Dear Swistle,
As the arrival of our second baby draws nearer and nearer (any day now), my wife and I are scrambling to assemble a shortlist of names that we feel certain about. We don’t know the sex of this child, but are struggling more with girls’ names than with boys’. The kid’s last name starts with W and rhymes with foreign.
This is a hail mary. Here’s where we’re at.
Our first kid is Jonah Robert. Jonah because we loved it, an established but not-too-popular boy’s name with some softness to it. Robert for my wife’s grandfather. Few pronunciation or spelling issues.
This time around, our shortlist of agreed-upon boy names includes Ezra and Elias (nn Eli). Silas might also be hovering at the margins. I also love Levi (Lee-Vi), though my wife’s colleague has a Levi (Leh-Vee) and it feels too redundant in her circle. Middle names are a little more up in the air, with me feeling Wilder (a tribute to our love of the outdoors) or James (my maternal grandfather), though we feel like James doesn’t work with Elias, and my wife is a little lukewarm on Wilder all around. I also worry a little about the repetitive – “a” sound at the end of Jonah and Ezra, but maybe that’s not something to lose sleep over. Thoughts?
For girls, we’re basically nowhere. We both dislike frilly names, and I am especially sensitive to the popularity of “elle”, “ellie” sounds and super trendy names (Harper, Avery – though I like them, stylistically). The closest thing we have to a girl’s name is Willa James (William is the patrilineal name passed down in my family and I get a little thrill from stealing it for a girl). Our only hesitation on this one is with the alliteration, Willa W., and it also has the potential problem of the repetitive “a” sound at the end: Jonah and Willa.
If it were up to me alone, I would name a girl Paige or Sylvie, but neither appeal to my wife. I also love Corinne, but it rhymes with our last name. no go. We also like Georgia, but Jonah and Georgia feel too close to the same name. Naomi is also hovering as a possibility, but it just doesn’t feel like “the one” to me.
On my list, but nixed by my wife are:
Sarai,
Blythe,
Merritt,
Heather,
Ainsley,
RaleighI would happily use a more-popular, but traditionally male name for a girl: Henry, Brett, Ezra, Chase, Walker – with the right middle name (I love Walker Leigh). We both like Elliot for a girl, but know that it would be shortened to Ellie.
My wife is all-in-all pretty ambivalent about girl’s names. She can’t find many (any) that she likes. Her “favorites” if you can call them that, have been the too-popular, but semi androgynous Harper, Avery-type.
It feels a little like the field is wide open, but hopefully this has given a little bit of insight to our style and preferences. Maybe you and your readers have a winner up your sleeves?
With hope
Meg.
Especially when things are down to the wire, I like to be able to swoop in with strong opinions: “This not that!” “That not this!” “I KNOW THE VERY NAME YOU SHOULD USE!” But I’m not feeling strong opinions here. I will give my mild opinions anyway.
I think two names ending in the -a sound (Jonah and Ezra or Jonah and Willa) is fine; if I had several favorite names and couldn’t decide among them, the matched ending would knock one of them down a point for me—but it wouldn’t knock anything out of the running. I think Elias James sounds fine, and that an honor name is more important than a perfect sound—especially when it’s so nicely equivalent to your first child’s honor name. I agree about the similarity of Jonah and Georgia: visually they’re quite different, but when I say them together I hear how similar they are. I think the alliteration of Willa W. might be something I’d avoid or might be great (and same initials as Wonder Woman!); but it doesn’t matter if I think it’s great, if you think it’s meh. I do really like the idea of taking a William naming tradition and making it a Willa (or a Willemina/Wilhelmina), and I also like the name itself with your preferences: not frilly, not trendy.
I’m not crazy about Willa James: the sound is good, but “using traditionally male names as girl middle names” is a trend right now, and I find I’m already weary of it. I’m not sure what message it sends, when there is no equivalent trend for using traditionally female names as boy middle names. (But perhaps you DO know what message it sends, and it’s a message you like. As I say, my opinions here are mild.) Also, since you would also be naming her after the men in your family with the name Willa, it feels as if “honoring the men” has been fully covered. Have either of you a grandmother you’d like to honor? Or if using Willa already satisfies the wish for a family name, perhaps the middle name could be used as a place for a name you both love but it felt too trendy for a first name. I think Avery and Harper in the middle name position can have a fresher, more surnamey sound: they suddenly sound like family names instead of Top 20 Popular Choices.
