Overall thought: Your name list is awesome!
Specific thoughts:
My favorites from your list include—
[name]Zane[/name] (It might seem like it’s loosely honoring the name [name]Sanne[/name] in your circumstance, and it does seem like it’s pronounced relatively similarly, but I don’t find that as being a problem. If it was going to be [name]Zane[/name]'s last name or something it might be weird, otherwise doesn’t present a problem I’d say. This name made it into my own top 20 as well. Great name.)
[name]Wolfgang[/name] (I love it, but I wouldn’t personally use it because it feels somewhat pretentious to name a kid after [name]Mozart[/name], but with your particular family connection, I think that makes a much more viable option than it would be for me. I prefer [name]Mozart[/name]'s MN though, [name]Amadeus[/name] or even [name]Amadeo[/name] would be amazing name choices.)
[name]Theodore[/name] (though I prefer [name]Thaddeus[/name] or [name]Theodorus[/name] myself)
[name]Lucas[/name] (it’s a great name, but the popularity of it would keep me away from it. I’d much prefer [name]Lucius[/name] or [name]Lucian[/name] or [name]Lucien[/name] or [name]Lucan[/name] or [name]Luca[/name])
[name]Julian[/name] (definitely one of my top 20 favorite boys names. Also pretty common these days, but still solidly awesome.)
[name]Eoin[/name] (love this name, prefer it to [name]Owen[/name], though it would likely present lots of pronunciation difficulties to people when they first encounter your son— depending on where you live)
[name]Emmett[/name] (this is another one pretty high up on my list as well, and my list is also quite diverse as yours is. I find this name to have a feeling of being a down-to-earth type with a strong sense of morality (I don’t know why, it just feels that way))
[name]Edwin[/name] (I used to not particularly like any of the [name]Ed[/name] names, but I’m starting to come around to them, especially [name]Edwin[/name] and [name]Edric[/name]. They have a quality that makes me think of someone strong and independent)
[name]Connolly[/name] (I quite like this name, quite a bit moreso than [name]Conner[/name], but I don’t think it’s of the same awesome caliber as some of your other choices)
[name]August[/name] (I much prefer [name]Augustus[/name], especially since I’ve known several females named [name]August[/name], but [name]Augustus[/name] is clearly male. [name]Augustus[/name] also feels stronger and more complete than [name]August[/name] to me. I think it’s a stunning name. [name]Gus[/name] is another NN that I’ve heard.)
[name]Anton[/name] (great name! If one of my close friends didn’t already have a kid named this, it be on my possibility list as well. And I don’t think you need to worry about finding a NN for it, it’s short enough as is, don’t think it requires a NN)
[name]Alaric[/name] (another one that made it into my top 20 (you have a lot that also made it into my final cuts, though none of our final 5). Great, strong name. [name]Unique[/name] but with a familiar quality to it. Not such a fan of [name]Ricki[/name] as a NN, but [name]Alaric[/name] on it’s own is great.)
Names I’d cut:
[name]Victor[/name] (You do have a family connection, which makes it a more viable option, but I’m just not a fan of this name otherwise. It’s boring to me. I don’t like the NN. It doesn’t feel like a name to me, just the description word of someone who wins a lot)
[name]Prosper[/name] ([name]Even[/name] moreso than [name]Victor[/name], this just feels like the description word of someone who is prosperous. Doesn’t feel like a name at all.)
[name]Maximillian[/name] (There are some other [name]Max[/name] related names that I like, but this one feels too pretentious to me. Like “‘max to the millioneth degree’, higher and better than everyone else”.
[name]Ludwig[/name] (Too strongly associated to Beethoven, as [name]Wolfgang[/name] would be to [name]Mozart[/name], but with [name]Wolfgang[/name] you have the family connection that makes it more viable, without the family connection of [name]Ludwig[/name] I don’t think it’d be a good name)
[name]James[/name] (It’s not a bad name, but with all these other awesome and unique choices to go with, I personally wouldn’t choose the (literally) most used name of the 20th century.)
[name]Erich[/name] (I much prefer [name]Alaric[/name] (which has a similar sound/feel to it) so this one would get cut from just not being as awesome)
[name]Earnest[/name] (another adjective word I just don’t like. It’s a word to me (like [name]Prosper[/name] and [name]Victor[/name]), not a name. [name]Even[/name] though it’s been used as a name before, I just don’t like it. Adjective names are strange to me.)
[name]Christoph[/name] (maybe there’s cultural significance to cut off the ‘er’ at the end of [name]Christopher[/name], but this name feels circumcised)
[name]Benjamin[/name] (maybe it’s just my connection to the Chinese culture that gives me negative feelings about this name, but in Chinese ‘ben’ means ‘stupid’)
[name]Artemis[/name] (this is a very feminine name in my book. I’ve known two females with this name. And it’s the name of a female character in Greek mythology)
The ones I didn’t mention were okay, but not one’s I would choose.
Since many of your choices were also in our top 20 list ([name]Zane[/name], [name]Julian[/name], [name]Emmett[/name], [name]Alaric[/name]), I thought I’d let you know some of our other favorites (some in top 20, some not quite there but close enough to mention), in case they are ones that you may like as options as well:
[name]Amias[/name]
[name]Darius[/name]
[name]Caius[/name]
[name]Emrys[/name]
[name]Conrad[/name]
[name]Saul[/name]
[name]Cyrus[/name]
[name]Amaury[/name]
Caian
[name]Altair[/name]
[name]Callum[/name]
[name]Ansel[/name]
[name]Kian[/name]
[name]Conall[/name]
[name]Celio[/name]
[name]Lionel[/name]
[name]Cassius[/name]
[name]Eamon[/name]
[name]Soren[/name]
[name]Aurelio[/name]/[name]Aurelius[/name]
[name]Marcellus[/name]
Castus
Arcus
[name]Castor[/name]
[name]Myron[/name]
[name]Evander[/name]
[name]Zamir[/name]
[name]Nevan[/name]
[name]Adair[/name]
