264 Romantic Vintage Boy Names & Meanings

Vintage-inspired names give the style its nostalgic charm and the romantic style is based on fashion trends of the 19th century called romanticism. So, I have hand-picked 264 romantic vintage boy names and their meanings are also included.

List Of Romantic Vintage Boy Names And Their Meanings:

Montgomery

Montgomery was brought to the British Isles by the Normans. The Montgomerys are a Lowland clan of Anglo-Norman origin. It means Gomeric’s mountain.

Randolph

Shield wolf.

Roland

”Famous land.” Roland’s horn call at Roncevaux is the climax of The Song of Roland.

Roscoe

”Deer wood.”

Stellan

Calm.

Theodore

Theodore comes from the Greek Theódoros, “divine gift” or “gift of God.” The feminine form of Theodore is Theodora.

Fitzroy

”Son of the king.” Robert FitzRoy captained HMS Beagle on Darwin’s voyage.

Philo

”Loving.”

Wystan

”Battle stone.”

Hamish

”Supplanter,” the Scottish form of James.

Byron

Old English for ”at the byres,” the cowsheds. Byron is the one I’d circle first, for the poet who swam the Hellespont.

Florimond

”Flower of the world.”

Cyril

From kyrios, ”lord,” and the reason the Cyrillic alphabet has its fame.

Abelard

”Noble and hardy.” Abelard and Héloïse have a tomb at Père Lachaise in Paris.

Beau

French for handsome. Beau Brummell set the rules of men’s dress in Regency London.

Tennyson

Tennyson means son of Denis or son of Tenney.

Sebastian

It is from the Greek word Sebastos (venerable). Sebastian Arcelus is an American actor who played in The Leftovers and The Last Day of August.

Benedict

”Blessed.” It comes from the Latin words bene and dicere. Saint Benedict was an Italian monk who was declared a patron saint of Europe by Pope Paul VI in 1964.

Julian

It is from the ancient Roman family name Julianus and is meaning ”downy-bearded” or ”youthful.” Julian was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire.

Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald has Anglo-Norman French and Irish origins and means “son of Gerald.”

Urban

Of the city.

Emmanuel

God is with us.

Angelo

”Messenger.”

Rufus

“Red-haired”.

Atticus

Atticus is of Greek roots and is symbolizing “from Attica.” It is ranked among the top 300 names in the US.

Archibald

Archibald is linked with the words ercan (genuine) and bald (brave). The Italian variant is Arcimboldi.

READ MORE: 24 Rare & Unique Twins Boy and Girl Names

Jasper

”Treasurer.”

Montague

Montague comes from the French word Montaigu and has a meaning that I like, ”pointed hill.”

The history of the romantic tradition

The Romantic Period, which originated in Germany, began around 1798 and lasted until 1837. Associate professor in English Literature Daisy Hay explained, “There is just an explosion of new thinking about literature and art.”

Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on individualism and emotion. The Romantics basically reacted to the growing rationalism of the 18th century.

American Romanticism has its real beginnings in New York.

The Romantics underscored the importance of expressive art for society and the individual.

Edmund

Edmund is from the English elements ead (”fortune”) and mund (guardian). Edmund Ignatius Rice founded the Congregation of Christian Brothers.

Ambrose

”Divine” or ”immortal.”

Percival

It has French and Welsh roots and means “piercing the valley.” Percival is connected to Sir Perceval who appears in a list of Arthur’s knights. He’s the original hero in the quest for the Holy Grail that is the cup that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper.

Josiah

”Yahweh supports.”

Murray

”Seaboard settlement,” from Moray.

Clifford

Ford by a cliff.

Bram

Short for Abraham. Bram Stoker ran a London theatre before he wrote Dracula.

Abner

”Father of light.”

Gregory

”Watchful.” Pope Gregory XIII gave the calendar his name.

Elias

”Yahweh is God.”

Bartholomew

Bartholomew finds its origins in Hebrew and is meaning son of Talmai.

Duncan

Dark warrior.

Sylvester

”Of the woods.” Germans call New Year’s Eve Silvester, after a pope who died on 31 December 335.

Archer

Bowman.

Osmond

God protection.

Marius

From a Roman family name connected to Mars. In Les Misérables, Marius falls for Cosette.

Lyle

”Of the island,” from de l’isle.

Amias

Possibly from amatus, ”loved.”

Linus

Flax. In Greek myths, Linus died by his pupil’s lyre.

Asa

”Healer.”

Jesse

”Gift.”

Alistair

Alistair is the anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic Alasdair that comes from the Gaelic form of Alexander (”defender of the people”).

Titus

“Title of honor”.

Jonah

”Dove.”