I think the problem with finding a girl name is that you have your tastes, and you have your preferences, and they are opposed: your preference is to avoid your tastes. You both like Harper and Avery and Elliot, but you don’t want to use names like those. There are at least three good options here:
1. Come to terms with your tastes, and use the names you like best without worrying about their trendiness/popularity.
2. Trade how much you like the name for a reduction in trendiness/popularity. Weigh it on the scale, and decide you are willing to choose a name you don’t like as much, in order to meet your preferences. This works best if you KNOW you are doing it: otherwise you can get stuck in the “How about non-trendy name X?”/”But I don’t like it as much as Avery/Harper/Elliot”/”But those don’t meet our preferences” cycle. You would know going into it that you wouldn’t like the name as much, so you’d be looking for the name you like most among that names that DO meet your preferences.
3. Find names that are in the style of Harper/Avery/Elliot, but less popular. The style itself will still be in fashion, but popularity can make the trendiness more or less apparent. (There is a risk, however, that others will also find those less-popular choices and then those names will become increasingly common.)
With a brother named Jonah, I’d be looking for more hip biblical names for boys, as you’ve done: Ezra, Elias, and Silas are all great choices. Interestingly, biblical names do not seem to have come similarly into style for girls. I think it’s that there are way fewer of them to chose from, and many of them don’t have that biblical SOUND the way Jonah and Ezra do. Still, I will pick through the list in The Baby Name Wizard and see what we’ve got (note: I will not be checking any of these names for their stories, to make sure they’re GOOD stories).
Claudia
Delilah
Esther
Judith
Junia
Lois
Lydia
Martha
Miriam
Naomi
Phoebe
Priscilla
Ruth
I love love love the name Esther, and I think it’s great with Jonah. Jonah and Esther.
Naomi was already on your lists, and I love that name too. I think it’s so underused. Jonah and Naomi.
Claudia is a name I would have considered for my daughter, except that it is the name of Paul’s high school girlfriend. Jonah and Claudia. Both end in the -a sound, but the extra syllable of Claudia helps separate the sounds.
I’ve liked the name Judith better ever since someone pointed out the nickname Jude. Jonah and Judith; Jonah and Jude. But if you’re planning to have more children, I wouldn’t do this if it would make you feel trapped into using all J names.
I would love to look at a class list and see a Lois. Jonah and Lois. I like the repeated long-O sound.
Ruth sounds like the name of a woman who gets things done. Jonah and Ruth.
And I love Lydia, especially with your surname. Jonah and Lydia. (Another -a ending.)
Speaking of the names Ruth and Lydia, I am also interested in Solid Vintage Revival names for you—names like Sylvie and Georgia from your list. I think they sound especially wonderful with your surname.
Agatha
Camilla
Cordelia
Eloise
Esther
Frances
Louisa
Lydia
Margaret
Marilla
Martha
Matilda
Ruth
Sylvia
Options more along the lines of Harper/Avery/Elliot:
Aubrey
Beckett
Callister
Campbell
Carys
Casey
Darcy
Delaney
Emberley
Emlyn
Everly
Finley
Hollis
Jennings
Kaye
Keaton
Lane
Larkin
Leigh
Miller
Mirren
Reese
Rory
Teagan
Sloane
Sterling
Waverly
Winifred
Winslow
Some of these are not to my own tastes with the name Jonah. Jonah and Callister, for example, or Jonah and Sterling. I leave them in anyway, because parents are on a spectrum of how much they want sibling names to coordinate, and you may be on the other end of the spectrum from me. Plus, it’s common for parents to have a different naming style for girls than for boys.
Lastly, I want to mention that it’s possible that there IS no girl name you will both love and feel strongly about. I had to come to terms with that for boy names: I had a ton of girl names I felt in love with, but for boy names I ended up looking for names that felt Satisfying and Good, and I didn’t look for Strong Certain Love Feelings because I just didn’t HAVE any.
Sam or Sylvie.
I really like an S name for this baby for some reason.
One more suggestion… If you love Corinne but dislike that it rhymes with your last name, what about modifying it along the lines of Corina (/Carina/Karina)?
I have four kids and two repeating end sounds ‘a’ and ‘y’, and I have literally never thought about it until reading this post, in case that eases your mind.
