Jonah ....or not?

[Miffyonline]

Hi everyone,

Could you please let me know what you think of the name Jonah?

Someone told me 'a Jonah' is someone who has a lot of bad luck, but I've never heard this before.... have you? Would it be a reason not to choose this name?

I like the name, but I've heard the same about the bad luck. A friend often calls one of his DDs his little Jonah.
He comes from Newcastle in case this has relevance.

we called DS Jonah
has been met with nothing but positive comments (apart from my dad but there are other issues there so not relevant!)
the 'bad luck' thing comes from the jonah and the whale bible story, which i can't remember accurately anyway, but can't remember as being that bad

Don't listen to the bad luck stories. Jonah is a great name and underused at the moment.

I love Jonah. Also Joel, Joseph and plain Joe.

the 'bad luck' thing comes from the jonah and the whale bible story
it was something like, Jonah was a passenger on a ship which was sinking and the other people decided J. had brought bad luck and tossed him overboard. Whereat a whale swallowed him whole and then sicked him up unharmed on dry land. Which might be viewed as having compensatory good luck!

I liked Jonah when looking for name for ds but couldn't get over the bad luck association.

I love the name.

It's a great name, and as Grimma says the "bad luck" was only temporary!

thanks for the story reminder! knew it wasn't all bad.

Jonah is a great name and I wouldn't be put off by the biblical Jonah. His story is not just one of bad luck, instead he can be seen as a forerunner to Jesus - both from Nazareth, both slept through storms, both preached to non Jews and both spent 3 days dead before being resurrected.

One of my favourite boys' names.

Nice name, the perfect combination of being not very common, and yet well-known enough to spell, and not raise eyebrows etc.

Jonas is better I think. Jonah is too associated with being a bringer of doom / bad luck.

Jonah definitely isn't bad luck, in the story he told his shipmates to throw him overboard thus saving the ship and its crew. It's a hero's name

Not my cup of tea. I would assume the parents of a Jonah were fanatical church-goers.

Oh no - not keen. Perhaps because of the biblical connotations/the bad luck story (yes, I know he was swallowed by a whale afterwards, but I know mariners refer to a Jonah as a bringer fad luck - I've seen master and commander )

I love joe though...

Love the name Jonah. Have never managed to convince DP of its greatness though. I know of the 'bad luck' association but it wouldn't put me off.

Know a delightful,popular Jonah. Friends call him Jo,though! Agree Jonas is nice,too.

I like it.

Isn´t Jonas a variant of it?

Love it.

Jonah WAS my DS2's name until shortly before he was born when we changed it because we could no longer ignore the 'bad luck' associations.
Fishermen are very superstitious apparently and DH's uncle who was a professional fisherman (ie owned his own trawler) commented that he wouldn't be able to allow our son on his boat EVER if he was called that!

Have never liked the other name we chose as much. I still love Jonah but I wanted him to be Jonah - not 'a jonah'.

FYI also a German girls name- JONNA. Equivalent to Joanne I think.

Nice for a boy too though just don't move to Munich or such.

How about Josiah as an alternative?

My 6 year old is called Jonah and we moved to a fishing village 2 years ago, one of his best friend's dad is a fisherman but no one has ever said anything about it being bad luck, maybe they're being polite though! My husband claimed it was a bad luck name but I've never had anyone say that to me. You can shorten it to Jo and I think it has a great sound, soft but not girly, for a boy. It means peaceful or dove.