Hubert

Bright mind. Hubert is a patron saint of hunters.

Leonard

”Brave lion.”

Ogden

Oak valley.

Clarence

Clarence is symvolizing illustrious and is connected with the Latin Clarensis.

Frederick

Frederick is the English form of the German Friedrich, ”peaceful ruler.” Frederica is a feminine variant of Frederick.

Lorimer

A maker of spurs and bits.

Gabriel

”God is my strength.”

Anatole

”Sunrise,” the same word that named Anatolia.

Damon

”To tame.” Damon offered his life as bail for his friend Pythias.

Evander

Good man. In Roman legend Evander built a town on the Palatine Hill before Rome existed.

Edgar

Wealthy spear.

Reginald

“Ruling with power.” The French variant is Réginald while the Spanish is Reinaldo.

Leopold

It has noble Germanic origins: liut (”people”) and bald (brave). Leopold von Rauch was a major general in the Prussian Army who won the Iron Cross 2nd class.

Hadrian

”From Hadria.”

Crispin

Curly-haired. Shakespeare’s Henry V rallies his band of brothers on St Crispin’s Day.

Wolfgang

”Wolf path.”

Mungo

”Dear one,” Mungo is a patron saint of Glasgow.

Augustus

Augustus was Rome’s first emperor and is symbolizing ”venerable.”

Cornelius

Cornelius is from the Latin cornu (horn).

Magnus

Latin for great. At age 19 Magnus Carlsen was the youngest player ever to reach #1 in the world.

Lucian

Light.

Orsino

”Little bear.” Orsino opens Twelfth Night with ”If music be the food of love.”

Romeo

”Pilgrim to Rome.”

Gilbert

”Bright pledge.”

Ralph

Pronounced RAYF in many old English families. It has roots in ”wolf counsel.”

Osbert

God bright.

Angus

Angus is meaning ”one strength.”

Fitzwilliam

”Son of William,” as well as the first name of Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.

Pelham

Peola’s homestead.

Erasmus

”Beloved,” as well as an EU student exchange programme.

Lorcan

Little fierce one.

Remy

From Remigius, ”oarsman.” Saint Remi baptized Clovis, king of the Franks, at Reims.

Cyprian

From Cyprus.

Humphrey

”Peaceful warrior.”

Cedric

Walter Scott used Cedric in Ivanhoe, likely a slip for the Saxon king Cerdic.

Mortimer

”Dead sea,” from Mortemer in Normandy.

Alden

”Old friend.”

Hector

Holding fast.

Emeric

Work ruler.

Phineas

Hebrew Pinchas, ”Nubian.” Phineas Gage survived an iron rod through his skull.

Rowan

”Little red one.”

Elwood

Elder tree wood.

Owen

Possibly from Eugenius, ”well born.”

Milo

Slavic for ”dear.” Milo of Croton had a calf every day until it grew into a bull.

Oswald

God power.

Malcolm

”Devotee of Saint Columba.”

Cuthbert

Famous and bright. Monks had Saint Cuthbert’s coffin around Northumbria to keep it from Viking raids.

Valerian

From valere, ”to be strong.”

Gulliver

From goulafre, Old French for ”glutton”.

Maurice

Moorish. Mauritius is after Maurice of Nassau.

Wendell

”Wanderer,” linked to the Vandals.

Hiram

”Exalted brother.” King Hiram of Tyre sent cedar for Solomon’s temple.

Heathcliff

Cliff by the heath.

Cosmo

From kosmos, ”order.”

Oscar

”Deer lover.” The Academy Award statuette got the nickname Oscar in the 1930s.

Rhett

From Dutch de Raedt, ”counsel.”

Achilles

Achilles is meaning ”grief of the people.” The Achilles tendon is after the one heel his mother held when she dipped him in the Styx.

Kingsley

King’s wood.

Bruno

”Brown.” Saint Bruno founded the Carthusians.

Alfred

”Elf counsel.”

Septimus

”Seventh.”

Jerome

Sacred name. Saint Jerome put the Bible into Latin.

Caius

Pronounced KYE-us, from Gaius, ”rejoice.” Gonville and Caius College in Cambridge says it KEEZ.

Saxon

From seax, a short sword.

Hollis

Hollis is symbolizing the holly, ”by the holly trees.”

Cormac

”Charioteer.”

Raymond

”Wise protector.”

Godfrey

”Good peace” or ”God’s peace.” It was brought to England by settlers from France and Normandy.

Ivor

”Bow warrior.”

Emerson

”Son of Emery.”

Hartwell

Hartwell is of Old English origin and means well of the stags or stag’s spring.

Ezekiel

”God strengthens.”