I like Corinna, which is beautiful and solves the problem of the ‘n’ sound ending both names. I also wanted to say I know an Elliot and we have never called her anything but Elliot, never Ellie, they seem like different names entirely, to me.
Best of luck!
Yes! Came here to suggest Corinna because to me, the three syllable ends in a negates the rhymy sound with Jonah. And I say CoRINNa, while the last name would be FOReign so they have different emphasis for me.
I like Ezra, Elias, and Silas as first names for you and I am not at all bothered by the ends-in-an-a-sound Jonah and Erza sibling pair or the ends-in-s first/middle combos of Elias James and Silas James. In fact, for me, those sound repetitions are pluses. Our oldest is named Noah and we had a lot of ends-in-a/ah names on our list for a second boy (Elijah, Isaiah, Joshua, Micah). Joshua ended up being a top contender.
As for the middle, if Wilder is almost but not quite, nature names aren’t as common for boys, but Reed might make a nice middle for you. Ezra Reed is particularly appealing.
For the girl name, I liked a lot of Swistle’s suggestions and the idea of using Harper or Avery as a middle so I’m going to do some mixing and matching using her lists.
Frances Harper
Judith Avery
Miriam Harper
Naomi Avery
Phoebe Harper
Ruth Avery
Sylvia Avery
Ezra Reed – I like that!
My suggestion is to use Willa and call her Billie. That way you get the thrill of stealing a patrilineal name for a daughter, an opt-out from the W-W alliteration and the double -a endings with Jonah, and the tom-boyish-ness of a traditionally male name. (While also getting some cool female role models).
I wouldn’t use James in the middle though. I’d look for something like Avery and Parker, but less popular. Billie Emery, Billie Ainsley, Billie Linden, Billie Ansel, Billie Skyler, etc.
OMG I LOVE this suggestion! I have been loving Frances nn Frankie for a girl recently, and the Willa nn Billie is SO ADORABLE. I have a lot of Williams in my family and that is such a sweet way to honor them if we were to have a girl next.
The most recent season of Dr. Who has a (female) character named Bill Potts – not sure if it’s supposed to be short for anything. I found watching a TV show with an appealing adult character with the name I planned to use super helpful when I was pregnant. Maybe it would work for you too?
Woops…I over-nested with this reply. I am aware that Amanda isn’t the one having the baby right now = ).
I agree with Swistle that it sounds as if you and your wife just get more excited about boys’ names than girls’. It seems unlikely, though, that your daughter would later thank you for giving her an all-boy name. I think she would spend her whole life dealing with confusion, pity, snickers, and bureaucratic hassles because of her name. I bet she would even have to spell something basic like Henry constantly, because people just wouldn’t believe they heard her name correctly. Elliott seems a little easier to wear (although it’s not my style, I admit) since it’s in the top 1000 for girls right now.
That said, giving your daughter a non-girly, unisex name certainly seems like a good fit for you. In addition to Campbell and Sloane, how about Blake, Holland, or Sawyer?
It could be a fun little way to buck gender norms to give your son(s) names ending in the “uh” sound, and not your girls. Jonah, Ezra, Naomi, and Paige, for example.
I think Willa W-rhymes-with-foreign sounds great (my name is alliterative, both pre- and post-marriage and I’ve always enjoyed it), and despite what I just said about it being cool to switch the uh-ending around, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with brother and sister sharing it.
How about some sweet, simple classics? Especially as first names these are not nearly so common as they might seem:
Rose
Anna
Leigh
Jane
Tessa
Mary
I love the suggestion of Willa nn Billie!! So great – and Willa W- is powerful. But also just using Billie alone? Or Scottie. I live in a place where there are lots of Finleys for girls – maybe it’s not as popular where you are? Or Hunter? Or another surnamey name not currently common – Devereaux (Davey), Bellamy (Baye), Calloway (Callie, Lo), Flynn, Grady, Heath, Penn, Rooney. I know some may not be perfect with the surname. (I’ve always loved the idea of a little girl called Lady Grady.)
I think you have solid choices for boys! Just wait to meet the babe? Good luck and keep us posted!!
Every time I think of a name that I like with Jonah and your last name, I see Swistle already has it covered, so I have only one suggestion: if Naomi is not exactly right, what about Noemie? I have long liked this name (and Naomi, too!), and it works well internationally.
Noemie Avery W.
