162 saint names for baby boys that aren’t John or Peter
Saint names for baby boys are as varied as the saints themselves. While most prospective parents are familiar with names like Peter or John, saint names for boys range from the popular to the obscure.
When was the last time you met a baby boy named Boniface? It’s a saint name for a boy that means doer of good things. Or Benedict — a name that’s often associated with betrayal (Benedict Arnold anyone?) but means blessing, which a baby boy is for certain.
TODAY took a look at GNM.com for saint names for boys. Good News Ministries is a Catholic website. The list of saint names for boys includes alternate spellings, nicknames, and the meaning of each.
Saint names for baby boys
Aaron. Meaning: lofty mountain
Abraham, Abram. Meaning: father of many
Adam, Adan. Meaning: first of the Earth
Adrian. Meaning: brave
Alan, Alain, Allan, Allen: Meaning: harmony
Alban. Meaning: white
Albert. Meaning: illustrious
Alexander, Alistair, Alec, Alex, Alejandro, Sacha, Sandor. Meaning: helper of people
Alexis, Alex, Alexei, Alexius, Sasha. Meaning: helper
Aloysius, Louis, Alois, Lewis, Ludwig, Luigi, Luis. Meaning: famous warrior
Alphonse. Meaning: eager for battle
Ambrose. Meaning: immortal
Angel, Angelo. Meaning: angel
Andrew, Andre, Andreas, Andres, Drew. Meaning: manly
Anselm. Meaning: divine helmet
Anthony, Tony, Anton, Antonio, Antony. Meaning: priceless
Arnold. Meaning: strength of an eagle
Augustine, August, Austin, Augustin. Meaning: majestic
Barnabas, Barnaby. Meaning: son of consolation
Bartholomew, Bart, Bartel, Barry. Meaning: son of Talmai
Basil, Vasily, Vassily. Meaning: royal
Bede. Meaning: life
Benedict, Benoit, Bennett, Benito. Meaning: blessing
Benjamin, Benson. Meaning: son of the right-hand
Bernard, Barnard. Meaning: bold as a bear
Blaise, Blas. Meaning: babbler
Bonaventure. Meaning: good attempt
Boniface. Meaning: doer of good things
Brendan, Brandon, Brennan. Meaning: sword
Brian, Bryan, Bryant. Meaning: strong
Brice, Bruce. Meaning: breach
Bruno. Meaning: brown
Camillus, Camille, Camillo. Meaning: temple servant
Carl, Charles, Carlo, Carlos, Carroll, Cary, Karl, Karol. Meaning: strong
Casimir, Cass, Casper. Meaning: peaceful
Chad. Meaning: martial
Charles, Carl, Carlo, Carlos, Carroll, Cary, Karl, Karol. Meaning: strong
Christian. Meaning: anointed, belonging to Christ
Christopher, Cristobal, Chris. Meaning: Christ-bearer
Clair, Clare, Clarus, Clarence. Meaning: clear
Claude, Claudius. Meaning: lame
Clement. Meaning: merciful
Colin, Columban, Colman, Colum, Cullen. Meaning: dove
Cornelius, Connor, Conor, Cornel, Neal, Neil. Meaning: horn
Crispin. Meaning: curly-haired
Cyril, Cyr, Kyril. Meaning: lordly
Damian, Damiano, Damien, Damon. Meaning: tamer
Daniel, Dan, Niel. Meaning: the Lord is judge
David. Meaning: beloved
Denis, Dennis, Dion, Sidney, Sydney. Meaning: wild, frenzied
Dominic, Domingo, Dominick. Meaning: I belong to the Lord
Donald. Meaning: dark stranger
Edmund. Meaning: happy protection
Edward. Meaning: prosperous guardian
Edwin. Meaning: prosperous friend
Elias, Elijah. Meaning: the Lord is God
Emil, Emile, Emilian, Emilion, Emilius: Meaning: excelling
Emmanuel, Immanuel, Manuel. Meaning: God with us
Eric, Erick, Erich. Meaning: ever-ruler
Ernest. Meaning: serious
Eugene, Gene. Meaning: well born
Eustace. Meaning: fruitful
Fabian. Meaning: prosperous farmer
Felix, Felician, Felicio. Meaning: happy
Ferdinand, Fernando, Ferde, Fernand, Hernando. Meaning: adventurous
Fidelis, Fidel. Meaning: faithful
Francis, Frank, Franz, Francesco, Francisco, Franco, Francois. Meaning: free
Frederick, Fred, Federico, Frederic, Friedrich. Meaning: peace-ruler
Gabriel. Meaning: God’s strength
Geoffrey, Godfrey, Jeffrey, Jeff, Gottfried, Goffredo. Meaning: God’s peace
George, Georges, Giorgio, Igor, Jorge, Jurgen. Meaning: farmer
Gerald, Geraldo, Garcia, Jerold. Meaning: spear rule
Gerard, Gerhard, Gerado, Girado, Girard. Meaning: strong spear
Germain. Meaning: kin
Gervais, Gervas, Jarvis, Jervis. Meaning: spear servant
Gilbert. Meaning: bright pledge
Giles. Meaning: pledge
