Names that mean king are the rare category where the meaning is the whole point. Pick one and you have handed your son a word people have been using for power for more than four thousand years, since a Mesopotamian ruler called himself the rightful king.
All 100 entries below carry their origin, meaning, pronunciation, notable bearers where they exist, and the name’s real standing in U.S. births through 2025 where Social Security Administration records list it. That last part matters: it tells you what Americans are naming their sons now, not what a name did in 1913.
Two of these sit in the national top ten and three more inside the top 100. Most rank nowhere near that, and fifteen are so rare that federal records have never listed them at all. Both ends of that range are useful, so start wherever your instinct pulls you.
100 Powerful Names Meaning King for Your Baby
The entries run alphabetically, from Addo to Zosar, so their order tells you nothing about how common they are.
Popularity at a Glance
The most popular names on this list in the United States, 1965 to 2025: Henry, William, Julian, Avery and Ryan.
- Henry
- William
- Julian
- Avery
- Ryan
Addo
Addo carries more than one reading in Ghana, where it also stands for happy and ornament alongside king of the path. The double D gives it a firm, closed sound that lands well after a longer surname and needs no nickname to soften it. Spelled Ado it looks lighter on the page, though the fuller spelling is the one tied to the Ghanaian bearers, and American teachers will not have met either version before, which is either the whole appeal or the whole drawback, depending on your temperament.
- Origin: Ghanaian
- Meaning: King of the path
- Pronunciation: AED-ow
- Variations: Ado
- Namesakes: Addo Akufo-Addo, a Ghanaian politician who served as president of Ghana.
- Popularity: Addo has never appeared in the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national name files, which list a name only once at least five babies receive it in a single year. That is a finding rather than a gap: in America it is genuinely rare.
Ade
Ade reaches past king into crown, peak and royalty itself in Yoruba, which is why it opens so many longer Nigerian names. Parents most often meet it as the short form of longer Yoruba names such as Adebola or Adeola. Two syllables, no hard consonants, nothing to spell out twice: it is one of the least fussy entries on this list. Unisex in practice as well as on paper, since American records show it going to a few girls as well as boys. It pairs easily with a longer middle name, since there is almost nothing to trip over.
- Origin: Nigerian
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: AA-Deh
- Namesakes: Ade Capone, an Italian comic book writer, and creator of the comic book Lazarus Ledd. Ade Mochtar, an Indonesian footballer who has played for Gresik United.
- Popularity: Ade sits far down the U.S. charts, ranked 7,203rd in 2025 with 11 boys given the name, according to Social Security Administration data. It has been on record since 1919 and is climbing again, up 61 percent over the last decade of births compared with the ten years before, though a small number of girls have carried it too.
Adelio
Adelio pairs noble with the sense of a princely father, and its Latin roots let it travel comfortably across Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. The rhythm is four light syllables ending on a vowel, so it sits well beside a short, blunt surname. Adulio is the spelling variant you will see occasionally. If you want the sound of an old European name without the weight of a famous bearer attached, this is the quiet option. Expect people to hear Adele in it on a first introduction, which fades fast.
- Origin: Spanish, Germanic
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: Ae-DEY-liy-Ow
- Variations: Adulio
- Namesakes: Adelio Colombo, an Italian footballer who became the coach of the Beginners A of Santa Maria del Taro. Adiel de Oliveira Amorim, a Brazilian former footballer who played as a midfielder.
- Popularity: Adelio is new to U.S. records, first appearing in 2023 and reaching 7,268th in 2024 with 11 boys, per the Social Security Administration. Fewer than 20 American boys have ever been given the name, so anyone choosing it now is near the front of the line.
Alaric
Alaric joins ala, meaning everyone’s, to ric, meaning ruler, and reaches English through the Latin Alaricus. The historical Alaric was chief of the Visigoths from 395 and led the army that sacked Rome in August 410, an event that came to stand for the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Gothic royals used the form Alareiks and Old Norse rulers Alrekr, so the name has been attached to power in three languages. It also carries a softer folk reading of elf ruler. Al and Ric are both there if he wants something shorter at school. Alarik and Alarich are the German spellings if you want the sound with a different look. All three are read the same way in English.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: Noble ruler
- Pronunciation: AEL-ah-Rihk
- Variations: Alarik, Alarich, Alaryk, Allaric
- Namesakes: Harold Alaric Jacob, an English journalist and war correspondent during World War II. Alaric Chapin, a Union Army soldier who received the Medal of Honor for gallantry in the American Civil War.
- Popularity: Alaric is having a real moment: it ranked 1,063rd in 2025 with 205 boys, and SSA data shows births up 222 percent over the last ten years against the decade before. Its best showing was 822nd in 2020, so it is holding near a modern high rather than fading.
Aldrich
Aldrich is built from the Old English ald, meaning old, and ric, meaning ruler, which together read as the seasoned king rather than the young one. The CH ending gives it a texture most names on this list lack, closer to a surname than a first name, and that is exactly why it works in the middle slot. Aldridge is the common alternate spelling, and you should expect to spell either version out at the pharmacy counter.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: Old, wise ruler
- Pronunciation: AELD-Riych
- Variations: Aldridge, Aldrige
- Namesakes: Aldrich Ames, a former CIA officer, turned KGB double agent, who was convicted of espionage in 1994. Aldrich Bowker, an American actor known best for the Broadway show You Can’t Take It With You in 1936.
- Popularity: Aldrich is scarce in the United States, ranked 10,744th in 2025 with six boys, though SSA records reach back to 1909 and its strongest rank came in 1926. Births have edged up about 31 percent over the last decade, so it is stable rather than disappearing.
Alfred
Alfred comes from the Germanic elements meaning elf and counsel, so the sense is wisdom borrowed from something older than human, not brute rule. England’s Alfred the Great is the reason it reads as royal at all. Modern parents mostly know it through Batman’s butler, which has done the name no harm and given it a reputation for unshakable competence. Alfie has become the real draw in Britain, and it travels well. This is the pick for parents who want a king name that sounds patient rather than loud. Alf is the blunt alternative, and it has aged better than anyone expected.
- Origin: Old English, Germanic
- Meaning: Elf counsel
- Pronunciation: AEL-Frahd
- Variations: Aelfraed, Ahlfred, Alfrid, Alfryd
- Namesakes: Alfred Victor, a French poet and Romanticist known for novels, plays, and translations of Shakespeare. Alfred Hitchcock, an English filmmaker who directed over 50 feature films and is known as the “Master of Suspense.”
- Popularity: Alfred ranked 840th in 2025 with 293 boys and is quietly recovering, up 19 percent across the last decade per SSA figures. It was a top 50 name as recently as 1928, when 6,252 boys received it, and more than 243,000 American boys have carried it since 1880.
Alroy
Alroy sits on top of the Spanish el rey, literally the king, while a separate Gaelic thread carries the sense of red-haired. Two roots, one spelling, and neither is common enough for anyone to correct you. It shares its ending with Leroy, Delroy and Elroy, a small family of names built the same way. If you like Roy but want something with more room in it, this is the version that hands you a nickname for free.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: AEL-roy
- Variations: Alroi
- Namesakes: Prateek Mathur (known as Alroy Jovi), an Indian animator known as the creator and author of the Axtelera Ray fantasy series.
- Popularity: Alroy has effectively left the U.S. charts. Its last appearance in Social Security Administration records was 1990, with five boys, and only about 110 American boys have ever been given it. Nothing recent supports a popularity claim beyond that.
Ameer
Ameer is one of several English spellings of the Arabic title that also gives us Amir and Emir, and it names a commander or prince rather than a crowned monarch. The double E makes the second syllable unmistakable, which is its practical advantage over Amir. It carries well in a classroom, shortens naturally to Ami, and works across Arabic, Urdu and English-speaking families without adjustment. Of the three spellings this is the one least likely to be mispronounced on the first try. It also sits comfortably beside a short one-syllable surname.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: Prince
- Pronunciation: Ah-MIHR
- Variations: Amir, Aamir, Amire
- Namesakes: Ameer Sachet, an Iraqi-Swedish politician who has served as a member of Sweden’s Riksdag. Ameer Abdullah, an American running back who has played in the National Football League for the Las Vegas Raiders.
- Popularity: Ameer ranked 980th in 2025 with 233 boys and is up 47 percent over the last decade, according to Social Security Administration data. The spelling has been on U.S. records since 1969 and peaked in 2021, so it is a current name rather than a revival.
Ara
Ara belongs to the oldest layer of Armenian names, where it attaches to a legendary king and carries the additional sense of bringing rain. Three letters, two syllables, nothing silent: it is about as easy as a name gets to write and to say. American records show it going to both girls and boys, 48 girls and 10 boys in 2025, so treat it as genuinely unisex rather than borrowed. It also makes an unusually clean middle name between two longer ones. Its brevity makes it a rare choice that works as well on a toddler as on an adult.
- Origin: Armenian, Arabic
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: AH-rah
- Variations: Araa, Arah, Arra
- Namesakes: Ara Dinkjian, an Armenian-American oud player whose song Dinata was performed at the 2004 Olympic Games. Ara Güler, an Armenian-Turkish photojournalist, nicknamed “the Eye of Istanbul.”
- Popularity: Ara is rare and rising in the United States, ranked 3,255th for girls in 2025 with 48 births and 7,714th for boys, per SSA data, up 78 percent across the last decade. It has been on record since 1880, so the recent climb is a return rather than a debut.
Arnold
Arnold sets the Germanic arn, meaning eagle, against wald, meaning power, so the image is a bird of prey rather than a throne. It is a name with a strong twentieth century and a quiet twenty-first, which currently makes it more distinctive than most of the classics around it. The obvious modern bearer has kept it from ever sounding delicate, and the nicknames follow suit, with Arnie warm, Arn blunt, and both already in circulation.
- Origin: French, German
- Meaning: Strong ruler
- Pronunciation: AAR-Nahld
- Variations: Arnolde, Arnald, Arnauld
- Namesakes: Arnold Kopelson, an American film producer known for the films Platoon, Seven, and The Fugitive. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an Austrian-American actor, and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011.
- Popularity: Arnold ranked 1,477th in 2025 with 120 boys, holding steady over the last decade according to SSA figures. Its high-water mark was 89th in 1916, when 1,858 boys were named Arnold, and more than 103,000 have carried it since 1880.
Arsan
Arsan reads as king or prince and also carries the older senses of council and gathering, which give it a more collective feel than most titles here. It sits close enough to Arsen and Arslan that people will hear one of those first. Stress on the second syllable keeps it from sounding clipped, and it is genuinely rare in the United States, so your son would almost certainly be the only one in his school.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: King, prince
- Pronunciation: AR-sahn
- Variations: Arsen
- Namesakes: Arsan Pengbanrai, a Thai footballer who has played for Phrae United.
- Popularity: Arsan does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records, which begin listing a name only when at least five babies receive it in a year. Any figure you see for it elsewhere is not drawn from American birth data.
Aubrey
Aubrey joins alf, meaning elf, to rik, meaning king, arriving in English through the French Aubry and before that the Germanic Alberic. It began as a boys’ name and only crossed over in the last few decades, which is why it now reads as feminine to most American ears while still going to boys every year. That history is worth knowing before you choose it: the numbers say your son will meet more girls with his name than boys. Bree and Rey are the escape hatches if he wants one. For a boy it now works best as a family name carried forward rather than a fresh pick.
- Origin: French, Germanic
- Meaning: King of the elves
- Pronunciation: AO-Briy
- Variations: Aubary, Aubery
- Namesakes: Aubrey Begg, a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Awarua in Southland. Aubrey Simons, an English table tennis player who won a gold medal at the 1953 World Table Tennis Championships.
