Nickname help!
We want to name our baby Penelope but we can’t decide on a nickname? Help!
Your baby boy is unique, so why not give him a truly extraordinary name from our list of the top exotic baby boy names?
Exotic names conjure images of white sand, blue sea, and a blazing sun ‒ unforgettable getaways and memorable experiences.
So what better way to prepare your little peanut for the world than naming him from our list of beautifully exotic boy names?
In this article: 📝
- What is an exotic boy name?
- What is the rarest name for a boy?
- What are some edgy boy names?
- What’s a badass name for a boy?
- More exotic baby boy names
What is an exotic boy name?
‘Exotic’ is a strange word, literally meaning “foreign” or “different”, so what’s exotic to you might not be exotic to another person.
Finding an exotic boy name that suits your little prince while being unusual and honoring another culture can be tricky, but rest assured, we’ve got you covered with lots of exotic boy names to choose from.
Before we dive in, we want to mention cultural appropriation.
Choosing an exotic name without understanding the significance of it in its original culture can be considered appropriative, particularly if you don’t have that particular heritage in your family tree.
If in doubt, reach out to someone from that culture to learn more and get their opinion.
What is the rarest name for a boy?
If you’re after an exotic boy name that’ll be unique in the playground, here’s our selection of ten of the rarest exotic boy names:
- Adeben: One of the exotic male names that’s rarely found outside of Africa, this Ghanaian name means “twelfth-born son”.
- Azai: Meaning “strength” in Hebrew.
- Firdaus: (fihr-da-oos) For the baby boy whose arrival means your house is now a home, Firdaus means “paradise” in Arabic and Urdu.
- Harolin: One of the more uncommon exotic boy’s names, Harolin means “army leader” in Spanish. Harry is a cute nickname.
- Iokua: (yo-koo-ah) Another of the rarest exotic baby boy names, Iokua means “God is salvation” ‒ a Hawai’ian variation on the Hebrew name Joshua.
- Jothi: (joh-tee) Looking for exotic boy names that also work for baby girls? Jothi is a gender-neutral Sri Lankan name meaning “light”.
- Kairos: Meaning “right time” in Greek.
- Maliki: One of many Arabic exotic boy’s names, the meaning of the name Maliki is “messenger of God” ‒ a variation on the Hebrew name Malachi.
- Naveen: Meaning “new” in Sanskrit.
- Ramzan: One of the exotic male names that hasn’t been seen for quite some time, Ramzan is an Egyptian name meaning “sun god”. Zan is an adorable nickname.
- Tafari: How about more historical exotic boy’s names? Tafari is an Amharic name meaning “he who inspires awe”, and was also the name of the last Emperor of Ethiopia.
- Taranis: An exotic-sounding boy’s name, Taranic is actually Celtic, meaning “thunder”.
- Xaloc: (scha-lok) One of the newest exotic baby boy names, Xaloc means “easterly wind” or “sirocco”.
What are some edgy boy names?
Edgy boy’s names are mysterious, with ethereal meanings ‒ sometimes gothic.
If you’re looking for exotic male names that also give your baby boy ‘the edge’, check out these five edgy exotic baby boy names:
- Altair: (ahl-tah-eer) One of the most exotic boy names with both sweet and edgy meanings. Altair is an Arabic boy’s name meaning “bird”, as well as the brightest star in the Aquila constellation. Altair is also one of the main characters of the popular Assassin’s Creed video game series.
- Bacchus: (bah-kus) Strong and edgy, Bacchus is one of the more mythological exotic male names on the list, referring to the Greek god of festivity, wine, fertility, and theater.
- Idris: A name that’s not so much edgy in meaning, but due to the undeniable coolness of a certain Idris Elba. Idris actually has two meanings: Hebrew for “interpreter” and Welsh for “enthusiastic lord”.
- Lazar: One of the edgier Biblical exotic boy names, Lazar is a shortened version of Lazarus, the name of the man Jesus brought back from the dead. Lazar also means “my God has helped”.
- Malachi: (ma-la-kye) Another of our top edgy Hebrew exotic names for boys, Malachi means “my messenger”, but it’s made our ‘edgy’ list because of its similarity to malachite, a beautiful green crystal that’s said to have both transformative and protective powers.
- Orion: Meaning “son of fire” in Greek.
What’s a badass name for a boy?
Give your baby boy a head start with one of our badass exotic boy names, so they can handle anything that comes their way.
