Boy's names - Judah and Isaiah

[Balonzette]

I know several American children with these names but no British! I love them both. (Before anyone says they're very religious - I know. I like that bit )

What do you think? Are they usable in the UK or too uncommon?

I like them both and can't see why you can't use them.

I like Josiah as well, which is also underused

@BrilliantBetty Interesting you think Jude is "a happy sort of name", it makes me think of Hardy's Jude the Obscure, not so happy.
By the way I love both Judah and Isiah.

Both gorgeous names, OP!

I was christened, I got married in a church, I celebrate Christmas and Easter, and I accompany my grandparents to church every now and then. I wouldn't go as far as to call myself a practicing religious Christian, but I'd still definitely class myself as culturally Christian. After all, they taught us about the Bible in my primary school, and I celebrate Christian holidays.

So therefore I've always see choosing biblical names as being part of my culture rather than to do with how religious I may or may not be.

I definitely wouldn't assume someone was particularly religious, or indeed religious at all, just because they chose a biblical name for their child.

The wrong attempts at spelling and pronouncing Isaiah could be an ongoing annoyance. Nothing wrong with the name itself.

I've never heard Isaiah pronounced other than eye -z - EYE - uh.

Love Isaiah! Beautiful meaning and the book is pretty good! I’ve heard of one Isaiah, met 2 wee Judahs. If I heard the name I’d def assume he was from a Christian family

Judah and Isaiah are great names. My two boys have OT names one a prophet/book in bible and the other her one of the 12 sons of Jacob. My daughter has a Hebrew name as we couldn't agree on a biblical girl name.
I love Elisha, Elijah, Ezekiel and the meanings are important to me.
Meaning of my first is angel/messenger and he is linked to tithes in the bible. The second means Happy as the 'women will call me blessed' paraphrased 😂

@YesDearNoDear

I really like the name Judas, but I suspect it's always going to have negative connotations in the UK - being a Judas is part of most people's vocabulary. I really liked Isaiah, but DH vetoed as too religious 🙄

Jesus actually had two disciples called Judas! The horrible one and a nice one. He's also called Thaddeas and Jude, to avoid confusion with Judas Iscariot (who betrayed Jesus). But he was called Judas too! You could always name your son Judas after St Jude but you'd have to be pretty brave, and explain yourself constantly!

How about Jonas?

@Ubercornsdiscoball

I have a Jude and we call him Judas when he is being horrid

😂😂😂

@Fivebeanchilli

I've never heard Isaiah pronounced other than eye -z - EYE - uh.

i think the other way is american.

I love them!

I love them both OP and I’m not a Christian.

My DC have Hebrew names which are fairly common and that is not part of my heritage but is part of the one I grew up with.

@Balonzette Thadeus was the twin name to go with Balthazar. Looking at them at 21 months, they'd have suited the name they'd have been given our of these two.

@WillaWeatherspoon

I like Judah, makes me think of Judah Ben Hur. In a similar vein also really like Josiah, I wanted a Josiah Edward nn Jed (like President Bartlett from the West Wing) but I was vetoed

Isaiah is also nice.

I have NC because this is so outing but this my son's name. We love it

Judah makes me think of that young rapper named Aitch saying "Judy" in his strong accent.

Isaiah is lovely, as is Ezekiel shame it doesn't match with your surname

I like Isaiah, and am surprised it isn't more popular in Britain, considering the popularity of names like Isaac and other biblical names. I would only pronounce Isaiah "eyes-eye-uh". Emphasis on the second syllable and the ending sound is in line with other boys biblical names like Josiah and Zephaniah. I think Eyes-ay-uh is the American version.

Not so keen on Judah, but I love Jude. Josiah is nice too.

I've know a Judah in the UK and I love it!

How can names be considered too biblical?

Doesn't that also apply to Matthew, Mark, Luke John James Benjamin & So on

Esther Ruth Delilah Mary Sarah c et etc

They can be considered too Biblical because they might not be mainstream.

A few decades ago, names like Isaac and Gabriel would have been considered 'too biblical'.

A name like Theodore would have been considered 'too American'.

Trends change

I've only ever known it to be pronounced Eye-zay-ah. I'm not in the UK though.

Judah was quite happy to shag a woman who he believed to be a prostitute.

I think Isaiah is lovely, don’t like Judah. It sounds like my dd saying Jude when she’s annoyed. She has a friend Jude and we hear it a lot.

@Jossbow

How can names be considered too biblical?

Doesn't that also apply to Matthew, Mark, Luke John James Benjamin & So on

Esther Ruth Delilah Mary Sarah c et etc

MN is really funny about 'biblical'. Noah would have been considered far too biblical twenty years ago, and there were more than four thousand of them born in 2019.

Judah and his dad and brothers are a good indication of how illogical the distinctions are. All from Genesis, all Hebrew, and yet the MN categories are very clear.

Jacob
Joseph
Benjamin
Dan = Not Too Biblical

Reuben
Simeon
Levi
Asher = A Bit Biblical But Probably Still OK

Issachar
Zebulun
Naphtali
Judah
Gad = Way Too Biblical, WTF Are You Thinking

And now I have Jacob, Jacob and sons.... in my head.

@ZoyaTheDestroyer your post is SO right, it really made me chuckle.