- Popularity: Aubrey ranked 146th for girls in 2025 with 2,003 births, per the Social Security Administration. For boys it sat at 2,093rd that year. The name is down 32 percent comparing the last decade of births with the ten years before it, and it is well off its 2012 peak, when it ranked 15th with 8,061 girls.
Augustus
Augustus began as a title rather than a name, meaning majestic and taken from augere, and it was granted to Octavian as Rome’s first emperor. Every later Caesar inherited it, which is how a single honorific turned into a personal name across Europe. It is long, formal and completely unembarrassed about that, and the nicknames do the balancing work: Gus is friendly, Auggie is small and warm, and August stands on its own if the long form ever feels heavy. It is also one of the few names here a child can grow into rather than out of.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Emperor, king
- Pronunciation: Ah-GAHS-Tahs
- Variations: August, Augusto, Agustin, Augustine
- Namesakes: Augustus Loftus, a British diplomat and Governor of New South Wales from 1879 to 1885. Augustus Pugin, an English architect, known for his role in the Gothic Revival style of architecture.
- Popularity: Augustus ranked 407th in 2025 with 783 boys, near its all-time high, and SSA data shows it up 113 percent across the last decade. Its previous best rank was 383rd in 1914, and the birth count peaked at 791 in 2024.
Avery
Avery is built from the Old English words for elf and power, a near-twin of Aubrey with the same route through Norman French. It has been in use as a given name since the sixteenth century, though the modern American version is really a surname that came back as a first name. Unlike Aubrey it never fully left the boys’ side, so a son named Avery is unusual rather than remarkable. It also sidesteps the nickname question entirely, which some parents count as a feature. Parents drawn to it for a son should look at Averill and Alaric as close alternatives.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: Elf King
- Pronunciation: EY-vah-Riy
- Variations: Avary, Averey, Averi, Avrey, Avri
- Namesakes: Avery Robinson, an American classical composer and treasurer of the Royal Philharmonic Society. Avery Paraiso, a Filipino-American model, known as a Top 14 finalist of the reality TV series StarStruck.
- Popularity: Avery is the highest-ranked name on this list after Henry, William and Julian, sitting 37th for girls in 2025 with 5,267 births and 291st for boys, per SSA data. A bit over one in four American Averys is a boy, and the name has been broadly flat over the last ten years after peaking in 2014.
Ayhan
Ayhan builds khan, the Turkic word for ruler, on top of ay, the moon, so the whole name reads as moon king. A separate Arabic reading gives it the sense of a gift from God. It started life as a Turkish surname before moving to the front of the name, a path many evocative names have taken. Two even syllables and a soft H make it easy for English speakers, and it is one of the few genuinely celestial names here. Pair it with a short surname so the two even syllables keep their shape.
- Origin: Turkish
- Meaning: Moon king
- Pronunciation: AY-hahn
- Variations: Ayhaan, Aihan
- Namesakes: Ayhan Gezen, a Turkish-German former footballer who was part of the Hertha BSC reserve team who reached the 1993 DFB-Pokal final. Ayhan Karakuş, a Turkish wrestler who competed in the Greco-Roman style.
- Popularity: Ayhan is new to American records and climbing: it reached 3,858th in 2025 with 28 boys, its best year yet, and SSA data shows births up 129 percent over the last decade. It has only been on file since 2011.
Balder
Balder is the Norse god of light, son of Odin and Frigg, whose death sets the end of the world in motion in the old poems. The name attaches to king and prince through that royal divine line rather than through any human throne. Baldur and Baldr are the spellings you will meet in translations. It is a heavy piece of mythology to hand a child as a first name, which is why it often works better in the middle slot, where the meaning is there for anyone who looks. If the mythology feels like too much, Bo works as a short form nobody will question.
- Origin: Norse
- Meaning: King, prince
- Pronunciation: BAOL-Dehr
- Variations: Baldr, Baldur, Baldor, Baldir
- Namesakes: Balder Tomasberg, an Estonian artist and one of a circle of artists called Vikerla in 1917.
- Popularity: Balder has never met the U.S. Social Security Administration’s five-birth threshold, so it does not appear in the national name files at all. In America it is a mythology name rather than a used one.
Balthazaar
Balthazar reads as Baal protects the king, a construction that puts a god’s name in front of a royal one. Christian tradition gives it to one of the three wise men, which is why it turns up in nativity plays and almost nowhere else. The name is long, dramatic and hard to shorten gracefully except to Baz or Thaz, both of which have their own charm. The double A spelling used here is the rarer one; Balthasar and Baltazar are what most bearers use. The single A spelling is also markedly easier for a child to learn to write.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: Baal protects the king
- Pronunciation: BAEL-thaa-Zaar
- Variations: Balthasar, Balthassar, Baltazar
- Namesakes: Balthazar Getty, an American actor known for the films Lord of the Flies (1990) and Lost Highway (1997). Balthazar Melick, an American banker and the founder of Chemical Bank in 1823.
- Popularity: Balthazaar with the double A does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records, which list a name only once at least five babies receive it in a year. Neither spelling is common in American records, so treat it as rare whichever way you spell it.
Baron
Baron is a rank rather than a crown, the lowest tier of hereditary European nobility, which in Old English attached to a wealthy male landowner. A separate Hebrew reading of Bar-On gives son of strength. That double origin is useful: the name works whether you want the title or the toughness. It shares a sound with Barron and Baran without either being a clear default, so expect to confirm the spelling on a name that is otherwise short, hard-edged and impossible to mistake for anything else in a classroom.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: Kingly warrior
- Pronunciation: BEH-Raen
- Variations: Barron, Barran, Baran, Baryn
- Namesakes: Baron Waqa, a Nauruan politician and the 14th President of Nauru from 2013 until 2019. Baron Davis, an American basketball player and a studio analyst for the NBA on TNT.
- Popularity: Baron ranked 1,370th in 2025 with 135 boys and has been broadly steady over the last decade, per SSA data. It peaked in 2008 and has been on American records since 1912, so it is a settled name rather than a trend.
Bodi
Bodi is a short form of the Hungarian Bodizsar, itself a version of Boldizsar, which is Hungary’s Balthazar. Follow that chain far enough and you land back at God protects the king. Most American parents arrive from a different direction entirely, through the Sanskrit-derived Bodhi, and the two names are now hard to separate in practice. It is warm, informal and complete at two syllables, the rare king name that sounds like a nickname already. Bode and Bodie are the other spellings in circulation, and all three sound the same.
- Origin: Hungarian
- Meaning: God protects the king
- Pronunciation: BOW-Diy
- Variations: Bodhi, Bodie, Bode
- Namesakes: Mack “Bodi” White, Jr., an American politician who represented District 6 in the Louisiana State Senate. Bodie Olmos, an American actor and the son of Edward James Olmos.
- Popularity: Bodi hit its best year in 2025, ranked 1,421st with 127 boys, and SSA data shows it up 278 percent over the last decade. It first appeared in American records in 1993, so the whole story of this name is recent.
Caesar
Caesar was a Roman family name that turned into the word for ruler itself, and it did so thoroughly enough that Kaiser and Tsar both descend from it. Julius Caesar never actually held the title his name became. That is the interesting part: the name outgrew the man within a century of his death. It is unambiguous in a way few names are, so a boy named Caesar will spend his life being asked about it. Cass and Caes both work if he would rather not. Cesar and Cesare are the Spanish and Italian forms, both far more common as everyday names. Either one keeps the reference and drops the costume.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: King, ruler
- Pronunciation: SIY-Zahr
- Variations: Caesare, Caesario, Cesar, Cesare
- Namesakes: Caesar Rodney, an American Founding Father and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Caesar Bacarella, an American stock car racing driver who has driven in the ARCA Racing Series and Pirelli World Challenge.
- Popularity: Caesar ranked 2,843rd in 2025 with 44 boys and has held roughly level over the last decade, according to SSA figures. It has been on American records in 130 of the years since 1880, and it was most common relative to all births in 1913.
Casper
Casper traces to the Persian root behind treasure bearer, and Christian tradition names it for one of the three kings who brought gifts. It is the Scandinavian form of Jasper, which is the version most Americans reach for first. The friendly cartoon ghost is the obstacle most parents worry about and the one their children have never heard of. Cas is the natural short form, and the name is at its best next to a surname with some weight. Kasper and Kaspar are the continental spellings if the C looks too soft, and Kasper is the one Denmark has used most, which is why it turns up so often among Danish boy names.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: King of the treasure
- Pronunciation: KAHZ-Per
- Variations: Kaspar, Kasper
- Namesakes: Casper Holstein, a New York mobster involved in the Harlem “numbers rackets” during the Harlem Renaissance. Casper Ruud, a Norwegian tennis player and the first Norwegian to win an ATP title.
- Popularity: Casper is on a steep climb, ranked 924th in 2025 with 255 boys after peaking at 274 births in 2024, and SSA data puts it up 211 percent over the last decade. It has been on American records since 1880, and its best rank was 535th in 1915.
Cassander
Cassander is the masculine counterpart to Cassandra, the Trojan princess of Greek mythology, and its Greek sense runs closer to brother of heroes than to crowned king. The historical Cassander ruled Macedonia from 305 to 297 BCE, which is where the royal association actually comes from. Three syllables is a fair amount, but Cass carries the whole name comfortably and is already familiar to English ears. Choose it if you want a Greek name nobody has claimed yet. Cassian and Cassius are the nearer alternatives if you want something shorter.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: Kaa-SAEND-er
- Variations: Cassandre, Cassandr
- Namesakes: Cassander, king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 305 BC until 297 BC.
- Popularity: Cassander only entered U.S. records in 2024, when six boys received it, ranking 11,180th. It is about as new to American parents as a name can be while still being on file at all, per the Social Security Administration.
Clovis
Clovis descends from the Germanic Hlodovic, built from hlod, meaning famous, and wig, meaning war, and it is the same name that later smoothed into Louis. Clovis I ruled the Franks from 481 to 511 and united them under one crown, which makes this the older, rougher form of a very familiar royal name. In America it now reads more Southern than French, thanks to a scattering of towns and characters. The V in the middle keeps it from sounding fragile. It sits well as a middle name in a family that already has a Louis.
- Origin: French, German
- Meaning: Famous warrior king
- Pronunciation: KLOW-Vihs
- Namesakes: Clovis Renaison, a politician from Guadeloupe who served in the French Senate from 1946 to 1948. Camille Clovis Trouille, a French artist, known for surrealistic paintings of erotic and anti-clerical subjects.
- Popularity: Clovis ranked 4,735th in 2025 with 21 births and is up 85 percent over the last decade in SSA data, though it remains far below its 1914 peak of 64. Records show it given to both boys and girls in small numbers.
Conrad
Conrad comes from the Germanic Konrad, joining kuon, meaning bold, to rad, meaning counsel. That combination of nerve and judgment is the older idea of what a king was for. Several medieval German kings carried it, and the name kept enough of that formality to still sound grown up on a small boy. Connie was the historical nickname and Conn is the modern one. It pairs unusually well with a one-syllable surname. Konrad with a K is the German spelling and reads a little sharper.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: Brave, bold ruler
- Pronunciation: KAAN-Raed
- Variations: Coenraad, Konrad
- Namesakes: Conrad Hall, a French Polynesian-American cinematographer known for the films Cool Hand Luke and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Conrad Sewell, an Australian singer, known for the vocals on Kygo’s number-one single Start Again.
