What are your favorite international boys' names?

I made several posts about this on the girls’ forum several months ago, but I think I have a hidden secondary style (is that a thing?!) of these funky, quirky, spunky international choices that are sort of weird here in [name_u]America[/name_u], and definitely unusual, but are fairly ordinary (if not boring and overdone) overseas. Some of my favorites for girls’ were Laerke, [name_f]Odilia[/name_f], Madelief, [name_f]Anouk[/name_f], [name_f]Cosima[/name_f], Gracja, [name_f]Anahi[/name_f], [name_f]Mireya[/name_f], [name_f]Eleni[/name_f], etc. (I had a much huger list, but I lost it on another computer.) I’m hoping I can build a similar list I can use for my boys’ list–inserting them as MNs here and there, and maybe as a FN if it’s tame enough. :slight_smile:

So far, I have:

[name_m]Gaspard[/name_m] ([name_m]French[/name_m])
[name_m]Caspar[/name_m]/[name_m]Kaspar[/name_m]/[name_m]Kasper[/name_m] ([name_m]French[/name_m]/[name_m]German[/name_m]/Danish)
[name_m]Kirill[/name_m] (Russian)
[name_m]Andreas[/name_m] ([name_m]German[/name_m]/Dutch)
[name_m]Hugo[/name_m] (pretty much internationally used)
[name_u]Rhys[/name_u] (Welsh)
Kilian/Killian (I am leaning toward the German Kilian, but I still like the Irish Cillian/Killian)

And several Irish names, like Ronan, Seamus, Ciaran, Cillian/Killian, etc., too…

What are your favorite names from other cultures?

Thanks, Berries!

Ailbe (All-bay) - Irish
[name_m]Darragh[/name_m] - I’m not sure this counts, as I think it’s an Anglicization of [name_m]Daire[/name_m], but it’s Irish/from an Irish name
[name_m]Eamon[/name_m] - Irish
[name_m]Eoghan[/name_m] - Irish
[name_u]Niall[/name_u] - Irish
[name_u]Kieran[/name_u]/[name_m]Ciaran[/name_m] - Irish
[name_m]Lachlan[/name_m] - Scottish
[name_m]Seamus[/name_m] - Irish
[name_m]Caelan[/name_m] - Scottish
[name_m]Duncan[/name_m] - Scottish
[name_m]Caradoc[/name_m] - Welsh (I believe)
[name_m]Brogan[/name_m] - Irish
[name_m]Emrys[/name_m] - Welsh

That’s all I can think of right now, but I’m not sure if names like [name_m]Louis[/name_m] ([name_u]Lou[/name_u]-ee), [name_m]Neville[/name_m], [name_u]Tristan[/name_u] and [name_u]Morgan[/name_u] count, as they are international choices ([name_m]French[/name_m], [name_m]French[/name_m], Welsh and Welsh), but they’re well known all over and aren’t as tied to one nation.

A couple of my favs are [name_m]Anders[/name_m], [name_m]Johann[/name_m], [name_m]Ewan[/name_m], [name_m]Ivan[/name_m], and [name_m]Valentino[/name_m].

[name_m]Noam[/name_m] - Hebrew
[name_m]Rafael[/name_m] - Used in Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, and some others…
[name_m]Ilya[/name_m] - Russian. I don’t like [name_u]Elias[/name_u] (though it makes another solid international pick) but I have a weakness for this Russian form of the same name.
[name_m]Arkady[/name_m] - Russian.
[name_m]Dmitri[/name_m], which is used in various spellings across a number of languages… I have a huge soft spot for [name_m]Dmitri[/name_m].
[name_m]Leonardo[/name_m] - Italian, Spanish
[name_m]Eoin[/name_m] - Irish. This is probably a middle name only for me, because [name_u]Owen[/name_u] would fly so much easier as a FN.

