A friend of mine is pregnant and it’s reminding me how exciting it was to name our own kids. We love traditional names (aka: old-fashioned names, aka classic names) and both of our children are named after our grandparents – one on John’s side and one on my side. So I had fun putting together this list of my favorite 100 classic boy names, along with this list of 100 classic girl names. They feel established, like they stand the test of time, and can carry special meaning if they’re already names in your family. ALSO IS THERE ANYTHING CUTER THAN BABY SUSPENDERS?!?
One interesting thing I found when I was writing this post was that many of the top ten most popular names for boys in 2024 in the USA are arguably pretty classic:
- #1: Liam
- #2: Noah
- #3: Oliver
- #4: James
- #5: Elijah
- #6: Mateo
- #7: Theodore
- #8: Henry
- #9: Lucas
- #10: William
But beyond that short list of the most popular boy names this year, there are so many other classic boy names to choose from. So here is my giant list of around 100 traditional/old-fashioned boy names:
- Adrian
- Alec
- Archie
- Arlo
- Arthur
- August (Gus)
- Baxter
- Benjamin (Ben or Benji)
- Bennett
- Beau
- Carl
- Cedric
- Charles
- Christopher (Chris)
- Clark
- Conrad
- Daniel
- Dean
- Dexter
- Edward (Eddie)
- Ezra
- Felix
- Finn
- Flynn
- Ford (Clifford)
- Francis
- Franklin (Frankie)
- Freddie
- George
- Gideon
- Glenn
- Graham
- Grant
- Hank
- Harry
- Harvey
- Henry
- Hugh
- Hugo
- Isaac
- Jack
- Jackson
- Jacob
- James
- Jason
- Jasper
- Jensen
- John
- Joseph (Joey)
- Joshua
- Jude
- Jullian
- Kennedy
- Kenneth
- Kent
- Lawrence
- Leonard
- Leo
- Lewis
- Levi
- Lincoln
- Linus
- Lucas
- Lyle
- Matthew
- Maximillian (Max)
- Michael
- Miles
- Milo
- Neil
- Nolan
- Oliver (Ollie)
- Oscar
- Otto
- Owen
- Paul
- Perry
- Pierce
- Preston
- Quincy
- Quentin
- Robert
- Ross
- Russell
- Samuel (Sam or Sammy)
- Sebastian
- Simon
- Sinclair
- Steven / Stephen
- Theodore (Teddy)
- Thomas (Tom)
- Tobias
- Tristan
- Truman
- Vincent
- Walt
- Wallace
- Warren
- William (Will)
- Zachary
So there you have it. A hundred or so classic boy names that feel time-honored and traditional. I love them all. Always happy to name your baby. Call me ;)
