Elias or Elijah?

[rubberducker]

For DS3, due on Wednesday!

We've been round the houses on names but have finally settled on one of these two, partly because we both like Eli as a shortened version (but we'd rather use a longer version rather than Eli on its own).

Elijah has been my favourite pretty much all the way through this pregnancy, but DH prefers Elias. Looking at the 2014 stats, Elijah is 53 and on the rise whereas Elias isn't in the top 100 so Elias has the edge in that respect. I just don't like how it sounds quite as much as Elijah.

What do people think?

[LadyAntonella]

I really like Elijah and Eli. I don't like Elias, but I understand why you would prefer a less frequently used name. But then I do know a little baby Elias (he's gorgeous I just don't particularly like his parents' choice of name) and don't know any baby Elijahs! I have also met a toddler Eli (just Eli).

[Dontrocktheboat]

Both nice, think I might go for Elias though in case Elijah ends up in top 10!

[rubberducker]

Yes it's the ending up a top 10 name that bothers me - DS1 is Noah, unusual when we chose it, not so much now!

[Sophronia]

I prefer Elias. I also like Elisha which is a male Biblical name too but it would probably be assumed to be a girls name due to the a ending.

[DoinItFine]

I prefer Elias, it seems less fussy for an English kid.

[bluechameleon]

I have known 4 children named Elias - 3 have pronounced it Ill-ias (with a short i) and 1 Ell-ias - I assume you were planning to use the latter? I like it either way btw but I don't know if you would be bothered by the possibility for mispronunciation.

[JenniferAnistonsHair]

Elias is lovely. Never been a fan of Elijah really. I blame it on the fact that the "i" & the "j" together just look odd in my crazy eyes

[NovaArt3mis]

Both are lovely. Super helpful aren't I!

[rubberducker]

If we go for Elias we'd be using the Ill-ias pronunciation, to be honest I've never heard it said another way so hadn't considered that some would say Ell-ias.

We are currently a bit deadlocked with me in the Elijah camp and DH firmly in the Elias. So now we're considering ditching the longer versions that we can't agree on and just using Eli on its own. I know it is a name in its own right, but do you think people would always assume it was short for something?

[PersisFord]

There is a show my kids watch on Netflix about a tugboat named elias. It has a catchy tune.

[PersisFord]

If I met him I would struggle not to sing it. But it's a very nice song, and most people don't watch as much kids tv as me!