Ralph has two diametrically different images: there's the suave Ralph Fiennes-type Brit (often pronounced Rafe), and then there's the Jackie Gleason blue-collar, bowling blowhard Ralph Kramden bus driver. It's all in the eye of the beholder, though its hip factor did rise when it was chosen for his son by cool U.K. actor Matthew Macfadyen.

Ralph is a name that's been around for a thousand years, was in the Top 30 from the 1870s to the 1920s, and just could make a comeback.

Ralph has a number of notable namesakes, from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Ralph Abernathy to Ralph Lauren. In literature, Ralph is a Shakespearean name, appearing in Henry IV, is a pivotal figure in Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady and Ralph was one of the three main boys in Lord of the Flies. And let's not forget Ralphie in A Christmas Story.

Or you might prefer the French version--Raoul.