Zachary Malachy or Gabriel

[Drunkenmonkey]

To go with DS Cillian. Other suggestions welcome. I have another son whose name I won't mention as both together might be outing.

I don't want anything too common for our next child as it would make Cillian seem out of place. Want something with a similar feel, it doesn't have to be Irish though. Surname is one syllable.
We already have a girls name chosen, Alannah.
Thanks

I love Malachy, and I do think Mac works as a nn.

Dh doesn't like Malachi with that pronunciation, only Malachy with the ee sound at the end.
Im wondering if I could come round to the Mal nickname

Malachy is very dated in Ireland but I still thinks it’s a great name, potentially due a come back. No keen on the other two.

Gabriel or Malachy. I don’t think you can have Kai for Malachy. It’s the wrong sound. But I do think you can have Mac.

I like them all, and I agree with pps - call him what you like! My children all ended up with naturally evolving nicknames that have only a passing resemblence to their given names.
I want you to call him Malachy (Mac) just to be subversive! Gabriel would be my second choice.
I like Cillian. Is is it pronounced with a hard or a soft 'c'?

I like Cillian. Is is it pronounced with a hard or a soft 'c'?

It’s a hard C. Like K in English.

Thank you. I wondered because I know a Killian.

Thanks for the opinions. I think it has narrowed it down to Malachy or Gabriel. I'm not sure Zachary really goes, although I do think it's the safest option of the three.

Love Gabriel and think it goes well with Cillian. Any Gabriels I’ve come across have never shortened to Gabe.

If you don’t like Malachy for potential Mal nickname (have come across a few Mals here), maybe Michael?

@Drunkenmonkey we have a Malachi, I love Malachy and Zackary. We went with Malachi as we wanted the Hebrew version. Nice choices.

Should add my child gets shortened to Mal, Kai, Mally by others, but at home he's always called Malachi.

Another vote for either Malachy or Gabriel! I like Mac and Gabe, but if your DH doesn't like Gabe, then I'd go Malachy and use Mac. He might get Mal later, but not necessarily. Gabriel doesn't have any other options I can think of, so if Gabe is out, I wouldn't use it.

Gabriel is my favourite boys name. It’s beautiful.

If you want a beautiful and underused biblical name I offer you Jotham.

Otherwise Gabriel!

I’m Irish and I’ve always had the perception of Malachy being quite a “chavvy” name for want of a better description. It’s one of the names you’ll hear shouted across a playground in a very strong Belfast accent.

@Mishmased good to hear from a mum of a Malachi. Do you get good reactions to it? Do people tend to know it? We get a lot of confused faces with Cillian so wondered it would be the same.

@Rachellow my DH is a bit worried about the perception of it in Ireland. He thought it was maybe considered quite old fashioned.

One of the reasons we liked Cillian so much was that it is perceived very well in ireland as it's a trendy name over there at the moment I believe. Do you know how Gabriel is perceived? Is it considered old fashioned? I don't think we will move over there but there is always a chance.

If I'd ever had another boy we would have called him Malakai. I do like Gabriel too though.

Malachy for sure. Zachary is nice but I really don't like Zach as a nickname, or Gabe, whereas Mal is still lovely (boys with 3-syllable names ALWAYS get shortened in my experience)

I only like Gabriel out of those three but I do love that name

Malachy or Zachary
Gabriel sounds like a girls name to me. Nothing wrong with that i guess

Not sure about Malachy, but that's probably because I'm not sure how it's pronounced

Rory would go well with Cillian, and it has the Y ending that you would get with Malachy and Zachary.

Biased but Zachary, Zac for short :)

@Sh05

Not sure about Malachy, but that's probably because I'm not sure how it's pronounced

Mal Ah kee