2 Weeks: Cowboy Names Revisited

Most of the non-family traffic that comes to this blog comes from people searching for baby names on Google and being directed to one or more of my posts on the topic. The number-one most-common search term that brings people to this site? "flapper names". Followed closely thereafter by "cowboy names".

If my blog is in the top page of results for a Google search on "cowboy names", I feel I should give some real direction on the subject, because there are many pitfalls awaiting a well-meaning prospective parent who like the idea of a cowboy name. So I have compiled my list of Great Cowboy Names, any of which I recommend, provided the child will have a last name strong enough to carry it:

• Casey
• Clay
• Clem
• Clint
• Clyde
• Eldon
• Floyd
• Grant
• Hank
• Harlan
• Hoyt
• Jake
• Luke
• Roy
• Travis
• Wyatt

But beware. There are a number of options people think are great cowboy names, but which are in fact, fake cowboy names... cowboy wannabe names. These are the names people give their kids when they're trying too hard. Please do avoid any name on my list of Fake Cowboy Names:

• Cash
• Cody
• Cole
• Colt
• Dakota
• Dallas
• Harley
• Shane
• Stetson
• Tanner
• Trace
• Zane

What about Dale, Duane, or Darrell? Stay tuned for possible future list of redneck names.


One book we loved as a name-choosing aid was "Cool Names for Babies" by Pamela Redmond Satran & Linda Rosenkrantz. We didn't get the name August out of it, though I notice it is listed there, under Authors' Names. This book doesn't have a section for cowboy names, but it was definitely a fun book to read through, and does divide names by subject-area.