Pascal

Of Easter. Pressure is measured in pascals, after Blaise Pascal.

Arden

”High,” in Celtic, as well as a forest that covered much of Warwickshire.

Isaiah

”Yahweh is salvation.”

Tarquin

From Tarquinii, an Etruscan city. Tarquin the Proud was the last king of Rome before the republic.

Ansgar

”God spear.”

Bernard

”Brave bear.” St Bernard dogs come from a hospice on an Alpine pass.

Rainier

”Wise army.” Mount Rainier has origins in British admiral, Peter Rainier.

Ephraim

”Fruitful.”

Ptolemy

Warlike. Ptolemy mapped the known world in his Geography.

Vaughn

From fychan, ”small.”

Darius

”Holding firm the good.”

Isidore

Isidore has its origins in the Egyptian goddess Isis, ”gift of Isis.”Isidora is the feminine variant.

Wallace

”Welshman,” from Old French waleis.

Emil

”Rival.”

Octavius

”Eighth.”

Wilbur

”Wild boar.” Wilbur Wright flew the second of 4 powered flights at Kitty Hawk.

Lancelot

Possibly from Lanzo, ”land.”

Reuben

”Behold, a son.”

Alvin

”Elf friend.”

Leander

Lion-man or lion of a man.

Dashiell

Dashiell was initially the surname De Chiel (from D’Assche).

Obadiah

Servant of God.

Aloysius

“Famous in battle.” Saint Aloysius Gonzaga helped plague victims in Rome.

Everett

“Brave boar.”

Thaddeus

Thaddeus is from the Greek Thaddaios, daring. Thad is the diminutive version.

Russell

From rous, ”red-haired.”

Benjamin

Son of the right hand.

Ulysses

The Latin form of Odysseus, ”wrathful.”

Winston

”Wynna’s stone,” from an Old English place name.

Digby

Farm by the ditch.

Alaric

It has roots in the Gothic elements ala (”all”) and reiks (”ruler”). Alaric I sacked Rome in 410 and this was the first time the city had fallen to an outside army.

Tiberius

”Of the Tiber.”

Alban

”From Alba.” St Albans in Hertfordshire is after Britain’s first recorded martyr.

Arthur

Bear, root disputed.

Lazarus

”God has helped.”

Laurence

Laurence comes from the Latin Laurentius (”man from Laurentum”). Laurentum was an ancient Roman city of Latium. In German, the variant is Lorenz while in Spanish and Italian is Lorenzo.

Alonzo

”Noble and ready.”

Conrad

”Bold counsel.”

Fenwick

”Fen farm.”

Neville

New town.

Caspian

From the Greek Kaspios, which is from after the Caspians, a pre-Indo-European tribe.

Sterling

Sterling has its roots in Old English and means “little star.”

Nigel

From Niall, ”champion.”

Zephyr

”West wind.”

Ebenezer

Stone of help.

Cassius

It comes from the Latin cassus, hollow or empty. Abolitionist Cassius Marcellus Clay freed the people he had inherited as slaves.

Rupert

“Fame bright.”

Aurelius

Latin for golden, from aureus. Marcus Aurelius ruled Rome from 161 to 180.

Bertrand

”Bright raven,” and is from the Germanic berht and hramn.

Constantine

It is from the Latin constans, ”steadfast.” In 313 Constantine the Great issued the Edict of Milan which stopped the persecution of Christians.

Cyrus

Old Persian in origin (Kūruš). Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Empire.

Raphael

”God has healed” in Hebrew.

Desmond

”From South Munster,” Desmond Tutu won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize.

Horatio

Horatio is a variation of the Roman Horatius.

Lysander

Greek for liberator, from lysis (”a loosening”) and andros (”man”). Spartan admiral Lysander destroyed the Athenian navy at Aegospotami in 405 BC.

Amos

Carried.

Armand

”Army man.”

Balthazar

”Bel, protect the king.”

Casimir

”Destroyer of peace” or ”proclaimer of peace.” It is pronounced as KAZ-i-meer.

Ferdinand

”Bold protector.” Ferdinand Magellan planned the first voyage around the world.

Wilfred

Old English, from wil (”will”) and friþ (”peace”) and is meaning ”one who wants peace.” Poet Wilfred Owen wrote Dulce et Decorum Est in the trenches.

Stanley

Stony clearing. Lord Stanley paid for hockey’s Stanley Cup in 1892.

Vivian

Alive.

Godric

”God’s power.”

Albert

”Noble and bright.” Prince Albert made the Christmas tree a habit in British homes.

Mordecai

Mordecai is symbolizing service to a Babylonian god: ”servant of Marduk.”