I love…

[name_m]Eamon[/name_m]
[name_m]Ewan[/name_m]
Björn
[name_m]Thiago[/name_m] (though a fast riser last year so not so obscure anymore)
[name_m]Aziz[/name_m]
[name_m]Gustav[/name_m]
[name_m]Phelan[/name_m]
[name_m]Dietrich[/name_m]
[name_u]Rafe[/name_u]
[name_m]Lars[/name_m]
[name_m]Claudio[/name_m]

[name_m]Eamon[/name_m]
[name_m]Ciaran[/name_m]
[name_m]Otto[/name_m]
[name_m]Matteo[/name_m]
[name_m]Tomas[/name_m]
[name_u]Daniele[/name_u]
[name_m]Bruno[/name_m]
[name_m]Cormac[/name_m]
[name_m]Massimo[/name_m]
[name_m]Lorenzo[/name_m]
[name_m]Stellan[/name_m]
[name_m]Luciano[/name_m]
[name_m]Rafael[/name_m]
[name_u]Lionel[/name_u]
[name_m]Audric[/name_m]

I kind of identify with the Irish and Italian ones as they pay tribute to my heritage but the rest are kind of random likes.

[name_m]Eero[/name_m]- Finnish
[name_m]Viggo[/name_m]- Scandinavian
[name_m]Wilko[/name_m]- Dutch
[name_m]Leif[/name_m]- Scandinavian
[name_m]Matteo[/name_m]- Italian
Ceasare (pronounced chess-R-ay) Italian
[name_m]Etienne[/name_m] - [name_m]French[/name_m] version of [name_m]Steven[/name_m]

Some of the more obvious international names from my favourites list:

[name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] ([name_m]German[/name_m])
[name_m]Ephraim[/name_m] (Hebrew)
[name_m]Nikolai[/name_m] (Russian)
[name_m]Lorenzo[/name_m] (Italian)
Skandar (Turkish)
[name_f]Rhonwyn[/name_f] (Welsh)
[name_m]Lachlan[/name_m] (Scottish)
[name_m]Emrys[/name_m] (Welsh)
[name_m]Benoit[/name_m] ([name_m]French[/name_m])
[name_m]Alasdair[/name_m] (Scottish)
[name_m]Malik[/name_m] (Arabic)
[name_m]Santiago[/name_m] (Spanish)
[name_m]Leonardo[/name_m] (Italian/Spanish)
[name_m]Louis[/name_m] with the Loo-ee pronunciation ([name_m]French[/name_m])
[name_m]Laszlo[/name_m] (Hungarian)
[name_m]Hugo[/name_m] (as you said, it’s used pretty much everywhere)
And the Greek names most of which I’m not entirely sure are actually used in Greece (or anywhere tbh):
[name_m]Artemus[/name_m]
[name_m]Ptolemy[/name_m]
[name_m]Perseus[/name_m]
[name_m]Evander[/name_m]
[name_m]Lysander[/name_m]
[name_m]Lukas[/name_m] (this one is used)

The “O” Brigade: [name_m]Hugo[/name_m], [name_m]Laszlo[/name_m], [name_m]Inigo[/name_m], [name_m]Amedeo[/name_m], [name_m]Viggo[/name_m], [name_m]Paavo[/name_m], [name_m]Pedro[/name_m], [name_m]Diego[/name_m], Camlo, [name_m]Sergio[/name_m], [name_m]Fernando[/name_m], [name_m]Giacomo[/name_m], [name_m]Florentino[/name_m], [name_m]Macario[/name_m], [name_m]Piero[/name_m]/[name_m]Pietro[/name_m], [name_m]Paolo[/name_m], [name_m]Massimo[/name_m], [name_m]Franco[/name_m], [name_m]Domenico[/name_m], [name_m]Aldo[/name_m], [name_u]Mikko[/name_u], [name_m]Apollo[/name_m], [name_m]Viljo[/name_m], [name_m]Armando[/name_m], [name_m]Alvaro[/name_m], [name_m]Isidro[/name_m], [name_m]Rodrigo[/name_m], [name_m]Ramiro[/name_m], [name_m]Sancho[/name_m], [name_m]Orlando[/name_m]

The Names Ending in “S” Group: [name_m]Hieronymus[/name_m], [name_u]Elias[/name_u], [name_m]Andreas[/name_m], [name_m]Eligius[/name_m], [name_m]Ignatius[/name_m], [name_m]Amadeus[/name_m], [name_m]Stanislas[/name_m], [name_m]Fergus[/name_m], [name_m]Angus[/name_m], [name_m]Ladislas[/name_m], [name_m]Tobias[/name_m]