- Popularity: Conrad is climbing hard, ranked 417th in 2025 with 770 boys and up 92 percent over the last decade according to SSA figures. Its best rank was 213th in 1931, the year 584 boys were given it.
Cyril
Cyril comes from the Greek Kyrillos, meaning masterful, which is built on kyrios, meaning lord. Saint Cyril gave his name to the Cyrillic alphabet, and the name has been carried by Russian grand dukes and British aristocrats alike. It sounds older than it is, and the soft opening and the L ending make it gentler than most names here. It has no obvious shortening, so what you choose is what he gets.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: King, lordly
- Pronunciation: SIYR-ahl
- Variations: Cirill, Cyrel, Cyrell, Cyrelle, Cyrille
- Namesakes: Cyril Gautier, a French professional road bicycle racer. Cyril Almeida, a Pakistani journalist, assistant editor, and columnist for Dawn Magazine.
- Popularity: Cyril ranked 3,143rd in 2025 with 38 boys and has been flat over the last decade, per Social Security Administration data. Its strongest American year was 1916, when it reached 283rd with 328 births.
Cyrus
Cyrus is the Greek and Latin form of the Persian Kurush and carries the sense of sun alongside one who bestows care. Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid empire, which reached from the Aegean Sea east to the Indus River, and the clay Cyrus Cylinder still records his conquest of Babylon in cuneiform. Few names on this list are attached to a ruler this consequential and still sound this current. Cy is the ready-made nickname, and the S ending stops it from blending into the crowd of vowel-final boys’ names. It also works across Persian and English-speaking families without changing shape.
- Origin: Persian, Greek
- Meaning: Sun, king
- Pronunciation: SAY-Rahs
- Variations: Ciris, Cirus, Cyress, Cyris, Cyriss
- Namesakes: Cyrus Mistry, an Indian author who won the 2014 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature for Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer. Cyrus Rollocks, a Canadian soccer player who has played for League1 Ontario club Scrosoppi FC.
- Popularity: Cyrus ranked 268th in 2025 with 1,284 boys, just off the all-time high it set in 2024, and SSA data shows it up 88 percent over the last decade. Nearly 30,000 American boys have been given the name since 1880.
Darius
Darius anglicizes the Persian name Dariush, understood as the one who holds firm to good. Darius the Great expanded the empire Cyrus founded and built the road system that held it together. The name had a strong run in the United States in the late twentieth century and has been easing off since, which puts it in the useful zone: instantly recognizable, no longer everywhere. Dari and Dar are both in use, though most bearers keep the full three syllables. The three full syllables carry a formal register that suits a longer surname.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Upholder of the good, kingly
- Pronunciation: DAER-iy-Ahs
- Variations: Darias, Daryos, Darrius
- Namesakes: Darius Mažintas, a Lithuanian pianist and politician who was the Vice Minister for Culture between 2013 and 2014. Darius Washington Jr., an American-Macedonian basketball player who played for Phoenix Brussels.
- Popularity: Darius ranked 788th in 2025 with 322 boys and is down 42 percent over the last decade, per SSA data. It peaked in 1994 with 2,184 births, so today’s Dariuses are markedly rarer than their 1990s namesakes.
Delroy
Delroy reads as one born of the king, and it sits in the same French-derived family as Leroy and Elroy. It became a strongly Jamaican name in the twentieth century, carried by boxers, politicians and the actor Delroy Lindo, which gives it a Caribbean association that no other entry here has. The stress falls on the first syllable, unlike Leroy, so the two do not sound as similar as they look, and Del stands on its own if he wants it shorter.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: The king
- Pronunciation: DEHL-roy
- Variations: Dalroy, Delray
- Namesakes: Delroy Leslie, a Jamaican boxer who competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Delroy Chuck, a Jamaican politician and the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Saint Andrew North Eastern.
- Popularity: Delroy has faded from American records, last appearing in 2023 with nine boys at 8,412th. Its best year was 1937, and SSA files show about 1,400 U.S. births in total across its whole history.
Derek
Derek is the English form of the Frankish Diederik, which comes from Theodoric and means people-ruler. The idea buried in it is a king who rules by the tribe’s consent rather than by conquest, which is a gentler claim than most names here make. It arrived in England in the Middle Ages, disappeared, and came back in the twentieth century as a modern-sounding name most people never guess is medieval. Derrick is the other spelling, and the K version is the one that reads as a first name rather than a piece of construction equipment. Its 1980s peak means most Dereks a child meets will be adults, which is often the appeal.
- Origin: Old English, Germanic
- Meaning: Ruler of the tribe
- Pronunciation: DEH-Rehk
- Variations: Derrick, Derick, Derrik, Deric, Derik
- Namesakes: Derek Tracey, an Irish League of Ireland association footballer who spent his entire 17-season senior career playing for Shamrock Rovers. Derek Taylor, an English journalist, best known as the press officer to the Beatles.
- Popularity: Derek ranked 284th in 2025 with 1,191 boys, down 37 percent over the last decade according to SSA figures. It peaked in 1987 with 8,253 births, so it now reads as a name with a generation attached to it.
Devendra
Devendra comes from the Sanskrit devendra, chief of the gods, and points directly at Indra, the Vedic god of lightning, thunder, rain and war. That makes it a king name of a different order from the European entries: it names the ruler of the sky rather than a country. Three syllables give it real presence, and Dev is a short form already popular in its own right. It is an established given name in India and almost unheard of in the United States, so it travels between the two with the meaning intact. Families outside India should expect to teach the pronunciation once and then be done.
- Origin: Indian, Hindi
- Meaning: King of gods, Lord Indra
- Pronunciation: Dey-VEHND-rah
- Variations: Deven, Debendra
- Namesakes: Devendra Goel, an Indian director known for making films in the 1950s and early 1960s. Devendra Yadav, an Indian member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India.
- Popularity: Devendra last appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records in 2018, with eight boys, and only about 26 American boys have ever been given it. The federal files have no recent figure for it at all.
Donovan
Donovan began as the Gaelic surname O Donnabhain, built from donn, meaning brown, and dubh, meaning dark, and the chieftain sense comes from the family it named. It has an easy, rolling rhythm that survives being shouted across a playground. The 1960s folk singer and a run of American athletes have kept it in circulation without ever letting it become common. Van is the underused nickname here, and Donny is the obvious one. It also survives the teenage years better than most three-syllable names.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Brown-haired chieftain
- Pronunciation: DAAN-aa-Vahn
- Variations: Donavan, Donaven, Donavon, Donevyn
- Namesakes: Donovan Leitch, a Scottish musician who became famous in 1965 with live performances on the UK TV series Ready Steady Go! Donovan Gans, a football player who played with the Birmingham Barracudas of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
- Popularity: Donovan ranked 496th in 2025 with 609 boys and is down 41 percent over the last decade in SSA data. Its peak was 2003, when 2,211 boys received it, so it is well past its American high point.
Edgar
Edgar comes from the Anglo-Saxon Eadgar, joining ead, meaning rich, to gar, meaning spear. Edgar the Peaceful ruled England in the tenth century and gave the name its royal credentials; Edgar Allan Poe gave it everything else. It is one of the very few names that works equally well in English and Spanish without changing a letter, which is part of why it stayed strong in the United States for so long. Ed and Eddie are waiting, and neither has to be used. Poe aside, the name has stayed serious rather than gothic in everyday American use.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: Wealthy, blessed
- Pronunciation: EHD-Gahr
- Variations: Eadgar, Eadger, Eadgir, Eadgor, Eadgyr
- Namesakes: Edgar Veytia, a Mexican lawyer who served as the attorney general of the Mexican state of Nayarit. Edgar Grospiron, a French skier who won a gold medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics.
- Popularity: Edgar ranked 486th in 2025 with 617 boys, down 47 percent across the last decade per SSA figures. It was an American top 100 name in 1915 and has more than 157,000 U.S. bearers on record since 1880.
Edmund
Edmund joins the Old English ead, meaning riches, to mund, meaning protector. Two Anglo-Saxon kings of England carried it, one of whom was later canonized, and the name has stayed in the aristocratic register ever since. It has a solid literary bench too, from Edmund Spenser to the Narnia brother who gets the best redemption arc in children’s fiction. Ned is the historical nickname, which is the sort of detail that sells the whole name. Edmond is the French spelling, and Eddie is the fallback nobody can stop.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: Rich protection
- Pronunciation: EHD-Mahnd
- Variations: Eadmund, Edmond
- Namesakes: Edmund Spenser, an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem. Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund Kellaway), an English actor known for playing Kris Kringle in the film Miracle on 34th Street (1947).
- Popularity: Edmund ranked 1,082nd in 2025 with 199 boys and is up 47 percent over the last decade, per Social Security Administration data. Its best showing was 130th in 1914, so the current rise is early rather than complete.
Edric
Edric puts together ead, meaning riches, and ric, meaning power, and belongs to the Anglo-Saxon group of ED names that clustered around rulers and nobles. It is the least worn of that family: Edward, Edwin and Edmund all carry centuries of use, while Edric arrives almost fresh. Two crisp syllables, no ambiguity in the spelling once heard, and Ed sits underneath if he ever wants the plainest possible version. A good compromise for parents drawn to Edward but not to its ubiquity. Expect it to be heard as Cedric or Eldrick on a first introduction.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: Rich and powerful
- Pronunciation: EHD-rihk
- Variations: Eadric, Eadrick, Eadrik, Eadryk, Edrik
- Namesakes: Edric Bastyan, a British Army officer who became Governor of South Australia from 1961 until 1968. Edric Connor, a Caribbean performer of calypso in the UK.
- Popularity: Edric ranked 3,263rd in 2025 with 36 boys and is up 125 percent over the last decade in SSA data, having peaked at 137 births in 2018. It has been on U.S. records since 1914 but never in large numbers.
Eirik
Eirik is the Norwegian form of the Old Norse Eirikr, made from ei, meaning always, and rikr, meaning ruler, so the literal reading is forever king. Norway’s medieval royal line ran through several of them, and the name never became a period piece there, so among Norwegian boy names it sits with the everyday ones rather than the historical revivals. Choosing this spelling over Eric or Erik is choosing to be corrected regularly, which is the honest tradeoff for a name that keeps its Scandinavian shape. The EI opening gives it a longer AY sound than Eric, which is the difference most people miss on first hearing. Erik is the safer spelling if you want the Scandinavian tie with less correcting.
- Origin: Old Norse, Germanic
- Meaning: Eternal ruler
- Pronunciation: AY-rik
- Variations: Erek, Eric, Erik, Erick
- Namesakes: Eirik Larsen, a Norwegian sprint kayaker who has won a complete set of medals in three Summer Olympics. Eirik Hundvin (also known as Pytten), a Norwegian producer and recording engineer for classic black metal albums.
- Popularity: Eirik ranked 8,437th in 2025 with nine boys, up 48 percent over the last decade per SSA data. The Norwegian spelling has only ever been given to a few hundred American boys, unlike Eric and Erik.
Elric
Elric carries the sense of a wise and generous ruler, and it is a cousin of Aldric and Eldridge rather than a modern coinage. Fantasy readers will hear Michael Moorcock’s albino emperor, and gamers will hear the Fullmetal Alchemist brothers, which between them explain most of the recent climb. Neither association is a problem: both are about power used carefully. It has the same shape as its neighbors Edric and Alaric, so it sits naturally in that Anglo-Saxon sound family. Alaric and Aldric are the older siblings if you want the sound with more history.
- Origin: English, Latin
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: EHL-Rihk
- Variations: Elrik, Elrick
- Popularity: Elric ranked 4,286th in 2025 with 24 boys and is up 117 percent over the last decade, according to SSA figures. Fewer than 600 American boys have ever been given it, so it is rising from a very small base.
