Antique Boys' Names

Vintage boys' names such as August and Otto are becoming more popular. Looking beyond such picks, one can find multiple antique boys' names.

With multiple boys' names always being popular among English-speakers, antique names are more difficult to identify for boys than they are for girls. Yet, the same criteria apply here.

To qualify as an antique, a name must:

1. Have peaked in usage among English speakers and/or heavily associated himself with the eras before 1880
2. Associate himself with multiple namesakes predating the twentieth century
3. Fit in with antiquated trends, including lesser-known Biblical heroes, Puritan virtues, and stately elegancies

Many names from the Middle Ages sound too unfamiliar today to sound "antique." Yet, here are some beyond-old-fashioned names:

• Cornelius
1. Popularity peak in Victorian English top 100
2. Namesakes from the sixteenth-through nineteenth centuries, such as English minister Cornelius Burges (1589-1665) and American politician Cornelius Holland (1783-1870)
3. Minor Biblical figure, Classical revival

• Ebenezer
1. Popularity peak around #68 in 1850 England
2. Namesakes from the eighteenth-and nineteenth centuries such as American educator Ebenezer Adams (1765-1841) and English painter Ebenezer Colls (1812-1887)
3. Biblical figure

• Ephraim
1. Popularity peak at #84 in 1850 England
2. Namesakes from before the nineteenth century, such as American physician Ephraim McDowell (1771-1830)
3. Biblical figure

• Humphrey
1. Popularity peak around #123 in 1850 England
2. Namesakes from the Middle Ages through the nineteenth century, such as St. Humphrey (d. 871), British Army general Humphrey Bland (1686-1763), and English politician Humphrey Crum-Ewing (1802-1887)
3. Norman form of Old English Hunfrith

• Ranulph
1. Recorded in 1381 Lancashire and 1296/7 Rutland Lay Subsidy
2. Namesakes pre-dating the 1880s such as Ranulph, Archbishop of Leicester (1092) and English judge Ranulph Crewe (1558-1646)
3. English translation of Germanic Raginolf

Which names would you add to this list?