41 Cool Boy Baby Names That’ll Fit Right In At The Skate Park One Day

Naming your kids is so hard because, truly, every name has its own vibe. There are the old man baby names that have a vintage feel, or earthy ones that feel connected to nature. And if you’re in the market for cool boy baby names, well, do we have the list for you. Some of us just want our little dudes to have an easy, breezy, effortless air about them, and for people to feel at ease when their names come up in conversation.

Traditional, vintage baby names have ruled the popularity charts in the last decade, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Names like Oliver, Noah, Theodore, Lucas, James, and Henry crowded the top 10. But there seems to be a shift toward cool boy baby names happening, with contenders like Kai, Asher, Santiago, Julian, and Wesley creeping into the top 100.

Sure, maybe you’ve gone back and forth with yourself a little. Shouldn’t you pick a name that has a deeper meaning, or stick with a family name to honor a loved one? All of those options are wonderful, but it’s OK to feel drawn to a name based on vibes alone. When you choose a baby name that actually speaks to you, it’s highly unlikely you’ll regret your choice.

Ace

If you’re looking for one-syllable names for your baby boy — something about them really is punchy and cool — then you’ve got to add Ace to your list. It’s got a winning connotation for being the best of the best, coolest of the cool, and it’s pretty unique. I mean, how many Aces do you know?

Elliott

Elliott is the sweet, sensitive little boy who becomes a teen that writes angsty poetry, and then grows into the most emotionally intelligent dude you’ve ever met (good work, Mom). If your family is religious, you may also be drawn to the fact that it means “The Lord is my God.”

Fox

Bear might be the more common animal name for a baby boy, and bird names like Griffin and Jay come to mind too. But Fox is an especially cool option, with connotations of being sly, clever, and resourceful. It wasn’t even given to enough baby boys in the last few years to break into the top 1,000 names in the U.S., according to the SSA, so unique name lovers should make special note of Fox.

Jett

Joan Jett comes to mind immediately when I hear this name, so if you want your kid to be cool in a classic rock sort of way, Jett is the name for you. It’s still pretty rare — it was only #206 on the baby name popularity chart in 2023 — so it’s less common than some other options on this list, if that’s important to you.

Kai

Kai is proof that the U.S. really loves itself some cool boy names right now. It has risen through the ranks to become the 61st most popular name for American baby boys in 2023. It has Hawaiian and Japanese roots that mean “ocean,” “sea,” “shell,” and the poetic “restoration.”

Ozzie

Can’t you just picture a rowdy little boy with a rock ‘n roll attitude named Ozzie? If I were going to have another kid — boy or girl, honestly — this name would be at the tippy-top of my list of options. It can be short for Oscar or Austin, but I think it’s time we make Ozzie a standalone name.

Santiago

Sorry, but the nickname Santi is actually so irresistible it should be studied. Santiago has really risen in popularity in the last decade, and in 2023, it was the 45th most popular name given to baby boys in the U.S. according to the SSA.

Seth

The name Seth takes me back to the early and mid-aughts when this name was, in fact, at its most popular per the SSA. Seth is a name of Hebrew origin meaning “appointed,” and is the name of Adam and Eve’s third son in the Torah. So, if you want a cool boy baby name that also has ties to faith, you might gravitate toward this choice.

Sonny

This name kind of has it all: It sounds a little vintage, a little western, and yet also very hip. It’d be a great nickname for any name ending in -son — Orson, Emerson, Jackson, the list goes on — but I also think it works all on its own.

Wes

Short for Weston or Wesley, Wes has a casual, effortless vibe about it. Both Weston and Wesley are surname names — similar names popular right now include Gates, Rhodes, and Miller — but Wes also evokes artistic feels thanks to the association with Wes Anderson.

Xander

Names starting with an X are rare, and therefore they earn automatic cool points. A shortened form of Alexander, this name means “defender of humankind.” So, if you want your cool boy to be the kind who stands up for others, you’ll love this name.

Zeke

Whether you use it as a nickname for Ezekiel or just go right in and make your baby’s government name Zeke, something about this name oozes cool to me. It was on my personal list of baby name options, but since my husband is named Zack, it just felt like too similar of a first name choice. My loss, your gain.

More Cool Boy Baby Names

• Asher
• Ashton
• Axel
• Bennett
• Bo
• Chance
• Crew
• Dean
• Enzo
• Fabian
• Gavin
• Hawk
• Hendrix
• Ike
• Jaxon
• Jesse
• Joaquin
• Jude
• Julian
• Mack
• Maddox
• Matteo
• Maverick
• Nico
• Rio
• Roman
• Spencer
• Van
• Zane

Now, please excuse me while I go birth an army of little surfer dudes and songwriters so I can use all of these cool boy names.