Elrod
Elrod derives from the Hebrew name Elrad, in which El stands for God and the whole reads as God is king. An Anglo-Saxon line gives it the separate sense of noble counsel. It is a surname in most places it appears, which is why it lands as sturdy rather than ornate, and the D ending stops it dead, no drift and no nickname, so that bluntness is either the point or the reason to keep looking.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: God is the king
- Pronunciation: Ihl-RAAD
- Variations: Elrad
- Namesakes: Elrod Hendricks, a U.S. Virgin Islander baseball player from 1968 through 1979 as a member of the Baltimore Orioles.
- Popularity: Elrod appears just once in U.S. Social Security Administration records, in 1971, when six boys received it. There is no modern American figure for the name and no basis for claiming one.
Emir
Emir is the Arabic title for a commander, prince or high officer, and in Turkish it also carries the sense of a command itself. It is the same word behind Amir and Ameer, and the E spelling is the one favored in Turkey and the Balkans. Two syllables, stress on the second, and no consonant cluster to trip over in English. Of the two spellings on this list it is the faster growing, up 188 percent over the last decade against Ameer’s 47 percent, which makes it the least safe bet if rarity is what you are after. Emir, Ameer and Amir are three transliterations of one title, so the spelling usually comes down to family or regional convention rather than any ranking.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: Prince, king, ruler
- Pronunciation: Ih-MIHR
- Variations: Amir, Ameer
- Namesakes: Emir Işılay, a Turkish jazz and film composer known for the music used in the TV series Boomtown (NBC) and Eyes (ABC). Emir Mutapčić, a Bosnian basketball coach who has coached Zalaegerszeg of the Hungarian league.
- Popularity: Emir hit its best American year in 2025, ranked 551st with 546 boys, and SSA data shows it up 188 percent over the last decade. It has been on U.S. records since 1970 and has never been more used than it is now.
Eric
Eric comes from the Old Norse Eirikr, forever ruler, and appears in Latin sources as Euricus. More than a dozen Scandinavian kings carried some form of it, and Erik the Red carried it to Greenland. The American story is different: it hit 13th in 1973 and has been sliding ever since, which means a boy named Eric today shares it with his father’s generation rather than his own. That is either a warm inheritance or a dated one, and the answer depends entirely on the family.
- Origin: Germanic, Old Norse
- Meaning: Eternal ruler
- Pronunciation: EH-rihk
- Variations: Erek, Erick, Erik
- Namesakes: Eric Bana, an Australian actor known for the 2004 film Troy and the 2005 film Munich. Éric Ripert, a French chef, author, and TV personality who owns the seafood restaurant Le Bernardin in New York City.
- Popularity: Eric ranked 273rd in 2025 with 1,256 boys, half what it was a decade ago according to SSA figures. It was 13th in 1973 and reached 21,359 births in 1976.
Eze
Eze is the Igbo title for a king, used in Nigeria for a traditional ruler rather than as an ordinary given name. Eze Enweleana II held the throne of the Kingdom of Nri, one of the oldest political institutions in West Africa. Because it is a title, it carries a weight in Igbo communities that an English speaker may not hear, which is worth understanding before you use it. Three letters and two syllables make it one of the shortest full names in this collection. Families outside Igbo communities should think carefully before borrowing a title.
- Origin: African
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: EH-Ziy
- Variations: Eaze, Ezi, Ezie
- Namesakes: Eze Ènweleána II, the 16th Eze Nri of the Kingdom of Nri in modern-day southeastern Nigeria.
- Popularity: Eze ranked 5,941st in 2025 with 15 boys and is up 93 percent over the last decade, per SSA data. It only entered American records in 2014, so its entire U.S. history is about a decade long.
Feroz
Feroz belongs to a line of Persian kings and also carries the Arabic sense of victorious and triumphant. It is used widely across Persian, Urdu and Indian naming traditions, where the spellings Firoz and Feroze are equally at home. In English the stress lands on the second syllable, so it comes out closer to fih-ROHZ than the spelling suggests, and it is rare enough in the United States to be a conversation every time, which suits a name whose meaning is a win.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: Name of a king
- Pronunciation: Fiy-RAAZ
- Variations: Firoz, Firuz, Feroze
- Namesakes: Feroz Khan, an Indian director known for the plays Tumhari Amrita (1992) and Gandhi Viruddh Gandhi. Feroz Abbasi, one of nine British men held in extrajudicial detention in the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detainment camps in Cuba.
- Popularity: Feroz last appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records in 2018, with five boys, and only about 15 American boys have ever been given it. There is no current federal figure for the name.
Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald means son of Gerald, and the FITZ prefix is Norman French for son of, carried into Ireland after the invasion. The Fitzgeralds became one of Ireland’s great dynastic families and descend from Nesta, princess of Wales. In the United States the name reads as a nod to Kennedy or to Ella before it reads as Irish nobility, which is a fair trade. Fitz is the nickname doing most of the work, and it is genuinely excellent. It is long for a first name and unusually good in the middle slot.
- Origin: French, Germanic
- Meaning: Son of the spear-ruler
- Pronunciation: FIHTS-Jhehr-owld
- Variations: Fitsgerald, Fytzgerald
- Namesakes: Fitzgerald Toussaint, an American football player with the Baltimore Ravens and the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers.
- Popularity: Fitzgerald is one of the clearest revivals on this list. SSA data shows it peaking at 63 births per million in 1964, collapsing to three per million by 2005, and recovering to 33 per million in 2025, roughly an elevenfold rebound across 61 years. It ranked 2,427th in 2025 with 56 boys.
Frederick
Frederick is the English form of the German Friedrich, joining frid, meaning peace, to ric, meaning power, so the king it describes rules by settlement rather than force. Prussia, Denmark and the Holy Roman Empire between them produced a long run of Fredericks, and Denmark’s King Frederik X, who took the throne in 2024, keeps the tradition alive. Frederick Douglass gave the name a second and heavier American meaning. Freddie is warm, Fred is plain, and Rick is there for the teenager who wants none of it. Friedrich and Federico are the German and Italian forms if you want the sound without the English weight.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: Peaceful ruler
- Pronunciation: FREHD-eh-Rihk
- Variations: Fredric, Fredrick, Fredrik, Fredryk, Frederyk
- Namesakes: Frederick Hauck, an American fighter pilot and NASA astronaut who piloted and commanded several space shuttle missions. Frederick Robinson, a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the UK from 1827 to 1828.
- Popularity: Frederick ranked 435th in 2025 with 728 boys and is up 34 percent over the last decade, per Social Security Administration data. It was 49th in 1913, and more than 266,000 American boys have carried it since 1880.
Gentian
Gentian is named for the Illyrian king Gentius, and the mountain flower called gentian carries his name too, which makes this one of the few entries that is simultaneously a royal name and a botanical one. It is best known in Albania and Kosovo. English speakers will say JEN-shun on sight, closer to the flower than to the Albanian pronunciation, so decide early which one you are asking for. The soft ending gives it an unusual gentleness for a name that belongs to a warrior king. Gent works as a short form and dodges the pronunciation question entirely.
- Origin: Albanian, Illyrian
- Meaning: King Gentius, flower
- Pronunciation: JHEHN-Shahn
- Variations: Genshian
- Namesakes: Gentian Selmani, an Albanian footballer who has played for Turkish club Boluspor and the Albania national football team. Gentian Zenelaj, an Albanian actor and comedian, known for the TV series Portokalli and Apartment 2XL.
- Popularity: Gentian has never appeared in the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national name files, which require at least five births in a year to list a name. In America it is effectively unused.
George
George comes from the Greek Georgios, meaning earthworker or farmer, which is about as far from royalty as an etymology can get. Six kings of England and the first president of the United States are what turned a farmer’s name into a crown name. It is a saint’s name, a dragon-slayer’s name and now a future king’s name again through Prince George. Nothing here needs explaining to anybody, which after 99 other entries is worth something. Georgie and Geo are the only real short forms, and neither is compulsory.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Earthworker
- Pronunciation: JHOWRJH
- Variations: Georges, Georgie, Georgios
- Namesakes: George Michael (born Georgios Panayiotou), an English musician and a significant cultural figure of the MTV generation. George Robertson, a British politician and the 10th Secretary-General of NATO from 1999 to 2004.
- Popularity: George ranked 126th in 2025 with 2,848 boys and is up 25 percent over the last decade in SSA data. Nearly 1.5 million American boys have been given it since 1880, and it sat sixth in 1913, so this is a genuine classic in a mild recovery.
Gerald
Gerald joins ger, meaning spear, to wald, meaning rule, and the Normans carried it into England and then into Ireland, where it founded the Fitzgerald line. It has the same build as Gerard and the same fate as Ronald and Harold: everywhere in the mid-century, scarce now. That scarcity is exactly what makes it interesting again, and Gerry, Jerry and the surname Fitzgerald further up this list all belong to it.
- Origin: English, Germanic
- Meaning: Ruler of the spear
- Pronunciation: JHEHR-ahld
- Variations: Gerrold, Geryld, Gerrald
- Namesakes: Gerald Asamoah, a German football manager, and first-team manager of Schalke 04. Gerald Casale, an American musician, and co-founder of the new wave band Devo.
- Popularity: Gerald ranked 1,206th in 2025 with 168 boys, down 33 percent across the last decade per SSA figures. It reached 19th in 1936 and peaked at 10,057 births in 1939, so it is a name currently between generations.
Hector
Hector is the Trojan prince of the Iliad, the son of King Priam who defends a city he knows is lost and is killed by Achilles for it. The Greek root ekhein means to hold or to restrain, and steadfastness is really what the name promises. It moved into Spanish centuries ago and sits among the most familiar Mexican baby names, which gives it a warmth the Homeric version does not have. Tito and Hec are both used; the full name needs neither. Ector is the medieval English form, and it turns up in Arthurian legend as the knight who raises the future king. That gives the name a second royal thread most people never notice.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: Steadfast
- Pronunciation: HHEHK-Tahr
- Variations: Hektor
- Namesakes: Hector Appuhamy, a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hector Ó hEochagáin, an Irish TV and radio presenter of The Tommy and Hector Podcast with Laurita Blewitt.
- Popularity: Hector ranked 409th in 2025 with 779 boys and is down 37 percent over the last decade, according to SSA data. It peaked in 2005 with 2,458 births, and more than 108,000 American boys have been given it since 1880.
Henrich
Henrich is a German form of Henry, and behind both is the Germanic sense of the ruler of an estate or home. Henry II, crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1014, is the historical anchor. Heinz and Henner are the traditional German short forms, though an American child would more likely end up as Hen or simply Henry, so choosing this spelling is choosing the German version over the English one, a difference that is invisible in speech and constant on paper.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: Estate ruler
- Pronunciation: HHAYN-Rihk
- Variations: Heinrich, Henric, Henrick, Henrik, Henryk
- Namesakes: Henrich Focke, a German aviation pioneer known as the inventor of the Fw 61, the first successful German helicopter. Henrich Ravas, a Slovak footballer who has played for Widzew Łódź.
- Popularity: Henrich appears once in U.S. Social Security Administration records, in 2017, when five boys received it. The Heinrich and Henrik spellings are far more common; this one has no American track record to speak of.