Here are our top five badass exotic names for boys:
- Alessandro: One of the most popular badass exotic boy names, Alessandro means “defender” in Italian. Sandro or Alex both make strong nicknames.
- Guillermo: Another of our exotic baby boy names meaning “defender”, Guillermo specifically means “determined protector” in Spanish.
- Keaton: What could be more badass than naming your little peanut after one of the actors who played Batman ‒ Michael Keaton? Name meaning “place of hawks” in Old English.
- Marco: The Spanish and Italian version of Mark, meaning “warlike” or “like the god Mars”. One of the stronger exotic names for boys.
- Umberto: One of the less common exotic baby boy names, Umberto means “bright warrior” in Italian. Bert or Berto make sweet nicknames.
More exotic baby boy names
Still not quite found the right exotic baby name for your babe?
Here are some more exotic boy names for you to peruse:
- Abijah: Hebrew, “God is my father”.
- Adlai: Hebrew, “refuge of God”.
- Ádomás: Hungarian, “pledge”. Can be shortened to Adam.
- Adonis: Greek, “handsome”.
- Aeneas: Greek, “worthy of praise”.
- Ahmik: Hebrew, “strength of God’s people”.
- Ajayi: Yoruba, “born face-down”.
- Akando: Native American, “ambush”.
- Akil: Arabic, “intelligent”, or “thoughtful”.
- Akio: Japanese, “bright man”.
- Alcander: Greek, “strong”.
- Aleron: French, “knight’s armor”.
- Aleser: Arabic, “lion”.
- Alim: Arabic, “wise”.
- Amir: Arabic, “prince”.
- Ammiras: Arabic, “commander”.
- Anders: Scandinavian, “manly”.
- Aren: Nigerian, “eagle”.
- Ari: Hebrew, “lion”.
- Arion: Greek, “musician”.
- Aristo: Greek, “best”.
- Arjun: Indian, “white” or “clear”.
- Asher: Hebrew, “he is happy” or “he is blessed”.
- Attikos or Atticus: Greek, “from Attica”.
- Axil: Indian, “cheetah”; Hebrew, “father is peace”.
- Azael: Spanish, “hazel tree”.
- Azaire: French, “God has helped”.
- Baingana: Ugandan, “people are created equal”.
- Bakari: Swahili, “promise”.
- Bali: Hindi, “warrior”.
- Bandele: Yoruba, “born away from home”.
- Barış: Turkish, “rainfall”.
- Beauden: (boh-den) New Zealand, “beautiful”.
- Calisto: Spanish, “most beautiful”.
- Ciro: Spanish, “Sun”.
- Dakarai: African, “happiness”.
- Dakota: Native American, “friends”.
- Dante: (dahn-tay) Italian, “enduring”.
- Darian: Persian, “gift”.
- Dario: Spanish, “wealthy”.
- D’Artagnan: (dart-ang-yan) French, “from Artagnan”.
- Dechen: Tibetan, “happiness”.
- Delano: French, “of the night”.
- Deshal: Hindi, “nation”.
- Dilshad: Urdu, “happy heart”.
- Dyami: Native American, “eagle”.
- Ebrima: Gambian, “father of many”.
- Efrain: (eh-frah-een) Spanish, “bountiful” or “fruitful”.
- Elias: Hebrew, “Yahweh is my God”.
- Elio: Italian, Spanish, “Sun”.
- Émile: French, “rival”.
- Emre: Turkish, “love” or “friendship”.
- Enrique: Spanish, “ruler of the house”.
- Enzo: Italian, “ruler of the home”.
- Essien: African, “sixth-born son”.
- Esteban: Spanish, “crown”.
- Evander: Greek, “good of man”; Norse, Scottish, “warrior of the bow”.
- Fabio: Italian, “bean”.
- Faustus: Roman, “lucky” or “auspicious”.
- Felipe: (feh-leep-eh) Spanish, “friend of horses”.
- Florian: German, “flower”.
- Francesco: Italian, “French”.
- Fūjin: Japanese, “spirit of the wind”.
- Girish: Indian, “lord of the mountain”.
- Gobi: Indian, “happy”.
- Gozo: Spanish, “joy”.
- Harith: Arabic, “plowman” or “farmer”. Can be shortened to Harry.
- Helaku: Native American, “sunny day”.
- Imani: Swahili, “faith”.
- Isander: Greek, “defender of men”.
