Gavin

Gavin rode into English via Arthurian legend as a medieval form of Gawain, the green-sashed nephew of King Arthur whose courtly virtue is tested in the fourteenth-century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The older roots are Welsh — possibly from gwalch, "hawk" — giving the name its faint raptor glint. After centuries as a quiet Scottish staple, Gavin broke into the American top 100 in the early 2000s and now hovers around 255, a softer alternative to harder two-syllable boys' names. Crisp initial G, the Celtic lilt on the second syllable. Knightly without pretense, familiar without feeling worn.