Henry
Henry comes to English from the French Henri and before that the Germanic Haimariks, home ruler. Eight kings of England carried it, which is more than any other name here can claim, and it is also the legal first name of Prince Harry. It is currently doing something unusual: sitting in the top five while still sounding old-fashioned and specific rather than generic. Hank, Harry and Hal are three genuinely different nicknames, so the name gives a boy real room to choose who he is.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: Home ruler
- Pronunciation: HEHN-riy
- Variations: Henri, Henree, Henrey
- Namesakes: Henry Miller, an American novelist known for the books Tropic of Cancer and the trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion. Henry Campbell-Bannerman, a British politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908.
- Popularity: Henry is the most popular name on this entire list, ranked fifth among U.S. boys in 2025 with 12,020 births, per the Social Security Administration. That is roughly one boy in every 142, and it is up 69 percent over the last decade, its strongest position on record.
Idris
Idris runs on two separate tracks. In Welsh it belongs to Idris the Giant, a seventh-century prince of Meirionnydd whose mountain still carries his name; in Arabic it is a prophet’s name tied to darasa, to study. The lordly sense comes from the Welsh side, the scholarly one from the Arabic. Idris Elba has done more for its recent climb than either etymology. The name works in both traditions without alteration, which few on this list manage. The stress falls on the first syllable in Welsh and the second in Arabic. Pick one early, because both are correct and only one will stick.
- Origin: Welsh, Arabic
- Meaning: Ardent lord, prophet
- Pronunciation: IHD-Rihs
- Variations: Idres, Idriss, Idriys, Idrys, Idryss
- Namesakes: Idris Elba, an English actor known for the HBO series The Wire and the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013). İdris Şahin, a Turkish politician, elected to the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 2002.
- Popularity: Idris reached its best American year in 2025, ranked 694th with 391 boys, and SSA data shows it up 185 percent over the last decade. It first appeared in U.S. records in 1914 and has never been higher.
Jerrick
Jerrick is a modern blend of Jerold and Derrick rather than an inherited name, which puts it in a different category from everything around it. The Danish Jerrik does carry the Old Norse sense of forever king, and that is where the royal claim comes from. It also picks up spear warrior from the Jerold side, though invented names age faster than old ones, and the numbers say this one is aging, so choose it because you like the sound rather than because it is rising.
- Origin: British
- Meaning: The people’s ruler
- Pronunciation: JHE-Rayk
- Variations: Jerrik
- Namesakes: Jerrick Ahanmisi, an American-Filipino-Nigerian basketball player for the Magnolia Hotshots. Jerrick Harding, an American basketball player for ERA Nymburk of the Czech National Basketball League.
- Popularity: Jerrick ranked 8,546th in 2025 with nine boys and is down 50 percent over the last decade per SSA figures. Its peak was 1989, when 73 boys received it, so it is a fading late-century coinage.
Julian
Julian comes from the Roman Julianus, a family name belonging to the line that produced Julius Caesar, and it means youthful or descended from Jove. A long bench of early Christian saints kept it in use through the Middle Ages, and a Roman emperor carried it too. It is currently the third most popular name on this list, behind Henry at fifth and William at ninth, and one of only three inside the top 25, which is worth weighing against how distinctive it feels. Jules and Jude both work as short forms. Julien and Juliano are the French and Italian versions if you want something less familiar in America. Juliana is the direct feminine counterpart for a sibling.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Youthful, Jove’s child
- Pronunciation: JHUWL-Yahn
- Variations: Jullian, Jullien, Julyan
- Namesakes: Julian Sands, an English actor known for the films The Killing Fields and A Room with a View. Julian Assange, an Australian activist who founded WikiLeaks in 2006.
- Popularity: Julian ranked 25th among U.S. boys in 2025 with 7,603 births, its best position ever, per SSA data. That is about one boy in 225, and the name is up 16 percent over the last decade after peaking at 8,443 births in 2019.
Kaiser
Kaiser is the German descendant of Caesar, and it titled the emperors of Germany and Austria until 1918. That is a specific and fairly recent history to attach to a child, and it is the main thing to think about before choosing it. Set against that, the sound is unmistakably modern American, with a hard K, a long vowel and an S in the middle, and it fits the short, phonetic direction boys’ names have been taking. Kai does most of the daily work, and it is already a popular name in its own right. It also sits in the same sound family as Kaiden and Kayson, which is why it feels current rather than imported. That resemblance is the real reason most American parents reach for it.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: Emperor
- Pronunciation: KAYZ-er
- Variations: Kasarr
- Namesakes: Kaiser Gates, an American basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. Kaiser, a Burmese singer-songwriter and the most successful male singer in Myanmar in the early 1980s.
- Popularity: Kaiser is the fastest riser on this entire list: SSA data shows births up 408 percent over the last ten years against the decade before, and it ranked 836th in 2025 with 296 boys. It has been on American records since 1915 but did almost nothing with them until recently.
Kian
Kian works in two languages at once. In Persian it means king or kingdom and belongs to the Kayanian dynasty of legend; in Irish it is a variant of Cian, meaning ancient, borne by the son-in-law of Brian Boru. Families with a foot in either tradition can claim it honestly. Both readings run to two syllables, but American speakers split roughly down the middle on where the stress falls, so decide which you want and say it that way from the start. Its rise has been steady rather than sudden, which usually means staying power. Keon and Kayan are the nearest alternatives. Neither carries the royal meaning, so the trade is sound for sense.
- Origin: Persian, Irish
- Meaning: King, kingdom
- Pronunciation: KEE-ahn
- Variations: Kyan, Cian
- Namesakes: Kian Emadi-Coffin, a British track cyclist and three-time British National Track champion. Kian Egan, an Irish pop singer known as a member of the boy band Westlife.
- Popularity: Kian reached its best American year in 2025, ranked 401st with 797 boys, and SSA data shows it up 73 percent over the last decade. It has been on U.S. records since 1970 and has never been more used.
King
King comes straight from the Old English cyning, tribal leader, and skips the etymology entirely: it is the word, used as a name. It rose fast in the United States through the 2010s alongside Prince, Legend and Royal, and it has been coming down again since 2017. It also carries an American association with Martin Luther King Jr. that no other entry here has. There is no nickname and no ambiguity, which is either bracing or a lot to carry through middle school. Kingsley and Kingston are the softer ways to get the same word into a name.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: Ruler
- Pronunciation: KIHNG
- Namesakes: King O’Malley, an American-Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1901 to 1917. King Floyd, an American soul singer from New Orleans best known for his Top 10 hit Groove Me in 1970.
- Popularity: King ranked 405th in 2025 with 786 boys, well down from its 2017 peak of 2,696 births, per SSA figures. Because that peak sits inside the recent decade, the last ten years of births still average 83 percent above the ten years before them, even though the yearly count has been falling since 2017. Reviewing the 2024 federal data, analyst Laura Wattenberg noted that King, Prince, Messiah, Royal, Pharaoh and Legend are all falling, so the English royalty words are cooling as a group rather than one name going quiet.
Kingsley
Kingsley began as the Old English place name Cyningesleah, built from cyning, king, and leah, a woodland clearing, so it names the king’s meadow rather than the king. It is the gentler way to use the word: the royal element is there without the bare declaration that King makes. It is an established given name in Nigeria and Ghana, and increasingly used in the United States for both boys and girls. Kings and Lee are both available, and the two syllables are easy to say fast. Kingsley Amis and the Harry Potter auror are the two bearers most adults will name. Neither association pulls the name in an awkward direction.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: From the king’s wood
- Pronunciation: KIHNGZ-Liy
- Variations: Kingslee, Kingsli, Kingsly, Kinsleigh
- Namesakes: Kingsley Coman, a French footballer who has played for Bayern Munich and the France national team. Kingsley Martin, a British journalist who edited the New Statesman’s political magazine from 1930 to 1960.
- Popularity: Kingsley ranked 1,096th for boys in 2025 with 196 births and 1,719th for girls, and SSA data shows it up 122 percent over the last decade. Roughly a quarter of American Kingsleys are girls, so it is genuinely shared.
Kinsey
Kinsey comes from the Old English Cynesige, joining cyne, meaning royal, to sige, meaning victory, which makes it one of the more literal royal names here despite sounding entirely modern. Sue Grafton’s detective and the Kinsey Reports are the two associations most adults will reach for. The numbers show it used mostly for girls now, so a son named Kinsey would be crossing back over the line the name has already crossed. Kin is a short form nobody else is using.
- Origin: Old English
- Meaning: King’s victory
- Pronunciation: KIHN-ziy
- Variations: Kynsei, Kynsey, Kinzie, Kincey
- Namesakes: Kinsey Wilson, an American journalist who served as President of WordPress.com. Kinsey McLean, an American actor, known for the film Thor (2011) and the TV series Justified (2010).
- Popularity: Kinsey is the steepest faller on this list, down 53 percent over the last decade in SSA data. It ranked 3,086th in 2025 with 53 births, well off its 2011 peak of 313, and the great majority of American Kinseys are girls.
Ladomir
Ladomir belongs to the Slavic family of names ending in mir, which carries the sense of both peace and world, and it is a cousin of the Russian Vladimir. The three syllables fall easily in English and the spelling is phonetic once you know where the stress goes. It is the kind of name that reads as invented to American ears and as thoroughly traditional to Slavic ones, which can be a useful thing for a family with a foot in both.
- Origin: Slavic
- Meaning: Famous ruler
- Pronunciation: LAED-ah-Mihr
- Variations: Ladomyr, Ladomér
- Popularity: Ladomir does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records at all, since the files list only names given to at least five American babies in a year. It is a Slavic name with no American footprint.
Lancelot
Lancelot comes from the French l’ancelot, meaning servant, which is a joke the Arthurian legend never quite acknowledges: the greatest knight of the Round Table is named for a servant. He is not a king himself, but he sits at the center of the most famous court in English literature. The name is theatrical and knows it. Lance is the escape route, and it is common enough that a boy could go his whole life without the full version ever surfacing.
- Origin: British, French
- Meaning: Servant
- Pronunciation: LAEN-sah-Laat
- Variations: Lancelott, Launcelot, Launcelott
- Namesakes: Lanschot van Ursele or Lancelot II of Ursel, the Mayor of Antwerp, Belgium. Lancelot Hemus, a New Zealand cricketer who played for Auckland between 1904 and 1922.
- Popularity: Lancelot ranked 7,034th in 2025 with 12 boys, down 23 percent over the last decade per SSA data. It has been on American records since 1908 and has never had more than about 18 births in a single year.
Leroy
Leroy comes from the French le roi, the king, and arrived in English as a Norman surname before becoming a first name. It had a long and specific run in twentieth-century America, particularly in Black families, and songs from Jim Croce to the blues canon have kept the sound in circulation. It is now recovering after decades of decline, which puts it in the small group of genuinely mid-century names coming back. LeRoy and Leroi are both attested spellings, and Roy stands underneath all of them. Elroy and Delroy are its closest siblings, built the same way from the same French phrase. Choosing between them is mostly a question of which first syllable you want.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: The king
- Pronunciation: LIY-Roy
- Variations: Leeroy, LeRoi, Leroi
- Namesakes: Leroy Cooper Jr., an American Air Force pilot, and one of the original astronauts in Project Mercury, the U.S.A.’s first human space program. Leroy Sané, a German footballer who has played for Bayern Munich and the Germany national team.
- Popularity: Leroy ranked 888th in 2025 with 269 boys and is up 35 percent over the last decade, according to SSA figures. It was 50th in 1935 with 3,919 births, and more than 200,000 American boys have carried it since 1880.
Lot
Lot is King Lot of Orkney in Arthurian legend, the father of Gawain, which is where the royal sense comes from. The Hebrew Lot of Genesis is a different figure entirely, and that name carries the sense of hidden or veiled. Three letters and one syllable put it among the shortest entries here, and in English it collides with an extremely common word, which is the honest obstacle, so it works better as a middle name, where the collision never comes up.
