By Linda Rosenkrantz

　　In the past, most boys were lucky enough to avoid the  generic-connector-middle-name syndrome the way girls did, when Ann and Lynn and Beth were pretty ubiquitous. For the most part, boy babies were given double classics, so there were a ton of them dubbed Steven Michael or Michael Steven, David Robert or Robert David.

　　Now, the middle name landscape for both genders has changed as more attention is being focused on them, to the point where firsts and middles have almost equal weight. Family names play a bigger part, for one thing, as do meaning and individuality–plus many parents are taking this place as a chance to let loose and be inventive .

　　Yet a strong, single-syllable middle is still often what’s called for, and so we’ve categorized for you some of the most interesting new-style possibilities—of course feel free to use this as a starting point.

　　NATURE NAMES

　　Ash

　　Beach

　　Birch

　　Branch

　　Burl

　　Clay

　　Cloud

　　Cove

　　Dune

　　Elm

　　Frost

　　Glade

　　Grove

　　Heath

　　Leaf

　　Moon

　　Moss

　　Oak

　　Pine

　　Quince

　　Reef

　　Ridge

　　Rock

　　Sage

　　Sky

　　Stone

　　ANIMALS

　　Bear

　　Colt

　　Crow

　　Drake

　　Finch

　　Fox

　　Hawk

　　Lynx

　　Pike

　　Wolf

　　SURNAMES

　　Bach

　　Bly

　　Boone

　　Briggs

　　Brooks

　　Doyle

　　Duff

　　Eames

　　Flynn

　　Ford

　　Hart

　　Holt

　　Ives

　　Keats

　　Knox

　　Nash

　　Poe

　　Quinn

　　Smith

　　Taft

　　Tate

　　Webb

　　Welsh

　　York

　　INTERNATIONALS

　　Cruz

　　Dev

　　Dov

　　Finn

　　Kai

　　Lars

　　Mies

　　Nils

　　Pax

　　Piers

　　Stig

　　Sven

　　Taj

　　Teague

　　Tor

　　NICKNAMES

　　Ace

　　Baz

　　Beau/Bo

　　Beck

　　Bing

　　Bix

　　Bram

　　Cam

　　Chaz

　　Dash

　　Dax

　　Dex

　　Fitz

　　Huck

　　Joss

　　Kip

　　Lew

　　Lex

　　Merce

　　Nat

　　Nate

　　Oz

　　Puck

　　Rafe

　　Ry

　　Shep

　　Tex

　　Ving

　　Whit

　　Xan/Zan

　　Zeke

　　VINTAGE NNs

　　Arch

　　Art

　　Cal

　　Clem

　　Cy

　　Gus

　　Hal

　　Hank

　　Ike

　　Jock

　　Mac/Mack

　　Mick

　　Moe

　　Ned

　　Pete

　　Ray

　　Si

　　Sid

　　Sol

　　Walt

　　COLORS

　　Blue

　　Brown

　　Gold

　　Gray/Grey

　　Green

　　Jet

　　Moss

　　WORDS

　　Bard

　　Blaze

　　Brick

　　Bridge

　　Cash

　　Chase

　　Dart

　　East

　　Flint

　　Free

　　Jazz

　　Jet

　　Just

　　Light

　　March

　　North

　　Ode

　　Pace

　　Scout

　　Slate

　　True

　　West

　　FULL NAMES

　　Clyde

　　Cole

　　Floyd

　　Hart

　　Holt

　　Hugh

　　Jude

　　Lev

　　Luke

　　Miles

　　Reed

　　Reese/Rhys

　　Reeve

　　Slade

　　Tate

　　Zane

　　ASPIRATIONAL

　　Champ

　　Count

　　Czar

　　Duke

　　Judge

　　King

　　Knight

　　Laird

　　Lord

　　Prince

　　Reign

　　Rex

　　Saint

　　Thor

　　Zeus

　　What names would you add to this list? Did you use a one-syllable middle for your boy? Stay tuned–we’ll be providing this service for girls too, soon.