Ansel

Ansel is a short form of Anselm (”god’s protection”) that comes from the Germanic ans (god) and helm (helmet).

Lionel

Lionel is rooted in Leon, a little lion. Lionel Messi has a record 8 Ballon d’Or awards.

Nathaniel

Nathaniel is Hebrew for ”gift of God.” Nate and Nat are good diminutives.

Hilary

Cheerful, and the origin of Oxford.

Leofric

”Dear ruler.” I like Leofric for his wife, Lady Godiva, who rode naked through Coventry so he would lift a tax.

Marcel

”Little warrior.” Marcel Proust wrote most of In Search of Lost Time inside a cork-lined bedroom.

Auberon

”Elf ruler.”

Gawain

Gawain is on the Welsh Gwalchmei, ”hawk of May.”

Edwin

Rich friend.

Xavier

It has origins in the Basque Etxeberria, ”the new house.” Francis Xavier helped start the Jesuit order.

Arnold

”Eagle power.”

Saul

Asked for.

Aramis

From Aramitz, a village in Béarn, and the musketeer who wants to be a priest.

Leonidas

”Son of the lion.”

Jude

”Praised.”

Ignatius

Ignatius (“the ardent one”) of Loyola is the founder of the Jesuits.

Barnaby

”Son of encouragement.”

Algernon

A Norman nickname, als gernons, ”with whiskers.”

Cassian

Cassian is connected to the Latin Cassianus (”empty”).

Roderick

Famous ruler.

Cecil

From Caecilius, ”blind.”

Solomon

Peace.

Florian

Florian comes from the Latin flos (”flower”) and is pronounced as FLOR-ee-an.

Gideon

Hebrew for one who cuts down, a hewer.

Lowell

”Little wolf”.

Rollo

Hrólfr, ”famous wolf.” Rollo got the land that became Normandy.

Kenelm

”Bold helmet.”

Ishmael

”God will hear.” Moby-Dick opens with ”Call me Ishmael.”

Basil

”Royal.” Basil is from the same root, basilikon.

Tancred

Thought and counsel.

Silas

Silas is a short variation of the Latin Silvanus, ”of the woods.” It is also linked to the Aramaic for ”asked for.”

Evelyn

From Norman Aveline, ”desired.”

Winslow

”Friend’s hill.”

Philemon

”Affectionate.” Philemon gets the myth I find most romantic: he and Baucis turned into an oak and a linden.

Monroe

Mouth of the Roe, a river in Ulster.

Aldous

”Old.”

Valentine

Valentine is from Latin and means ”strong” or ”healthy.”

Peregrine

”Foreigner.”

Hugo

It is from the Germanic hug, ”mind” or ”spirit.” Victor Hugo wrote The Hunchback of Notre-Dame to shame Paris into saving its rotting cathedral.

Enoch

”Dedicated.”

Dante

Enduring.

Quentin

”Fifth.”

Dorian

Of the Dorians, a people of ancient Greece.

Absalom

”Father of peace.”

Gustave

”Staff of the Goths.” Gustave Eiffel’s firm built the iron frame inside the Statue of Liberty.

Edric

”Rich ruler.”

Willoughby

Farm by the willows. John Willoughby breaks Marianne’s heart in Sense and Sensibility.

Aldric

”Old ruler.”

Ezra

Help.

Tristan

Tristan is from the Pictish Drust, but French ears hear triste, ”sad.”

Fergus

”Man of vigour.”

Quincy

Tied to Quintus, ”fifth.” John Adams was born in a part of Braintree that is now Quincy, Massachusetts.

Amadeus

”Love God.”

Vernon

Alder grove.

Matthias

”Gift of God,” and the apostle picked by drawing lots to replace Judas.

Osric

”God ruler.”

Galahad

Possibly from Gilead, a hill country in the Bible.

Severin

”Stern.”

Felix

Lucky.

Fabian

”Bean grower.” The Fabian Society is from Fabius, a Roman general who won by stalling.

Simeon

He has heard.

Linden

”Lime tree.”

Darcy

From d’Arcy, ”from Arcy” in Normandy.

Ramsay

”Wild garlic island.”

Waldo

”Rule.”

Merlin

From Myrddin, ”sea fort” of Roman Wales.

Bellamy

”Fine friend”.

Tybalt

From Theobald, ”bold people.” Mercutio calls him Prince of Cats, after the cat Tybert in the Reynard the Fox fables.

Noel

”Christmas.”

Joachim

”God will establish.”

Clement

Merciful.

Inigo

Pronounced IN-ih-go, from Basque Eneko. Inigo Jones founded the piazza at Covent Garden.

Thornton

”Thorn town.”

Ulric

”Wolf power.”