- Origin: Old English, Hebrew
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: LAAT
- Variations: Lott
- Namesakes: Lot Flannery, an Irish-American sculptor best known for his work on the Abraham Lincoln statue outside the District of Columbia City Hall. Lot Hall, an American judge and justice of the Vermont Supreme Court from 1794 to 1800.
- Popularity: Lot last appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records in 2015, with five boys, and only about 62 American boys have ever been given it since 1884. There is no current federal figure for it.
Louis
Louis is the French form of the Germanic Ludwig, famous warrior, and it is the same name as the Clovis further up this list, worn smooth by a thousand years of French mouths. Eighteen French kings carried it, more French kings than any other name, which makes it a royal name in the most literal sense. Britain has adopted it too, and Prince Louis has put it back in front of a new generation. The pronunciation question never goes away: LOO-ee is French, LOO-iss is American, and both are correct depending on which side of the family is asking. Louie is the spelling that settles the argument in favor of the French sound. Lewis is the English form and a separate name in practice.
- Origin: French, Germanic
- Meaning: Famous warrior
- Pronunciation: Luw-EE
- Variations: Lewis, Lewys, Luie
- Namesakes: Louis L’Amour, an American writer famous for his Western novels. Louis Vuitton, a French fashion designer and founder of the Louis Vuitton brand of leather goods.
- Popularity: Louis ranked 249th in 2025 with 1,391 boys and is up 52 percent over the last decade, per SSA data. It sat 20th in 1913, and more than 406,000 American boys have carried it since 1880.
Malik
Malik is the Arabic word for king, used across the Muslim world as a given name, a surname and a royal title all at once. Al-Malik is one of the ninety-nine names of God in Islam, which gives it a weight beyond the simple translation. It has been an established American name since the 1970s and it carries an established tradition in both Arabic-speaking and English-speaking countries. Two syllables, stress on the second, and no nickname required. Maleek and Maalik are the other common transliterations. All three are read the same way aloud, so the choice is about how it looks written down.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: Maa-LIYK
- Variations: Maalik, Mailik, Maleek, Malikh, Maliq
- Namesakes: Malik Obama, a Kenyan-American businessman and the older half-brother of the 44th president of the U.S., Barack Obama. Malik Müller, a German basketball player for Hamburg Towers.
- Popularity: Malik ranked 437th in 2025 with 724 boys and has been broadly steady over the last decade, according to SSA figures. It peaked in 1996 with 4,026 births, so today’s Maliks are a good deal rarer than their nineties predecessors.
Melchior
Melchior builds on the Hebrew melech, king, and adds the sense of light or splendor, so the whole reads as king of light. Christian tradition names him as one of the three Magi, traditionally the eldest and the one who brings gold. It is a Christmas name in the way that Balthazar and Casper are, and the three appear together often enough that choosing one nods at the others, and its three syllables carry a soft CH with Mel underneath for everyday use.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Meaning: City of the king, king of light
- Pronunciation: MEHL-ky-Aor
- Variations: Malchior, Malkior, Melchor, Melkior
- Namesakes: Melchior Franck, a German composer of the late Renaissance known for Protestant church music. Melchior Wańkowicz, a Polish writer, known for reporting for the Polish Armed Forces during World War II.
- Popularity: Melchior last appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records in 2007, with five boys, and fewer than 50 American boys have ever received it. Nothing in the federal data supports a current popularity claim.
Minos
Minos is the king of Crete in Greek myth, son of Zeus, keeper of the labyrinth, and after death one of the three judges of the underworld. Archaeologists borrowed the name for the entire Minoan civilization, so it labels a Bronze Age world as well as a man. That is a lot of history for two syllables. It is a strong name for boys with no soft edges, and the long O in the middle keeps it from sounding clipped. Milo and Linus are the nearer, softer alternatives if the mythology feels heavy. Neither carries the same royal weight, which may be exactly the point.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: MIY-Nows
- Variations: Mynos
- Namesakes: Minos Kokkinakis, a Greek member of Jehovah’s Witness known for his repeated clashes with Greece’s ban on proselytism. Choi Min-ho (known by the name Minos), a South Korean rapper and member of the hip hop duo Eluphant.
- Popularity: Minos last appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records in 2022, with five boys, and about 45 American boys have carried it in total. It has never been a used name in the United States.
Mir
Mir shortens the Arabic emir and titled Persian rulers of princely rank, later becoming an aristocratic style for the descendants of commanders across the medieval Muslim world. In South Asia it functions as much as a family title as a first name. It is also the name of the Soviet and Russian space station, which for many Americans is the first association, and at one syllable with one clean vowel it slots in front of almost any surname without a fight.
- Origin: Persian
- Meaning: General, prince
- Pronunciation: MIHR
- Variations: Amir
- Namesakes: Mir-Hossein Khameneh, an Iranian politician and the 49th and last Prime Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1989. Mir Pashayev, an Azerbaijani writer, known for his satirical short stories about Soviet bureaucracy.
- Popularity: Mir hit its highest birth count on record in 2025, 21 boys, ranked 4,812nd, though its best rank was 4,508th back in 2000. SSA data shows it up 30 percent over the last decade. It has been on U.S. records since 1972 and stays rare.
Mufasa
Mufasa is famous almost entirely through one film, where he is the lion king himself, and that association is total: nobody will hear anything else. Outside the film it is read as king in Swahili, though it is far better known as a character than as a given name. As a given name it puts a child inside a story rather than beside one, which is the thing to weigh, and Fasa and Mu are the only realistic short forms, neither of which is doing much work.
- Origin: Swahili
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: Muw-FAH-Sah
- Variations: Mufas
- Popularity: Mufasa last appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records in 2022, with six boys, and only about 13 American boys have ever been given it. It has never risen anywhere near a rank worth quoting.
Napoleon
Napoleon reaches French through the Italian Napoleone, a name already in use in Italy before the emperor made it his own. The reading usually given is lion of the new city, tying it to Naples. One man dominates it so completely that the name is really a reference rather than a name, which is why it is more often a middle name than a first one. Leo and Nap are the ways out. Choose it if you want your son asked about it constantly, and skip it if you do not.
- Origin: Greek, Italian
- Meaning: Lion of the new city
- Pronunciation: Nah-POW-liy-Ahn
- Variations: Napolean, Napoleane, Napoleone, Napolion
- Namesakes: Napoleon Einstein, an Indian cricketer who played in the Indian Premier League for the Chennai Super Kings. Napoleon Orda, a Polish-Lithuanian artist, known for sketches of historical sites of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
- Popularity: Napoleon ranked 4,651st in 2025 with 22 boys and is down 30 percent over the last decade per SSA figures. Its American high point was 1913, at 505th, so it has been declining for over a century.
Neil
Neil is the English form of the Irish Niall, whose meanings run from cloud and passionate to champion and honor. Niall of the Nine Hostages was a fifth-century high king of Ireland and the founder of one of the country’s longest-running royal dynasties. Neil Armstrong attached it to the first footprint on the moon, which is not a bad second act for a fifth-century king’s name. One syllable, no spelling debate once you settle on EI over EA, and nothing to shorten.
- Origin: Gaelic, British
- Meaning: Victory
- Pronunciation: NIYL
- Variations: Neale, Neall, Neal, Neill, Niel
- Namesakes: Neil Diamond, an American singer-songwriter who has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Neil Peart, a Canadian musician and the drummer and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush.
- Popularity: Neil ranked 851st in 2025 with 288 boys and has held roughly level over the last decade, according to SSA data. It reached 146th in 1953, and more than 104,000 American boys have carried it since 1880.
Paris
Paris the prince of Troy comes first: it is his abduction of Helen that starts the Iliad, and he is the one who kills Achilles. The French city takes its name from the Parisii, an unrelated Gaulish tribe, so the two Parises share nothing but spelling. That double reference is why the name reads as glamorous rather than heroic to modern ears. Records show it going mainly to girls now, so a son named Paris is making a deliberate choice, and the Trojan prince is the argument for it.
- Origin: French, Greek
- Meaning: Trojan prince
- Pronunciation: PAER-ihs
- Variations: Parris, Parys, Paryss
- Namesakes: Paris Jackson, a Canadian football player for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. Paris Gibson, an American politician and member of the U.S. Senate between 1901 and 1905.
- Popularity: Paris ranked 592nd for girls in 2025 with 497 births and 2,326th for boys, per SSA data, down 17 percent over the last decade. It peaked in 2004, and the great majority of American Parises are girls.
Philip
Philip joins the Greek philos, dear or loving, to hippos, horse, and horses were what separated a king from everybody else in the ancient world. Philip II of Macedon built the army his son Alexander used to conquer Persia. Six kings of Spain and, closer to home, the late Duke of Edinburgh have kept it in royal circulation. One L or two is the only real decision, and Phil is waiting either way. Pip is the underused short form and worth remembering. Filip is the Slavic spelling if the PH looks fussy.
- Origin: British, Greek
- Meaning: Lover of horses
- Pronunciation: FIHL-ihp
- Variations: Phillip, Philippe, Philippo
- Namesakes: Philip Lynott, an Irish musician known as the frontman for the rock group Thin Lizzy. Philip Radford, an American activist who served as the executive director of Greenpeace USA.
- Popularity: Philip ranked 528th in 2025 with 568 boys and has been broadly flat over the last decade, per SSA figures. It sat 52nd in 1941 and peaked at 6,162 births in 1948, so it is now a fraction of its mid-century self.
Raj
Raj shortens the Sanskrit raja, king, and it is the direct cousin of the Latin rex, both descending from the same ancient root for ruling. It is a first name, a common element inside longer names such as Rajesh and Rajiv, and the word for the British period of Indian rule, all at once. That last association is the one an English speaker may hit first, though the name itself is one syllable, unmistakable, and pairs cleanly with a longer surname.
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Meaning: King, Royalty
- Pronunciation: RAHJZ
- Variations: Raja, Rajam, Rajan, Rajj, Raju
- Namesakes: Raj Pradhan, a Nepalese cricketer who represented Region no. 1 Biratnagar of the National League. Raj Thackeray, an Indian politician and the founder of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
- Popularity: Raj ranked 4,671st in 2025 with 22 boys and is down 29 percent over the last decade in SSA data. Its American peak came in 2003, with 88 births, so it has always been a small name in the United States.
Reagan
Reagan comes from the Irish surname O Riagain, built on ri, meaning king, so little king is a fair reading. In the United States the presidency is what put it on birth certificates, and the timing shows in the data. It is now used far more for girls than boys, making it one of the clearest crossovers on this list. This unisex name also comes in the Raegan and Regan spellings, and the last of those is a Shakespearean king’s daughter.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: Little king
- Pronunciation: REY-Gahn
- Variations: Raegan, Raigon, Reagen, Regan
- Namesakes: Reagan Gomez-Preston, an American voice actress known for the TV series The Parent ‘Hood (1995 to 1999) and The Cleveland Show (2009 to 2013). Reagan Wickens, an Australian swimmer who competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
- Popularity: Reagan ranked 248th for girls in 2025 with 1,244 births and 1,687th for boys, per Social Security Administration data. It peaked in 2012 at 97th and has eased about 8 percent over the last decade, with roughly one American Reagan in ten being a boy.