- Itzak: Hebrew, “laughter”.
- Jabari: Swahili, “brave”.
- Jabir: Arabic, “he who comforts”.
- Jamal: Arabic, “beauty”.
- Javier: (ha-vee-ehr or kha-bee-ehr) Spanish, “new house”.
- Jelani: African, “strong”.
- Jibri: Arabic, “God is my strong man”.
- Joaquin: (wah-keen) Spanish, “God will judge”.
- Kael: Irish, “graceful”.
- Kai: Chinese, “triumphant music”; Hawai’ian, “sea”; German, “warrior”.
- Kaio: Japanese, “cheerful”.
- Kairo: Greek, “one who is victorious”.
- Kalei: Hawai’ian, “flowers” or “child”.
- Kalil: Arabic, “friend”.
- Kateb: Arabic, “writer”.
- Kidist: (kih-dihs) Amharic, “blessed” or “blessed by God”.
- Kofi: Ghanaian, “born on a Friday”.
- Kurō: Japanese, “nine” and “son”.
- Lautaro: Native American, “daring” or “enterprising”.
- Leif: (life or layf) Scandinavian, “heir”.
- Leon: Greek, “lion”.
- Limbani: Chewa, “be strong”.
- Luca: Italian, “bringer of light” or “sacred wood”.
- Lucan: Italian, “bringer of light”; Irish, “place of elms”.
- Maleko: Hawai’ian, “of the god Mars” or “warring”.
- Malik: Greenlandic, “wave”.
- Mateo or Matias: Spanish, “gift from God”.
- Mathis: (mah-tis) French, “gift of God”.
- Mauro: Italian, “dark”.
- Mazin: Arabic, “rain clouds”.
- Meka: Hawai’ian, “eyes”.
- Mekhi: Hebrew, “He who is like God”.
- Micah: Hebrew, “who is like the Lord”.
- Milan: Slavic, “gracious” or “dear”.
- Mohan: Indian, “bewitching”.
- Murad: Arabic, “wish” or “desire”.
- Naeem: African, “benevolent” or “kind”.
- Nicanor: Spanish, “victorious army”.
- Nico: German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, “victory of the people”.
- Nikolos: Greek, “victorious people”.
- Nuri: Arabic, “fire”.
- Ozias: Hebrew, “strength from God”.
- Paco: Native American, “bald eagle”.
- Paolo: Latin, “little”.
- Rafael or Raphael: Spanish, “God heals”.
- Rasmus: Scandinavian, “beloved”.
- Rasul: Arabic, “prophet” or “messenger”.
- Raul: Italian, “wolf’s counsel”.
- Ravi: Hindi, “Sun god” or “kind”.
- Razi: Hebrew, “secret”.
- Rico: Spanish, “noble ruler”.
- Rocco: Italian, German, “rest”.
- Runako: African, “handsome”.
- Sahale: Native American, “above”.
- Sahen: Hindi, “falcon”.
- Salim: Arabic, “peaceful” or “flawless”.
- Santiago: Spanish, Portuguese “of Saint James”. Can be shortened to Santi.
- Sergio: Italian, “attendant”.
- Soren: Danish, “strict”.
- Soterios: Greek, “savior”.
- Suijin: (soo-jin or see-jin) Japanese, “water spirit”.
- Sulaiman: Indonesian, “peace”.
- Tajo: Spanish, “day”.
- Tāne: (tah-nay) Maori, “man”.
- Taro: Japanese, “first-born son”.
- Tau: (tore) South African, “lion”.
- Teo: Greek, “gift from God”.
- Thaddeus: Aramaic, “courageous heart”.
- Tómi: Norse, “thunder”.
- Ulani: Polynesian, “cheerful”.
- Vancho: Macedonian, “God is gracious”.
- Varam: Georgian “victorious”; Latvian, “we can”.
- Xavier: Spanish, “new house”.
- Yasin: Turkish, “age”.
- Zain: Arabic, “grace”.
- Zaire: Bantu, “river that swallows rivers”.
- Zane: Hebrew, “God’s gracious gift”.
- Zelek: Aramaic, “to cleave”.
- Zenon: Greek, “gift of Zeus”.
- Zephyr: Greek, “west wind”.
- Zubair: (zoo-bah-eer) Arabic, “powerful”, “strong”, and “wise”.
- Zuri: Swahili, “beautiful”.
We hope you enjoyed our ultimate list of exotic baby boy names!
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