I give up. Someone name DS2! The criteria are...

[Jojobump1986]

• It must be biblical.
  
• It can't be too unusual.
  
• It can't be too popular.
  
• It must be more than 4 letters & at least 2 syllables.
  
• It can't begin with: G, B, D or J.
  
• It can't be: Andrew, Caleb, Elijah, Isaac, Matthew, Micah, Michael, Noah, Peter, Reuben, Samuel, Simon, Stephen, Timothy, Tobias, Zachariah or Zephaniah.
  
• It must go with John as a middle name.
  

You have 6-11 weeks. I hereby abdicate all responsibility.

[RalphtheTimid]

Linus

[xigris]

Elias?

[Jojobump1986]

Sorry, meant to come back ages ago!

CheshireDing That's exactly how I feel!

Right, feedback...
It can't begin with a J, cute as JJ is, because then he'd be JJB. I used to work there so... no!
I keep suggesting Melchizedek to people. Oddly enough, they think I'm joking. Can't imagine why!
I love Linus big Peanuts fan but DH thinks it sounds like a girl's name. He's also ruled out: Solomon, Elias, Mordechai, Silas, Thaddeus, Ebenezer, Ephraim, Isaiah, Malachi, Nathan/Nathaniel, Thomas, Gabriel, Christian, Christopher, Alexander, Marcus, Lucas, Emmanuel, Felix, Philip, Moses, Abraham, Elliot, Ethan... I think it'd be easier if I just ruled him out!

At the moment the shortlist consists of: Simeon & Levi. I'm supposed to make the final decision because DH did for DS1. His preference is for Simeon but would be happy with either. My concerns are that Simeon is too like simian & DS1 was rather monkey like. Sim might also sound a little odd with our surname. I've been told that Levi is seen as quite a 'lower class' type name & it's only 4 letters, as are his middle & surnames. Might look a little odd written down. I have vaguely wondered about using Jonathan as his first name & thinking of a suitable middle name but that just feels like going back to square one! John was chosen as it's both of our fathers' middle name.

The poor child is currently being referred to as Sue. I'm determined that he shall have a proper, gender-appropriate name by the time he's born! With DS1 we had a shortlist & thought we'd just decide when he arrived. He was referred to as 'the baby' for the first 24 hours before DH stepped in & made the decision. I don't need that pressure to decide on the spot again!

[AmandaPayneAteTooMuchChocolate]

Ah, I was about to say JJB would be fine given they aren't even around any more. But if you used to work there I agree it's a bit weird!

Simeon is nice. We have one in our extended family. It's unusual, but not massively so. He did used to get 'Simon' a lot as a child, but I think people are more used to unusual names now. Plus there are more Simeon's about. It seems to be more popular with those from Caribbean backgrounds/ancestry in my (limited and purely anecdotal) experience. Maybe because I think generally those cultures use a lot of biblical names? I'd prefer it to Levi.

I wouldn't let a nickname put me off unless it was a really common name. You are fighting a losing battle not to have a Matthew called Matt by some people for example. The Simeon I know is always called Simeon. Or another nickname that isn't actually related to any of his given names IYSWIM (like being known as Lofty if you are tall, or Paddy if you are Irish).

[snuffaluffagus]

Jacob's sons-
Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Naphtali
Isaachar
Asher
Dan
Zebulun
Gad
Benjamin
Judah
Joseph

(that's my childhood love of Joseph's technicoloured dreamcoat coming out...)

Reuben is my fave I think, although I like Jacob too.. but that's going back to the JJB thing!

[MortifiedAdams]

Levi is akin to Kaden, Jayden etc round my way

[cece]

Jonathan is very nice and I am definitely not biased oh no and a fab nn Jonny.

Not keen on Levi. Simeon is the better of the two but tbh neither are my cup of tea.

[KittenOfDoom]

Ah, go on, Melchizedek would be awesome :) He could be Mel, or Dex

[Jojobump1986]

I liked Reuben until some friends started calling their DS 'Rooby-booby'... Kinda put me off! I do like Asher too but I think DH isn't so keen on 'Ash'. I really should've married Jacob! The only 2 of the 12 I wouldn't consider are Gad & Zebulun! Although Zeb is quite cute... We've already used one of them for DS1!

[abbyfromoz]

My nephew is Asher. Love the name. (Biased!)
Also love Rueben. I wouldn't say 'rooby booby'... But i would call him Roo.

[abbyfromoz]

Btw i know about 5 Noah's and 3 Levi's... Not 'lower class' names in Aus, lovely names if they weren't so over used.

[Artichook]

I am afraid Simeon and is too simian for me. How can you worry about Reuben being Rooby-boody (v unlikely) and now worry about calling your son a name that sounds almost identical to a word meaning monkey-like. I do know a Simeon and people often call him Simone which annoys him know end.

Levi is OK but I only know one and he bit my daughter and had to be put on special measures at nursery so that slightly put me off!

I love Reuben and Elijah. Why is your DH against them?

[abbyfromoz]

Has anyone suggested Nathaniel? (Aka Nathanael) meaning gift from God.

[strawberrypenguin]

I can't help with actual names but could you solve the JJB thing by giving him a second middle name? (If you like a J name as his first of course!)

[MortifiedAdams]

Abraham, nn Abe?

[NumberOneNumpty]

Amos?

[SuburbanRhonda]

What a shame the letter J is verboten.

Otherwise you could have had Jesus and I can't see anyone objecting to that

[ellesabe]

Titus

[BoyMeetsWorld]

I like Zimran meaning song or singer and Zuriel - rock or strength of God

Tricky criteria though. I do like Simeon but it was the nn we gave our cat, Simba!

[Jojobump1986]

What does everyone think of Aaron? How would people pronounce it? I think it's a lovely name but I'd want to pronounce it air-on & I suspect a lot of people would automatically say arran. It's cruel to give a child a name that people will get wrong, isn't it?

[coffeewineandchocolate]

I would say air on but i think he would get a mixture of both.

How about Matthew, Christopher, Nathaniel or David? I do love reuben tho

[Suzieismyname]

Pontius, Herod, Yahweh?

[abbyfromoz]

Never heard Aaron pronounced 'Airon'... It's my cousin's name.

[MadamFolly]

I have pronounced it Ah-ren or Air-ren depending on the persons preference.

How about Simon as in Simon-Peter?

[nooka]

I think you should go for Jonathon (fab name) and use Levi for the middle name.

Jonathon Levi (JLB)

Simeon sounds and looks a bit odd to me, and I think would get mispronounced and spelled all the time.

I'd pronounce Aaron as Air-ron not A-run (but see above!)

We were going to call ds2 Ezra. Ezra John sounds cool to me too.