Gregory. Meaning: watchman
Guy, Guido. Meaning: guide
Harvey, Herve. Meaning: warrior
Henry, Hank, Harry, Emeric, Enrico, Heinrich, Henri, Rico. Meaning: home ruler
Herbert. Meaning: shining warrior
Herman, Armand, Ernan, Germain, German, Hermann, Herme, Hernando. Meaning: soldier
Hilary, Hilarion, Hilaire. Meaning: merry
Hubert, Umberto. Meaning: bright mind
Hugh, Hughes, Hugo, Ugo. Meaning: thought
Ignatius, Ignace, Ignazio, Inigo, Nacho. Meaning: fiery
Isaac. Meaning: he laughs
Isidore, Dore, Dorian. Meaning: strong gift
Ives, Ivar, Iver, Ivo, Ivor, Yves. Meaning: archer
Jacob, Jake. Meaning: holding by the heel, or supplanter
James, Diego, Jacques, Jaime, Santiago, Iago, Seamas, Shamus. Meaning: supplanter
Jeremiah, Jeremy, Jeremias. Meaning: exalted of the Lord
Jerome, Geronimo. Meaning: holy name
Joachim, Joaquin. Meaning: God prepares
Joel. Meaning: the coming down of God
John, Evan, Gian, Giovanni, Hans, Ian, Ivan, Jan, Johann, Johannes, Jon, Juan, Sean, Shane, Shaun. Meaning: God has mercy
Joseph, Josef, Jose, Giusseppe. Meaning: increase
Jude. Meaning: praised
Julian, Julius, Jules, Julio. Meaning: soft beard
Justin. Meaning: just
Kenneth, Kent, Canice. Meaning: handsome
Kevin. Meaning: handsome, beautiful
Kilian, Killian. Meaning: church
Lance, Ladislaus, Lancelot, Lazlo. Meaning: ruling well
Lawrence, Lars, Lauren, Laurence, Laurenz, Loren, Lorenzo. Meaning: laurel
Leo, Lee, Leigh, Lon, Leov, Lionel. Meaning: lion
Louis, Alois, Aloysius, Lewis, Ludwig, Luigi, Luis. Meaning: famous warrior
Luke, Lucian, Lucas, Luca, Luciano, Lucio, Lucius. Meaning: light
Malachy, Malachi. Meaning: messenger of the Lord
Mark, Marc, Marcel, Marco, Marcus, Markus, Marcellus. Meaning: of Mars
Martin, Martino. Meaning: warlike
Matthew, Matt, Matteo, Mattias, Matthias. Meaning: the Lord’s gift
Maurice, Maur, Morris, Moritz, Mauricio. Meaning: dark
Maximilian, Max, Maxim. Meaning: greatest
Meinrad, Maynard. Meaning: strong firmness
Mel. Meaning: honey
Michael, Michel, Michele, Miguel, Mikhail, Mitchell. Meaning: who is like God?
Moses. Meaning: saved by water
Nathaniel, Nathan. Meaning: gift of God
Nicholas, Colin, Nicol, Niles, Nikolaus, Claus, Klaus. Meaning: people’s victory
Noel. Meaning: Christmas
Norbert. Meaning: brightness
Oliver. Meaning: peace
Otto. Meaning: rich
Owen, Ouen. Meaning: to possess
Pascal, Paschal, Pasquale. Meaning: Passover
Patrick. Meaning: nobly born
Paul, Pablo, Paolo, Pawel. Meaning: little
Peter, Pierre, Pedro, Perrin, Pierce. Meaning: rock
Philip, Phelps, Filippo, Felipe, Philippe. Meaning: lover of horses
Pius, Pio. Meaning: holy
Quentin, Quin, Quinn. Meaning: fifth
Raphael, Rafael, Ralph. Meaning: God’s healer
Raymond, Ramon, Redmund, Raimondo. Meaning: wise protection
Rene, Renato, Renatus. Meaning: reborn
Richard, Ricardo, Riccardo. Meaning: firm ruler
Robert, Robin, Rupert. Meaning: bright flame
Roderic, Roderick, Rodrigo, Rory, Rurik. Meaning: noble ruler
Roger, Hodge, Rogelio, Rudiger, Ruggero. Meaning: famous spear
Roman, Romanus, Romain, Romano, Romaric, Romeo. Meaning: Roman
Salvatore, Salvador, Salvator. Meaning: Savior
Samson. Meaning: Bright as the Sun
Samuel. Meaning: asked of the Lord
Sebastian. Meaning: venerable
Simon, Simeon, Simone. Meaning: obedient
Stanislaus, Stanley. Meaning: military glory
Stehen, Steven, Stefen, Stefano, Esteban, Stephan, Sven. Meaning: crowned
Sylvester. Meaning: from the forest, woods
Terence, Terrence, Terry. Meaning: smooth
Theodore, Feodor, Tad, Theo, Teodoro. Meaning: God’s gift
Thomas, Tomas, Tom, Tommaso. Meaning: twin
Timothy, Timotheus, Timoteo. Meaning: God fearing
Titus, Tito. Meaning: safe
Tobias, Tobia, Tobiah, Tobit. Meaning: goodness of God
Valerius, Valerian. Meaning: valiant
Victor, Victorio, Vittorio. Meaning: winner
Vincent, Vincente, Vincenzo. Meaning: conquering
Walter, Walther, Gualthieri. Meaning: strong warrior
William, Willis, Wilhelm, Guiliermo, Guillaume. Meaning: strong helmet
Wolfgang. Meaning: path of a wolf
Zachary, Zaccaria, Zacharias, Zecharian. Meaning: remembered of God
This article was originally published on TODAY.com