbird"
  • Moss (MOS)
  • Noble (NOH-bl)
  • Orion (oh-RYE-on)
  • Peregrine (PEHR-eh-grin)
  • Phoenix (FEE-niks)
  • Pierce (PEERS)
  • Prosper (PROS-per)--v. "to thrive, be successful"
  • Reed (REED)
  • River (RIV-er)
  • Robin (ROB-in)
  • Rowan (ROH-an)
  • Royal (ROY-al)
  • Sage (SAYJ)--n. "wise person", as well as several several species of plant
  • Sedge (SEDJ)
  • Sparrow (SPEHR-roh)
  • Sterling (STUR-ling)--a grade of silver, at least 92.5% pure
  • Stone (STOHN)
  • Talon (TAL-on)
  • Thane (THAYN)--n. "lord, royal official"
  • Trace (TRAYS)
  • Urban (UR-ban)
  • Victor (VIK-tor)
  • Wade (WAYD)
  • Ward (WAHRD)--n. "protection" or n. "person under protection"
  • Zephyr (ZEF-er)--n. "light wind" [or more specifially, the west wind]

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