Whether you're expecting a baby boy at Christmastime or just hope kiddo loves holiday cheer so much he wants to carry it with him all year, there's a baby name for that. Here are our favorite Christmas-inspired baby names — from the secular to the spiritual to the Hollywood classics.
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Unique boy names inspired by Christmas traditions
- Nicholas: As in Jolly Old St. Nicholas himself
- Noel: French name that means "Christmas"
- Yule: English name meaning "born at Christmas"
- Clement: Clement Moore wrote 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
- Christian: Greek name meaning "believes in Christ"
- Winter: English name meaning "year"
- Frost: Perfect for the season
- Snowden: This is an English name meaning "from the snowy hill"
- Kris: After Kris Kringle; also an English name meaning "follower of Christ"
- Jack: Great traditional name; can reference Jack Frost
For more ideas, check out our list of winter baby boy names.
Spiritual Christmas names
If you're of the Christian faith, these biblical boy names might be just the inspiration you need.
- Emmanuel: Hebrew name meaning "God with us"; also Old Testament name for the Messiah
- Joseph: Hebrew name — Joseph was the father of Jesus
- Gabriel: Gabriel is a Spanish name meaning "man of God"
- Christopher: St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers; he is believed to have carried the Christ child across the river
- Jasper: One of the kings who visited Baby Jesus
- Michael: In the Bible, St. Michael was the patron saint of soldiers
- Balthazar: One of the kings who visited Baby Jesus
- Angel: Biblical name for spirit messengers of God
- Aaron: Moses' older brother
- Caleb: Leader sent by Moses to explore the promised land
- Moses: Brought the 10 Commandments (Gwyneth Paltrow picked this name for her son)
- Dagon: Hebrew name meaning "fish"
- Ethan: Biblical name meaning "strong"
Get more spiritual boy baby names here.
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Boy names from Christmas classics
Take a look back at some classic holiday films for great traditional and unique boy names.
From White Christmas, Bing Crosby (whose first or last name would make a cool boy's name) played Bob Wallace, while Danny Kaye played Phil Davis. Crosby's other festive classic, Holiday Inn, had Crosby playing Jim and starred Fred Astaire as Ted. From It's a Wonderful Life, Jimmy Stewart played the lovable George Bailey — or what about Clarence the angel? You could also name your son Charles — after Charles Dickens, writer of A Christmas Carol. Probably skip the "Scrooge" name idea though.
A version of this post was originally published in December 2010.