Classic boy names are wonderful except for the fact that they’re so common. Yes, there have been many august Williams; sure, it’s a name resonant on your family tree; except, there are thousands (11,282, to be exact) of baby Williams out there.

　　But among the wonderful qualities of classic boy names is that they often come in many different variations. So if William is too popular for your taste, you can go down the line and find several other Wil– names that are more rare.

　　We did just that with ten of the most classic boy names widely used today. Here, five variations of each and how many baby boys received each name in the most recent year counted.

James

　　Jameson — 4050

　　Jamir — 555

　　Jamie — 447

　　Jamal — 201

William

　　Wilson — 386

　　Willis — 44

　　Wilfred — 24

　　Wilkes — 17

Benjamin

　　Bennett — 4082

　　Benson — 426

　　Benedict — 233

　　Benaiah — 130

Alexander

　　Alex — 1995

　　Alexis — 664

　　Alec — 346

　　Alexandre — 52

David

　　Davis — 437

　　Davon — 108

　　Davi — 139

　　Davidson — 33

Thomas

　　Tommy — 354

　　Tomas — 382

　　Thompson — 51

　　Toma — 24

Charles

　　Charlie — 2098

　　Charleston — 43

　　Carlton — 37

　　Carlson — <5

Andrew

　　Andres — 1824

　　Anderson — 994

　　Ander — 513

　　Anders — 280

Robert

　　Roberto — 607

　　Robin — 316

　　Robbie — 64

　　Robinson — 29

Edward

　　Edwin — 914

　　Edgar — 769

　　Edison — 346

　　Edmund — 166

About the Author

Pamela Redmond

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　　Pamela Redmond is the cocreator and CEO of Nameberry and Baby Name DNA. The coauthor of ten groundbreaking books on names, Redmond is an internationally-recognized baby name expert, quoted and published widely in such media outlets as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, CNN, and the BBC. She has written about baby names for The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, and People.

　　Redmond is also a New York Times bestselling novelist whose books include Younger, the basis for the hit television show, and its sequel, Older. She has three new books in the works.

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