Noemie Harper W.
I was going to suggest Noemie (or Noemi) as well!
I feel like Jonah has a hint of biblical to it, but with enough other cultural connotations that it’s not overwhelmingly so. (i.e. Abraham is ALL biblical to me) Noemi to me meets the same standard, being so close to Naomi, but a shade different.
It also has a different ending from Jonah, is not overly frilly and has the modern feel of Harper or Avery since it can’t really be attached to a specific historical time period.
What about pairing it with a tribute to nature name:
Noemi Wren W.
Noemi Skye W.
Noemi Juniper W.
Noemi Willow W.
Noemi Wilder W.
Or a family name:
Noemi Willa W.
And for what it’s worth, I love all of your boy names and don’t find any of the pairings troublesome .
I do think you are overthinking the “ends in A” thing. Honestly, I don’t think I would have noticed had you not pointed it out.
I love Willa. I also love cross-gender namesakes. I think I love both enough to overlook my usual dislike of first/last name alliteration. If you can’t get passed this, I would strongly encourage you to consider Willa in the middle name position.
I do not like boys-names-on-girls. Maybe if girls names could be used on boys without people getting their knickers in a twist it’d be OK. I often hear people say they like it because they want a “strong name” for a girl. But to me, that implies girls (and their names) can’t be strong on their own. Even in the case of a namesake, I would prefer changing the name. Willia for William, Jacoba for James/Jacob, etc.
I agree that your preferences and likes are in conflict. I think deciding which is more important, a name you like, or a name that meets your preferences will help. I also wonder if branching out into other name categories might help. You like gender neutral, but prefer less common, so I wonder if less common word/virtue/nature type names might appeal? Verity, Bliss, Juniper, Sonnet, Cedar, Honor, Luna, etc.
If my second daughter had been a boy, I was pulling for a middle name of Stacey, after a beloved college roommate (female) who passed away. I thought it went particularly well with John, Gabriel, Isaiah, and Levi.
Building off Harper and Willa, a slightly “modern pioneer” style might work too? I totally made that category up, but names that “fit” for me there are Ruby, Violet, Cecily, Marlowe, Beatrix. I think Ruby Foreign is glamorous!
I think Elias James works just fine and is a very handsome choice.
For girls, what about Hallie? It feels like a good compromise of Avery and Harper but not trendy and its frills free but still feminine. Jonah and Hallie.
Hallie James sounds very nice.
Ooh I like Hallie! It occurs to me that Hallie could be a nickname for either Henry or Harriet…although I think I like just straight Hallie best.
I wonder if Abigail might fit the bill? Cool biblical, not too girly, fun nickname of Abby. It definitely sounds like a sister to Jonah, Ezra and Elias.
I also recently met a teenage girl named Logan and it felt fresh and unexpected.
Or maybe Cameron.
You said that you’d be willing to name your daughter, Henry, but your wife vetoed it. Also, you mentioned that you both liked, Elliot. Both of those names led me to think of:
Henrietta or perhaps even Harriet? I think both of those names are so lovely and strong without being frilly.
I love Elliott-for-a-girl but call her Lottie.
And the Harriet suggestion is sweet…
Please send an update! I’m really curious how this one works out :)
I want you to use the name Wren. It is so nice, used for men and women around the world, and can be either cute (birdie, etc) or kickass.
Just my 2 cents, but Wren with the baby’s surname is a bit of a tongue twister!
That said, Wren is a great name. :)
My friend has a Jonah and a Robert, and I know a woman named Naomi with a son Jonah, so I am already shipping Naomi and Jonah as a sibling set. I also really like Willa and I don’t think it’s weird to have siblings whose names end the same way. They only have a limited time of being thought of as a sibling set anyway. (I also really like Paige and Silvie, and I’m bummed they are vetoed. Paige in particular seems like it would be perfect.)
I also thought of Eden and Arden as non-frilly women’s names, that you might like, but I don’t know that they work with Foreign. Alas. Two of my personal girl favorites that might appeal to you are Iris and Simone. I think Simone’s “own” ending is different enough from the “en” of Foreign that it works. Or what about a one syllable, classic name like Mae/May, Maeve, Maude, Jane, June, Rose, Ruth, Eve, Bea, Blair(e), Pearl, or Ann(e).