Rex
Rex is Latin for king with nothing added, the direct sibling of the Sanskrit rajan, the Gothic reiks and the Old Irish ri. It shares that bluntness with King itself but sounds playful rather than declarative, which is why it has aged much better. Tyrannosaurus rex is the association every child will make, and few boys have ever complained about it. Three letters, one syllable, and it is one of the very few names on this list that needs no explaining and no shortening.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: REHKS
- Variations: Recks, Reks, Rexe, Rexs, Rexx
- Namesakes: Rex Barrat, a French artist known for his landscape paintings. Rex Weyler, an American-Canadian journalist who served as a director of the original Greenpeace Foundation.
- Popularity: Rex ranked 859th in 2025 with 281 boys and is up 25 percent over the last decade, according to SSA figures. It reached 170th in 1951 with 1,503 births, so the current rise is a partial return.
Rey
Rey is the Spanish word for king, plain and unadorned, which makes it the Hispanic counterpart to Rex and Roy. It also functions as a short form of Reynaldo and Reyes across Latin America and the Philippines. Since 2015 a Star Wars heroine has pulled it toward girls in English-speaking countries, though American records still show it going mostly to boys. This Spanish name is three letters that mean exactly one thing, and it fits under a longer formal name without any strain.
- Origin: Spanish
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: REY
- Variations: Reyes
- Namesakes: Rey Pagtakhan, a Canadian politician who served as a Member of Parliament from 1988 until 2004. Rey d’Harcourt, a Nationalist commander during the Spanish Civil War.
- Popularity: Rey ranked 908th for boys in 2025 with 262 births and 5,365th for girls, up 40 percent over the last decade in SSA data. It has been on American records since 1915 and peaked in 2021.
Rian
Rian is the original Irish spelling that English turned into Ryan, built on ri, king, with a diminutive ending, so little king is the literal reading. It also carries the sense of illustrious. Keeping the Irish spelling means keeping the connection visible and accepting that people will write Ryan on everything anyway, and since it sounds identical to the common version, the choice is entirely about how it looks in print and on a passport.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Little king
- Pronunciation: RIY-aen
- Variations: Ryan, Rhian
- Namesakes: Rian Malan, a South African author known for the memoir My Traitor’s Heart. Rian Marques, a Brazilian footballer who has played for the Thai club Thai Honda.
- Popularity: Rian ranked 1,250th for boys in 2025 with 160 births and 4,730th for girls, per SSA data, up 46 percent over the last decade. Close to two in five American Rians are girls, which makes this spelling more unisex than Ryan.
Richard
Richard puts together the Germanic ric, ruler, and hard, strong or brave, which is about as direct a claim to kingship as an etymology makes. Richard the Lionheart is the reason it sounds like a crusader, and Richard III is the reason it sounds like a villain, and the name carries both comfortably. Three centuries of American ubiquity have made it a grandfather name, which is usually the last stop before a revival. Rick, Rich, Richie and Dick are four very different men, and he gets to pick. Ricardo and Riccardo are the Spanish and Italian forms. Both keep the meaning and lose the grandfather association entirely.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: Brave king
- Pronunciation: RIHCH-ahrd
- Variations: Riccard, Ricardo, Ritchard
- Namesakes: Richard Dybeck, a Swedish lyricist known for writing the Swedish national anthem. Richard Liebman, an American director, known for the Beatles’ films A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and Help! (1965).
- Popularity: Richard ranked 234th in 2025 with 1,505 boys, down 39 percent over the last decade per SSA figures. It sat fifth in 1930 and peaked at 58,870 births in 1946, and more than 2.5 million American boys have carried it.
Roald
Roald descends from the Old Norse Hroaldr, joining hrothr, meaning fame, to valdr, meaning ruler. Two Norwegians own it in the English-speaking imagination: the polar explorer Roald Amundsen, first to the South Pole, and the children’s author Roald Dahl. The pronunciation is the catch, closer to ROO-al than the spelling suggests, and almost nobody outside Scandinavia will get it right unprompted, which is the tradeoff for a name with two genuinely remarkable bearers and almost no competition.
- Origin: Old Norse
- Meaning: Famous ruler
- Pronunciation: ROO-al
- Variations: Roal, Rold
- Namesakes: Roald Sagdeev, a Russian expert in plasma physics and a director of the Space Research Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Roald Bye, a Norwegian politician, elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1969.
- Popularity: Roald last appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records in 1960, with eight boys, and fewer than 200 American boys have ever been given it. There is no modern federal figure for the name.
Rory
Rory anglicizes the Gaelic Ruaidhri, from ruadh, red, and ri, king, so red king is literal rather than poetic. Ruaidhri Ua Conchobair was the last high king of Ireland. It is used across Ireland and Scotland and has climbed fast in America for boys and girls alike, helped along by Gilmore Girls and by golfer Rory McIlroy. Red hair is emphatically not a requirement, and the name is warm enough to suit any child. Rorie and Rori are the spellings used more often for girls. The plain Rory is the one holding both sides of the split.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Red king
- Pronunciation: RAOR-iy
- Variations: Roree, Rorey, Rori, Rorrie, Rorry
- Namesakes: Rory O’Malley, an American actor known for his Tony Award-nominated performance in The Book of Mormon. Rory Dodd, a Canadian singer, known for singing on Bonnie Tyler’s version of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
- Popularity: Rory reached its best American year in 2025, ranked 199th for boys with 1,768 births and 230th for girls, and SSA data shows it up 181 percent over the last decade. It is now close to evenly split between boys and girls.
Roy
Roy comes from the Norman roy, king, the older French form behind the modern roi, and a separate Gaelic strand gives it the sense of red. It belongs to the same small family as Rex, Rey and Raj, all of which trace back to a root meaning to rule. It also exists as an unrelated Hebrew name, which is why it turns up in families with no French or Gaelic connection at all. Short, warm, easy to spell, and it has aged into the kind of name that sounds friendly rather than grand.
- Origin: British, French
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: ROY
- Variations: Roi, Royal, Roye
- Namesakes: Roy Williamson, a Scottish folk musician known for writing “Flower of Scotland,” the national anthem of Scotland. Roy Harrison, an Irish cricketer who played for the Ireland cricket team between 1967 and 1968.
- Popularity: Roy ranked 525th in 2025 with 570 boys and has been steady over the last decade, per SSA data. It reached 31st in 1924 and peaked at 6,211 births in 1918, and more than 408,000 American boys have carried it since 1880.
Ruaidhri
Ruaidhri is the Irish original behind Rory, Roy and, at one remove, Ryan, built from ruadh, red, and ri, king. Ruaidhri Ua Conchobair, the last high king of Ireland, is the bearer the name is really about. Every letter earns its place in Irish and almost none of them do in English, which is the whole question with this spelling. Choose it if the Irish form matters more to you than a lifetime of spelling it out, and take Rory as the working version.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Red king
- Pronunciation: RUW-ah-Riy
- Variations: Ruaraidh, Ruari
- Namesakes: Rúaidhrí de Valera, an Irish archaeologist known for his work on the megalithic Irish tombs. Rúaidhrí Conroy, an Irish actor, first known in the 1992 film Into the West.
- Popularity: Ruaidhri in this spelling has never appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records, which list a name only once at least five American babies receive it in a year. The anglicized Rory ranked 199th for boys in 2025, so the sound is popular even where the spelling is not.
Rufus
Rufus was a Roman cognomen meaning red-haired, awarded rather than inherited, and it stuck to William II of England, known as William Rufus for his coloring. That is where a nickname about hair became a king’s name. It has an easy, slightly comic warmth in modern English, helped along by a long run as a dog’s name, and it wears that lightly. Roo is the short form, and no, he does not have to be a redhead.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Red
- Pronunciation: ROO-Fahs
- Variations: Rufes, Ruffis, Ruffous, Ruffus
- Namesakes: Rufus George, the second Governor of Rivers State, Nigeria, from 1992 until 1993. Rufus Norris, a British director, and the Artistic Director and Joint Chief Executive of the National Theater.
- Popularity: Rufus ranked 4,019th in 2025 with 27 boys and has been roughly level over the last decade, according to SSA data. It reached 169th in 1913 with 410 births, so it is a long way down from its Edwardian best.
Ryan
Ryan started as an Irish surname from the Gaelic Rian, little king, and also carries the sense of illustrious. It is the most-used spelling of the family by an enormous margin and the only one most Americans will recognize on sight. Its long decline from the 1980s peak has left it in a comfortable place: familiar without being everywhere, which is exactly where a lot of parents want to be. Ry is the only nickname, and it is barely needed.
- Origin: Gaelic
- Meaning: Little king
- Pronunciation: RIY-aen
- Variations: Rhian, Rhyan, Rhyon, Rian, Ryann
- Namesakes: Ryan Adams, an American singer-songwriter who’s released 20 albums and was formerly a member of the band Whiskeytown. Ryan Esson, a Scottish footballer and goalkeeping coach for Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
- Popularity: Ryan ranked 99th for boys in 2025 with 3,532 births and 715th for girls, per SSA figures, which puts it just inside the top 100. It is down 50 percent over the last decade after peaking at 29,905 births in 1985.
Sargon
Sargon of Akkad reigned about 2334 to 2279 BCE and founded Mesopotamia’s first Semitic dynasty, an empire that reached across southern Mesopotamia into Syria, Anatolia and Elam. He took the name himself: Sharru-kin, rightful king, chosen to justify a throne he had not inherited, having risen from cupbearer to the ruler of Kish. Only Zosar on this list belongs to an older ruler, and few names anywhere make their claim this openly. It survives today mainly in Assyrian families, and it is as rare in the United States as its history is large.
- Origin: Akkadian, Assyrian
- Meaning: The faithful king
- Pronunciation: SAAR-Gaon
- Variations: Sargan, Sargen, Sargin
- Namesakes: Sargon Duran, an Assyrian-Austrian footballer, and the assistant manager of Austria Wien. Sargon Gabriel, an Assyrian musician whose style involves the zurna and dawoola, traditional Assyrian folk music instruments.
- Popularity: Sargon last appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records in 2024, with five boys, and about 74 American boys have carried it since 1976. Five births in a year is roughly one boy in every 333,333, the bottom edge of what the federal files record at all.
Sigourney
Sigourney reaches English as a French surname with a Germanic core, the same sig element that gives Sigmund and Sigurd their sense of victory, and the gloss carried here, daring king, reads that victory as a royal one. One actress owns it entirely, and she chose it herself from a minor character in The Great Gatsby. That means the name has almost no independent history to lean on, which is unusual here. It reads as feminine to nearly everyone now, and at three syllables with an ornate spelling it is a considerable thing to hand a son.
- Origin: French
- Meaning: Daring king
- Pronunciation: Sih-GAOR-niy
- Variations: Sigourni, Sigourny, Sigournye
- Namesakes: Sigourney Thayer, an American poet whose poem, “The Dead” has appeared in numerous World War I anthologies. Sigourney Bandjar, a Dutch footballer who previously played for Excelsior.
- Popularity: Sigourney is the rarest ranked entry on this list, at 16,931st in 2025 with five births, roughly one in every 333,333 American babies, per SSA data. It peaked in 1989 at 43 births and has been at the margin ever since.
Silko
Silko was a sixth-century king of the Nobatae in Nubia, known from an inscription he left recording his victories, which makes this a real royal name rather than a title borrowed as one. The spelling is clean and phonetic in English and the two syllables land lightly. Its rarity is total in the United States, so there is no association to fight and no expectation to meet. That blankness is the appeal for some parents and the problem for others.
- Origin: African
- Meaning: Nubian king
- Pronunciation: SIHL-koh
- Variations: Silke
- Popularity: Silko does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records at all, since the national files list only names given to at least five American babies in a year. It is genuinely unused here.
