[name_m]Hi[/name_m] berries!
I’m looking for some advice. Where do you find inspiration for personally significant/honoring names if family names are not an option? I wouldn’t feel comfortable naming my sons after any of the men in my family, but I’d still like their names to resonate with me on something more than a sound/imagery level. Thoughts?
Our son was named after two different historical figures. The Greek mathematician [name_m]Archimedes[/name_m] and president [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] [name_m]Roosevelt[/name_m]. We look at philosphers, scientists, artists, musicians, writers, etc. that we have admiration for in naming children. (We too wouldn’t name any boys, or girls, for family.)
Try look in your favorite books, films, cities or places dear to you, maybe? [name_m]Favorite[/name_m] plants/flowers/trees?
You could also look for names that have similiar meanings to those of the people you’d like to honor.
You could use the same initials, or [name_u]August[/name_u] if that is their birth month would work, hobbies or occupations can sometimes have a meaningful name come to mind, if they love nature there are several nature inspired names.
What do you value most? What kind of person do you want your son to be? If there is a quality, there is a game that means that quality… Or a famous person that embodied it. For exemple, If you value wisdom you can call him [name_u]Sage[/name_u], or [name_m]Merlin[/name_m].
Am I right in understanding that you’re not keen on honoring family at all? Sometimes I’ll use similar names to honor across genders (like [name_u]Grey[/name_u] for [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] for [name_f]Natalie[/name_f], [name_f]Jane[/name_f] for [name_m]John[/name_m], [name_m]Beckett[/name_m] for [name_f]Rebecca[/name_f], etc.), so if you have any girls in your family you’d like to honor, you could potentially do it that way. (Or honor one of their interests, birthstones, etc.)
Otherwise, I just look for things that are meaningful to me! I love a lot of Biblical names because my faith matters to me a lot. I’m also a huge literature nerd, so love names like [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m], [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f], [name_f]Adele[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], [name_f]Lydia[/name_f], [name_m]Fitzwilliam[/name_m], etc., because of books I’ve grown up loving. Astronomy is a deeply personal subject to me, and I’ve always been fascinated with the subject, so names like Kuiper, [name_u]Orion[/name_u], [name_f]Cosima[/name_f], etc. are options I’ve also looked at. Also people from history that I value, like [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] Tubman, [name_m]Abraham[/name_m] [name_m]Lincoln[/name_m], [name_m]Booker[/name_m] T. [name_m]Washington[/name_m], [name_m]George[/name_m] [name_m]Washington[/name_m], [name_u]Corrie[/name_u] ten Boom, [name_f]Gladys[/name_f] Aylward, etc., have also been inspirational to me. I also play the piano–and have taken lessons off and on since I was very young, and love classical music–so names inspired by that, as well, are names that have appeared on my list. 
Good luck!