Maybe if your wife is ambivalent about girl names, she could give you a list of acceptable names and you could have final say. And she could have final say over the boy name within parameters. It’s so frustrating when your partner seems to not like *anything*.
OH! And while Elias James is not necessarily “perfect” with their matching “s” sounds, I would still use James. In fact, I like the idea of using James no matter the gender of the kiddo so long as their first name isn’t also one syllable (and maybe even then.)
Good luck and keep us posted!
Ack, I forgot Edith. Edith James/Avery Foreign. Edie Foreign. Spunky, classic, not frilly.
And Fae/Fay!
so many great options.
My favorite unexpected “boy” name on a girl in Jasper. Its vibe is pretty different from Harper, Avery, Raleigh, etc. though, so maybe not quite right for you. It also repeats Jonah’s initial.
Honestly I love Willa W—-n. I think it’s memorable and has a pleasing rhythm. I also love the suggestion of Billie for a nickname.
You didn’t mention these at all, but your dislike of “frilly” names makes me think of nature names. Do any of those appeal? Many are definitely unisex, too.
Hazel
Iris
Lark
Skye
Luna
Juniper
Ashby
Sparrow
Laurel
Clover
Reed
Pearl
Willow
Ruby
Coriander
Cedar
Also Sage!
Mallory. Mallory and Jonah. Mallory Foreign.
Frances (as another person suggested).
Sonya. Sonya and Jonah. Sonya feels like it is due for a come back. Sonya James is lovely.
Felicity (or is it too frilly?). Jonah and Felicity is a nice sibling pair.
Jemimah – popular in the UK but has a different history in the US. Might lock you in a J pattern. Jemimah Foreign is excellent. Jemimah is a lesser-known Biblical name if you want to keep that going.
I like Sonya, but Sonya and Jonah is pretty rhymey.
Do you like Cora?
I have a Joseph and Naomi and it is a great set. Naomi is not girly-girl nor unisex which I like, the only drawback is lack of an obvious nickname.
We had trouble with names prefering wildly different styles and eventually we chose a category that we agreed on most and chose names from that. Going down to a couple of dozen choices was a great relief and we ended with a name that wasn’t either of our first choice but that we were both happy with.
Coincidentally the category we chose was biblical and the name was Naomi :)
Other names we liked were Tabitha, Keturah, Mary, Lydia.
Nickname for Naomi – Mimi!
I have a son named Francisco, we call him Frankie. At the playground a couple of weeks ago we bumped into a little girl who also goes by Frankie. Her mom said to me, “I’m surprised to meet a boy Frankie, I was sure us girls had taken that name over by now!”
So that was irritating, right?
Not sure I can fully articulate why, but something about the territorial attitude of “names can and should be taken out of the boy column in the name of girls’ empowerment” irks me enough to share it here as a data point against the boy-names-on-girls mindset. I just don’t think it’s quite the right way to make a stand for gender equity or empowerment….at least not based on where we are as a society today. I know a few girl and boy Frankies, fwiw, and one of the things I LIKE about the nickname is that it’s unisex…I just didn’t love hearing another mom admit her goal or mindset around calling her daughter Frankie was to carry the name off wholesale to the girl side of things.
I agree. I don’t mind boyish nicknames but history has shown that once a name moves into the girl column (Tracy and Stacy, Cari, Loren) they don’t get moved back. There are far fewer traditional male names so lets leave those for the boys.
I have a boy Charlie and know exactly what you’re talking about!
Hmmm, I also am against using boy names for girls. However, the reason that it irks me is because it reveals our society’s higher value for masculinity and the blatant devaluing of femininity. People see little girls with masculine names as cute, tomboyish, strong, etc. Whereas, when a boy’s name “goes to the girls,” parents won’t use it for their boys anymore because they don’t want to imbibe their son with any feminine qualities.
I see this devaluing of femininity everywhere in our culture–girls who don’t want to like, pink, princesses, tea parties anymore because it’s not “cool,” women who won’t watch The Bachelor, rom-coms, Real Housewives because it’s not “cool,” but being a sports fan, being “one of the guys,” having any hobby that is male dominated is “cool.” Sorry if this is too wordy and doesn’t make sense. But it is something that I feel goes unnoticed by many people, and we just accept it without analyzing the biases that it reveals.
i prefer the shorter name Eli over Elias. Jonah and Eli just sound so great together and Eli James is a cool name!