Steven
Steven is the English spelling of Stephen, from the Greek Stephanos, a wreath, and the wreath in question is the laurel crown given to a victor. That is how a word for garland became a name for kingship. Stephen was the first Christian martyr and later a king of England and of Hungary. The V spelling is the American one and the PH spelling the traditional one; both say the same thing out loud. Steve is unavoidable and entirely fine. Esteban and Etienne are the Spanish and French forms of the same name. Both make good middle names for a family that wants the connection without the spelling argument.
- Origin: British, Greek
- Meaning: Crown, victory
- Pronunciation: STIY-Vahn
- Variations: Stephen, Stephan
- Namesakes: Steven Spielberg, an American filmmaker and the most commercially successful director of all time. Steven Lopez, an American journalist and four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist who has written a column for The Los Angeles Times.
- Popularity: Steven ranked 271st in 2025 with 1,261 boys, down 47 percent over the last decade in SSA data. It was tenth in 1955 with 37,847 births, and nearly 1.3 million American boys have carried this spelling since 1880.
Sultan
Sultan comes from the Arabic sultah, meaning power or authority, and became the standing title for rulers from Morocco to the Ottoman court. Unlike king, it originally described the holding of real power rather than an inherited right, which is a fine distinction that survives in the word. It is an established given name across the Gulf and South Asia, and it is climbing quickly in the United States. Two syllables, no spelling ambiguity, and the meaning is legible to almost everyone.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: King, ruler
- Pronunciation: Sahl-Taen
- Variations: Sultaan, Sulten, Sultin, Sultyn
- Namesakes: Sultan Ali Lakhani, a Pakistani businessman and the owner of McDonald’s Pakistan. Sultan Ibragimov, a Russian boxer who held the WBO world heavyweight title from 2007 to 2008.
- Popularity: Sultan reached its best American year in 2025, ranked 1,243rd with 161 boys, and SSA data shows it up 217 percent over the last decade. It has been on U.S. records since 1966 and has never been more used.
Titus
Titus was one of the small set of Roman first names used over and over across centuries, worn by an emperor who finished the Colosseum and by the recipient of one of Paul’s letters. That gives it a rare double credential, classical and biblical at once. It also has a Shakespearean life through Titus Andronicus, which parents generally decide to overlook. The name is compact, ends hard, and sounds serious without sounding stuffy, which is a difficult balance for a Latin name to strike.
- Origin: Latin
- Meaning: Title of honor
- Pronunciation: TAY-Tahs
- Variations: Titas, Titis, Tytos
- Namesakes: Titus Lewis, a Welsh Baptist minister known as the author of A Welsh-English Dictionary (1805). Titus Munteanu, a Romanian director, best known for his work with the broadcaster TVR 1.
- Popularity: Titus ranked 358th in 2025 with 910 boys and is up 31 percent over the last decade, per SSA figures. It peaked in 2015 with 1,325 births and has been on American records since 1880.
Torvald
Torvald joins Thor, the Norse god of thunder, to valdr, ruler, so the name reads as Thor’s ruler or the one who rules through Thor. It is still in ordinary use in Norway and Sweden. English speakers may know it best from Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, where Torvald Helmer is not exactly a recommendation, and that is worth knowing before you commit. Tor is the short form and it is strong enough to stand alone.
- Origin: Old Norse
- Meaning: Thor’s ruler
- Pronunciation: Tor-VAHLD
- Variations: Thorwald, Thorvald, Torwald
- Namesakes: Torvald Appelroth, a Finnish fencer who competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Torvald Haavardstad, a Norwegian politician, elected to the Norwegian Parliament in 1931.
- Popularity: Torvald does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records, which begin listing a name at five births in a year. It stays a Scandinavian name with no American presence.
Valon
Valon is an Albanian name meaning wave, and a separate Indian name Valin belongs to the monkey king of the Ramayana, which is where the second meaning in this entry comes from. Two unrelated languages, two very different images, one spelling. It is an established given name in Kosovo and Albania and effectively unknown in the United States, so an American Valon will be explaining it. Two even syllables and a soft V make it easy to say once heard.
- Origin: Albanian, Indian
- Meaning: Wave, monkey king
- Pronunciation: VAEL-aan
- Variations: Valoni, Valin
- Namesakes: Valon Saracini, a Macedonian-Albanian politician who served as the Minister of Economy of Macedonia. Valon Behrami, a Swiss footballer who has played for Serie B club Brescia.
- Popularity: Valon last appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records in 2024, with six boys, and is down 20 percent over the last decade. About 235 American boys have been given it since 1988.
Valter
Valter is the Italian, Scandinavian and Slavic spelling of Walter, built from walt, rule, and heri, army, so it names the commander rather than the crowned head. It is used in Portugal, Brazil, Italy and Estonia, and Valtteri is the Finnish version. In English the V spelling looks like a typo for Walter, which is the practical cost of using it. The sound is identical, so this is a choice about heritage on paper rather than about how the name is heard.
- Origin: Germanic
- Meaning: Army ruler
- Pronunciation: VAOLT-er
- Variations: Valtteri, Valtr, Walther, Walter
- Namesakes: Valter Heuer, an Estonian chess player who won the Estonian Chess Championship and was awarded the Soviet Master title in 1960. Valter Chifu, a Romanian volleyball player who competed in the 1980 Summer Olympics.
- Popularity: Valter does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records, which list only names given to at least five American babies in a year. Walter is the spelling Americans actually use, and Valter itself has never reached that five-birth threshold in any year.
Vasili
Vasili is the Russian form of Basil, from the Greek basileus, king, the word used for the emperors of Byzantium themselves. Russia’s Basil the Blessed gave his name to the cathedral on Red Square, and several grand princes of Moscow carried it. Vasya is the affectionate Russian short form, which is why both appear on this list. It is soft where most king names are hard, and the three syllables move quickly enough that it never drags.
- Origin: Russian, Greek
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: Vah-SIY-liy
- Variations: Vasile, Vasiliy, Vasily, Vassili, Vassily
- Namesakes: Vasili Golovachov, a Russian writer known for science fiction and sci-fi/fantasy mixes. Vasili Kulkov, a Russian footballer who played for Spartak Moscow and Benfica.
- Popularity: Vasili ranked 7,645th in 2025 with 11 boys and has been steady over the last decade, according to SSA data. It has been on American records since 1976 and has never had more than about 14 births in a year.
Vasya
Vasya is the everyday Russian diminutive of Vasili, so the royal meaning it carries is inherited from the Greek basileus at one remove. In Russia it is what a mother calls a boy named Vasili, not what goes on his documents, and using it as a full name is a choice a Russian speaker would notice. It is also used for women in Bulgaria, which is where the unisex reading comes from, and its two soft syllables are easy for English speakers and unmistakably affectionate.
- Origin: Russian, Greek
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: VAES-Yah
- Namesakes: Vasya Lozhkin, a Russian artist known for paintings depicting psychosis, visions, and hallucinations.
- Popularity: Vasya does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records at all, which is unsurprising for a name that functions in Russian as a nickname rather than a legal one. No American figure exists for it.
Viceroy
Viceroy is a job title rather than a name: the Latin vice, in place of, joined to the French roy, king, describing the official who governs a territory on a monarch’s behalf. That makes it the only entry here that names the deputy rather than the ruler, which is either a charming piece of modesty or a strange thing to call a child. It is two syllables of pure officialdom, though Roy sits inside it as a ready escape and most bearers would end up there.
- Origin: Latin, French
- Meaning: Ruler who represents the king
- Pronunciation: VAHYS-Roi
- Popularity: Viceroy does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records, which require five births in a year before a name is listed. It has effectively never been used as an American given name.
Wang
Wang is the Chinese word for king and one of the most common surnames in the world, which is exactly what complicates it as a first name. In Chinese it is written with a character showing three horizontal lines joined by a vertical one, traditionally read as the ruler uniting heaven, earth and humanity. As a given name in the United States it is very rare, and on a form or a class register most people will take it for a surname. Parents who want the meaning without that confusion tend to choose from the Chinese boy names that are not also common family names. The single syllable is clean and the meaning could not be more direct.
- Origin: Chinese
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: WAHNG
- Namesakes: Wang Xiaoshuai, a Chinese director and part of the association of filmmakers known as the “Sixth Generation” of the Cinema of China. Wang Zhizhi, a Chinese basketball player who later coached the Bayi Rockets.
- Popularity: Wang last appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records in 1999, with five boys, and about 70 American boys have ever been given it as a first name. As a surname it is a different story entirely.
William
William comes from the Germanic Wilhelm, joining wil, desire or will, to helm, protection, and William the Conqueror carried it into England in 1066 along with everything else. Four English kings have held the name, and the current Prince of Wales will make a fifth. It sat second among American boys in 1913 and ninth in 2025, and it has been listed in every year of the data since 1880. Will, Liam, Billy and Wills all work as short forms. Wilhelm, Guillermo and Guillaume are the German, Spanish and French forms. Any of them makes a middle name that keeps the family thread without repeating the first name.
- Origin: British, Germanic
- Meaning: Will, helmet
- Pronunciation: WIHL-Yahm
- Variations: Willaim, Willam, Wilhelm, Williams
- Namesakes: William Faulkner, an American writer, and a Nobel Prize laureate. William Shatner, a Canadian actor, best known for playing Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise.
- Popularity: William ranked ninth among U.S. boys in 2025 with 10,545 births, roughly one boy in every 162, per Social Security Administration data. More than 4.1 million American boys have carried it since 1880, though it is down 20 percent over the last decade.
Zoeb
Zoeb is an Arabic name related to Zohaib, read as king or leader and also carrying the senses of gold and an ocean of knowledge. It is used mainly in South Asian Muslim families, particularly Dawoodi Bohra communities. The spelling is short and looks modern to English eyes despite the age of the name, and Zo is the natural shortening, which travels easily.
- Origin: Arabic
- Meaning: King, leader
- Pronunciation: ZOE-Eb
- Variations: Zoheb, Zohaib
- Popularity: Zoeb does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records, which list a name only when at least five American babies receive it in a year.
Zoltán
Zoltan is Hungarian and probably reaches back to the Turkic sultan, ruler, which makes it a cousin of the Sultan entry further up this list. Zsolt is the related short form and a common name in its own right. The accented A is standard in Hungary and usually dropped in America, where the name is rare enough that either version will need explaining. Two firm syllables, a hard Z opening, and nothing else on this list sounds like it.
- Origin: Hungarian, Turkish
- Meaning: King
- Pronunciation: ZAAL-Taen
- Variations: Zoltin, Zoltyn
- Namesakes: Zoltán Tildy, a Hungarian politician who served as prime minister from 1945 to 1946 and president from 1946 until 1948. Zoltán Berczik, a Hungarian table tennis player and winner of two titles at the Table Tennis European Championships.
- Popularity: Zoltan does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records, accented or otherwise, since the files list only names given to at least five American babies in a year.
Zosar
Zosar is one romanization of the name of the Third Dynasty pharaoh better known as Djoser, the ruler for whom Imhotep built the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. That pyramid is the earliest important stone building in Egypt, and Djoser’s reign, dated to roughly 2600 BCE, makes him the oldest king on this list. The Z spelling is the one that reads most naturally in English, though Djoser is what a history book will use. Most Egyptian boy names given today are Arabic in origin, so choosing this one means reaching past the modern layer to the pharaonic one. Two syllables, an unusual opening letter, and a bearer nobody else in the classroom will have.
- Origin: Egyptian
- Meaning: King, pharaoh
- Pronunciation: ZOH-saar
- Popularity: Zosar does not appear in U.S. Social Security Administration records, and neither does the more common Djoser spelling. There is no American birth data for this name in any form.