The “[name_m]French[/name_m]” Messieurs: [name_m]Armand[/name_m], [name_m]Marcel[/name_m], [name_m]Jacques[/name_m], [name_m]Louis[/name_m], Rémy, [name_m]Thierry[/name_m], [name_m]Etienne[/name_m], [name_m]Alain[/name_m], Aimery/[name_m]Amaury[/name_m], Judicael, [name_m]Emile[/name_m], [name_m]Aurelien[/name_m], [name_u]Maxime[/name_u], [name_m]Gilles[/name_m], [name_m]Barthelemy[/name_m], [name_m]Olivier[/name_m]

The “Muslim” League: [name_m]Khalil[/name_m], [name_m]Omar[/name_m], [name_m]Haroun[/name_m], [name_m]Ibrahim[/name_m], [name_m]Sulaiman[/name_m], [name_m]Jibril[/name_m], Farid, Tahir, [name_m]Youssef[/name_m], [name_m]Khalid[/name_m], [name_m]Hamza[/name_m], [name_m]Faisal[/name_m], [name_m]Idris[/name_m] (Welsh name too), Munir, Hashim, [name_m]Zaid[/name_m]

The Russians are Coming: [name_m]Anton[/name_m], [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m] (nn [name_u]Nico[/name_u]), [name_m]Fyodor[/name_m], [name_m]Dmitri[/name_m], [name_m]Grigori[/name_m], [name_m]Ivan[/name_m], [name_m]Pavel[/name_m], [name_m]Viktor[/name_m], [name_m]Sergei[/name_m]

All the World’s a Stage - Miscellaneous: [name_m]Casimir[/name_m], [name_m]Stefan[/name_m], [name_m]Fritz[/name_m], [name_m]Imre[/name_m], [name_m]Sandor[/name_m], [name_m]Zoltan[/name_m], [name_m]Otto[/name_m], [name_m]Oscar[/name_m]/[name_m]Oskar[/name_m], [name_m]Henrik[/name_m], [name_m]Dante[/name_m], [name_m]Cesare[/name_m], [name_m]Gianni[/name_m], Asaph, [name_m]Frans[/name_m],[name_m]Ewan[/name_m], [name_m]Vilmos[/name_m], [name_u]Kai[/name_u], [name_m]Isidore[/name_m], [name_m]Lucian[/name_m], [name_m]Sven[/name_m], [name_m]Lars[/name_m], [name_m]Ivar[/name_m], [name_m]Ferdinand[/name_m], [name_m]Prosper[/name_m], [name_m]Xavier[/name_m], [name_m]Raphael[/name_m], [name_u]Ara[/name_u], [name_m]Dunixi[/name_m], [name_m]Cyprian[/name_m], Lubomir, [name_m]Joaquin[/name_m], [name_m]Duarte[/name_m], [name_m]Alasdair[/name_m], Talfryn, Nicanor, [name_m]Brynmor[/name_m], [name_m]Roldan[/name_m], [name_m]Kalle[/name_m], [name_m]Jesper[/name_m], [name_m]Felix[/name_m], [name_m]Cormac[/name_m], Thorfinn, [name_m]Roald[/name_m], [name_m]Lennart[/name_m], [name_m]Leo[/name_m], [name_m]Rudolf[/name_m], [name_m]Roland[/name_m], [name_m]Fabian[/name_m], [name_m]Njord[/name_m]

International - I do not think that word means what you think it means. International means transcending national boundaries / belonging or relating to two or more countries, therefore an international name is a name that transcends national boundaries and is a ‘home culture’ name in many different nations, like for example [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] or [name_f]Maria[/name_f]. Some of my favourite names from cultures I am not a part of are:

[name_m]Gethin[/name_m] (Welsh)
[name_m]Pascal[/name_m] ([name_m]French[/name_m])
[name_m]Omar[/name_m] (Arabic)
[name_m]Rhodri[/name_m] (Welsh)
[name_m]Tariq[/name_m] (Arabic)
Torben (Danish)

[name_m]Laszlo[/name_m] - Hungarian
[name_m]Duarte[/name_m] - Portuguese
[name_m]Nikolai[/name_m] - Russian

@jackal - ha, yeah, I know. I just don’t know a word that encompasses what I was going for, and some of them are international, like [name_m]Hugo[/name_m], or [name_m]Andreas[/name_m], which is used pretty much internationally, as well. I do really love a lot of international names, but that’s not especially what I’m going for here.