Jonah Robert and Eli James
As far as girl names go Willa is great but I’m not a big fan of alliteration, although I understand that many do.
A few suggestions that I think have the same “feel” as Willa:
Bailey
Cassidy
Codie
Delaney
Faith
Hadley
Hailey
Hope
Ivy
Kinsey
Laney
Mabel
Maisie
Nellie
Opal
Perry
Presley
Good luck!
What about Susanna? Too frilly?
Jonah Robert and Susanna James
Susanna is a lovely biblical name, familiar, but so underused in my opinion. Susie is a great nickname too!
😀
Sage! I like it as a middle too (Willa Sage Foreign).
I like names ending in -er with your last name like Foreign.
Girls: Piper, Ember, Becker, Ginger
Boys: Oliver, Fletcher, Asher
Maren!
Oh wait, I just remembered your last name, might be too rhym-y. I’ll put in another vote for Lydia instead!
I like Ezra James or Elias James for a boy.
For a girl, Willa James works. I also like Naomi, Esther, Phoebe and Lydia. Also wanted to suggest Leah. And for a less popular unisex option: Darby.
Well, when you said your family had a naming tradition of William and you could use Willa, I admit that *I* had a little gasp of pleasure at how awesome that idea is. I also really like Willa, and the alliteration and -a endings seem fine in my opinion.
I also thought of Phoebe for a girl, or Piper. Flannery, Arden, Cleo, Sadie, Sally.
I don’t think two -a/-ah names is an issue.
Willa W@rren also sounds pretty badass to me. I say go for it.
Elias James sounds fine to me (and I’m putting in a vote for Eli!)
I love Naomi, but if it doesn’t feel right to you, maybe Natalie?
I don’t subscribe to the gender binary, but I would not name a girl Henry- not unless you’d be willing to name a boy Heather.
Instead of Corrine, what about Coraline?
It’s interesting to me that you like Ainsley but not Avery. Maybe you’d like April?
Suggestions I liked:
Sage
Ruby
Ruth
Simone (repeats the long O sound)
Mae
Hazel
Hadley
Mallory
Phoebe
Claudia
Other ideas:
Sydney (I love Sydney + Jonah)
Grace
Harlow (a bit hard to say with the last name)
Margot
Felice
Francesca (Frankie)
Lily
Gabrielle (Gabi)
Nico
Brooke
Molly
Adrian/Adrienne
Talia
I love the suggestions of Edith and Naomi as sisters for Jonah. I think if the style you both agree on is unisex surname names, you should look for some options that are less used. Less common surname options might feel less trendy or time-stamped, since you have identified this as a concern. Some possibilities:
Kirby
Casey
Sheridan
Tierney
Barrett
Blaire
Hayes
Ellery
Emery
Holland
Darby
I agree with those suggesting the Eli as the full first name if baby is a big. Eli James W/Foreign.
For a unisex-leaning girl name, do you like Adler or Adley? I’ve seen them come up very occasionally for girls and I think they feel fresher than Harper/Avery/Elliot etc. I like Adler Ruth or Adler Sage, to borrow from others’ suggestions.
I really like Willa James for a girl. I have a little girl with an honor middle name James, and her name feels totally different to me than boy-name-as-a-trend just because for me the honor connection is so powerful.
If Willa doesn’t end up being It, I like the previous suggestions of short-and-classic girl names best for you. My favorites are Jane, June, May, and Nell. I also like Frances. Additionally, I’d like to offer up my son’s name, Emory, as a traditionally-masculine-name-for-a-girl choice. I think though that more girls are currently spelling it Emery.
I wonder if you’d like Esme (if you were willing to forego Ezra for a future child)?
Swistle’s suggestion of Esther made me think of variant Hester. The suggestion of Hallie made me think of more surnamey version Halley (bonus points for comet association).
I really like Willa James W, but I’m a big fan of alliteration.
Quincy immediately came to mind as a girl name that fits your style.
Hadley too.
I’d vote Sarah for a girl and Elliot for a boy! Even though you like Elliot for a girl…it’s a great boys name too! Jonah and Elliot. Jonah and Sarah.
I know this is an old post, but I wanted to put my two cents in for the lurkers searching for baby names (as I am). I have a nephew named Jonah, and his older brother is Abram. I have always thought that those two names sound great together, stylistically as well as when spoken together: “Abram and Jonah”.