San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey is opening up about fatherhood.
Animal names for boys are growing in popularity — and celebrities are leading the way.
Just look at actress Cameron Diaz and singer Benji Madden, who gave birth to their second child — a boy named Cardinal — in March 2024, according to People.
Benji’s brother and bandmate Joel Madden is also a fan of animal boy names, having welcomed a son named Sparrow in 2009 with his wife Nicole Richie, per People.
Bear is also among the most popular animal-themed names for boys.
Kate Winslet shares a son named Bear Blaze, born in 2013, with her husband Edward Abel Smith, while late musician Liam Payne shares a son named Bear Grey, born in 2017, with singer Cheryl.
READ MORE: These animal names for girls are as wild as they are adorable
If you’re interested in more boy animal names, then you’ve come to the right place!
Oscar — from the Old Irish elements oss, meaning “deer,” and carae, meaning “friend.”
Arthur — believed to derive from the Old Welsh element arth, meaning “bear,” and gur, meaning “man.”
Everett — from the Old German elements ebur, meaning “wild boar,” and hart, meaning “brave.”
Callum — variant of Calum and diminutive of Columba, which means “dove” in Late Latin.
Leo — directly from the Latin word leo, meaning “lion.”
Leon — directly from the Greek word leon, meaning “lion.”
Leonardo — from the Old German elements lewo, meaning “lion,” and hart, meaning “brave.”
Lionel — French diminutive of Leon, which means “lion” in Greek via leon.
Leander — from the Greek elements leon, meaning “lion,” and aner, meaning “man.”
Ronan — from the Old Irish word ron, meaning “seal,” combined with a diminutive suffix.
Jonah — from the Hebrew name Yona and word yona, meaning “dove.”
Jonas — the Greek form of Jonah, meaning “dove” in Hebrew via yona.
Beckett — from the Old English words beo, meaning “bee,” and cot, meaning “shelter.”
Ari — from the Hebrew word ari, meaning “lion,” or Old Norse byname meaning “eagle.”
Bear — directly from the English word bear, referring to the large mammal from the family Ursidae.
Ralph — from the Old Norse name Ráðúlfr, meaning “wolf counsel” via the elements ráð and ulfr.
Raoul — French form of Ralph, meaning “wolf counsel” in Old Norse.
Wolf — directly from the English word wolf, referring to the large, wild canine in the dog family.
Wolfgang — from the Old German elements wolf, meaning “wolf,” and gang, meaning “path” or “way.”
Fox — directly from the English word fox, referring to the omnivorous mammal in the dog family.
Roscoe — from a place name derived from the Old Norse elements ra, meaning “roebuck,” and skogr, meaning “forest.”
Orson — from the Norman French word ors and Latin word ursus, meaning “bear.”
Colin — from the Scottish Gaelic name Cailean, meaning “whelp” or “young dog.”
Drake — from the Old Norse name Draki and Old English name Draca, meaning “dragon.”
Draco — from the Greek name Drakon and Greek word drakon, meaning “dragon” or “serpent.”
Rudolf/Rudolph — from the German elements hruod, meaning “fame,” and wolf, meaning “wolf.”
Rudy — common diminutive and nickname for Rudolf, meaning “famous wolf” in German.
Connor/Conor/Conner — Anglicized form of Conchobar, meaning “hound lover” in Old Irish.
Bjorn — directly from the Old Norse word bjorn, meaning “bear.”
Oisin — from the Old Irish word oss, meaning “deer” or “stag,” combined with a diminutive suffix.
Colton/Colten — means “Cola’s town” in Old English, but also an elaboration of Colt, meaning “horse.”
Colt — from the English word colt, referring to a young male horse.
Colter — from a surname traditionally given to someone who worked with or owned horses.
Aslan — from the Turkic word arslan, meaning “lion.”
Brayden — from the Irish name Bradan, which means “salmon.”
Byron — from an Old English surname and place name meaning “place of the cow sheds.”
Adler — from a Germanic surname that translates to “eagle.”
Corbin — from a French surname derived from the French word corbeau, meaning “raven.”
Brock — from an English surname derived from the Old English word brocc, meaning “badger.”
Conan — from the Irish word cu, meaning “wolf” or “hound,” combined with a diminutive suffix.
Deryn — from the Welsh word deryn and aderyn, meaning “bird.”
Todd — from the Middle English word todde, meaning “fox.”
Reynard — means “brave counsel” in German, but also coincides with the French word renard, meaning “fox.”
Newton — means “new town” in Old English, but can also coincide with the newt, a type of salamander.
Joey — means “he will increase” in Hebrew, but also refers to a young kangaroo.
Sparrow — from the name of a small, stout bird, typically brown and gray.
Griffin — from the English word griffin, referring to a creature with a body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle.
Benno — from the German element bern, meaning “bear.”
Cordero — from the Spanish word coredero, meaning “lamb.”
Tiger — from the name of the world’s largest cat known for its orange fur with black stripes.
What’s the final verdict on animal names for boys?
The U.S. Social Security Administration’s (SSA) annual list of the most popular names is crawling with animal-inspired names.
In fact, more than half of the 50 animal boy names listed above cracked the SSA’s list of the top 1,000 most popular boy names of 2024 — and four of them landed inside the top 100.
Those four names were Leo (24th), Leonardo (84th), Everett (85th) and Colton (98th).
Others to land in the top 250 include Arthur (105th), Jonah (126th), Connor (136th), Leon (141st), Callum (159th), Beckett (166th), Brayden (190th), Oscar (217th), Colt (218th) and Griffin (223rd).
Names like Roscoe, Conan, Aslan, Wolf and Leander were surprisingly outside of the top 1,000.
ALSO ON MOD MOMS CLUB: 60+ Nature Inspired Boy Names for Your Future Son
But if you’re not interested in the animal name trend, then don’t worry. You can find plenty more baby name lists at Mod Moms Club — and don’t forget to try our baby name generator for more ideas!
