Royce

Royce snaps like the clasp on a leather briefcase. Drawn from an Old French and Germanic surname meaning "famous" or "son of Royse," it arrived in America as a last name first, then eased into first-name use through the mid-twentieth century. The automotive associations hardly hurt its polish. One syllable, one decisive vowel, and that confident final consonant pair give it the crisp bearing of a name built for calling across a crowded room. Currently at 462, Royce walks the line between preppy and tough, the kind of name a novelist might give a character with secrets and a very good coat.