Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Jonah or Samuel?

29 replies

elliejelly · 22/10/2018 18:08

Two weeks to go, and can't quite choose between these two names... what do you think?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
OatsBeansBarley · 23/10/2018 12:56

I'd not choose Jonah because I do associate it with being a name for a jinx and it makes me want to sing " Jonah he lived in a whayayayale.."

However if you don't have those associations it's newer in popular usage than Samuel which revived over 30 years ago now.

twilightcafe · 23/10/2018 12:44

Samuel.

OutPinked · 23/10/2018 12:41

Jonah. Samuel is one of those dull nineties names that always becomes Sam.

ladycarlotta · 23/10/2018 11:09

I've never heard of the bad luck association! I really doubt it'll be the first thing many people think of. FWIW, we considered both names for our baby until it turned out she's a girl - obviously I think they're both lovely, so maybe wait and see how he looks when he arrives?

Original poster
elliejelly · 23/10/2018 08:52

Thank you everyone - so lovely to get such positive responses.

I think we are leaning towards Jonah at the moment... daisypond - I have only ever heard it to mean bad luck on here, so I'm hoping that not many people have that association any more, but it does put me off a little to be honest... the actual meaning of the name is 'dove' which is much nicer!

OP posts:
starkid · 22/10/2018 22:35

Samuel

Sallygoroundthemoon · 22/10/2018 22:08

Both lovely but I prefer Samuel.

looneymoons · 22/10/2018 22:07

Both lovely (and were both on my list). What put me off Jonah is that it could be shortened to sound like Joan - a bit too feminine for a boys name IMO

Shadow1234 · 22/10/2018 22:01

Jonah for definite

daisypond · 22/10/2018 19:48

Do you know what Jonah means? It's in the dictionary. "a person believed to bring bad luck to those around him; jinx".

brissle · 22/10/2018 19:45

Jonah is 1000x better than Samuel in my opinion!!!

DC2018 · 22/10/2018 19:43

I like Samuel best x

GreenDinosaur · 22/10/2018 19:42

Jonah is cute, you could buy him a whale babygro!
Samuel is ok but Sams are everywhere round here.

E20mom · 22/10/2018 19:37

Samuel definitely.

rollonoctober · 22/10/2018 19:29

I prefer Jonah but like both. You need to think about which you prefer between Sam and Joe though, as it's almost inevitable that either name will be shortened at some stage.

finallychangedmyusername · 22/10/2018 19:23

Two of my absolute favourite boys names. You can't go wrong with either.
Jonah is a little more of a biblical name that is currently enjoying some popularity (like Elijah, Noah, Ezra etc) as opposed to Samuel which is a little more biblical timeless (like Thomas, Benjamin, Daniel) if that helps. Gorgeous names.

busymamakins1 · 22/10/2018 19:15

Jonah is much nicer!!!

Starshapeddreams · 22/10/2018 19:15

Jonah, I know five Samuels/Sam's under 5!

deptfordgirl · 22/10/2018 19:13

Jonah. So much more interesting than Samuel.

daisypond · 22/10/2018 19:06

Samuel. Strongly dislike Jonah.

RavenWings · 22/10/2018 18:55

Jonah. Think Samuel is nice but Sam is a bit bland.

jenniuol · 22/10/2018 18:48

Jonah.

Velmasglasses · 22/10/2018 18:24

Jonah

ReginaPhalange89 · 22/10/2018 18:19

I really like both ! I'm loving Jonah at the minute so I'd choose that from the 2

JosellaPlayton · 22/10/2018 18:18

Samuel as I love Sam/Sammy as NN. Jonah is really nice too though, I don’t think there’s a bad choice!

Swipe left for the next trending thread