What do you like best?

[inpixiehollow]

Baby boy due next week. Keep going over the same names and we can't pick, nothing sticks!
MN will be John (non-negotiable) and last name begins with S and ends in N sound.

Iver/Ivor John - not sure which spelling to use, pronunciation like 'Iver' but Ivor more traditional spelling?
Malachai John
Asa John
Gabriel John
Elijah John
August John
Theodore 'Teddy' John

Daughter has an unusual but strong and traditional name, popularity is a concern for us. Think he will be baby no name!

Theodore Teddy

Love Gabriel.

Iver/Ivor John - I don't like it, it isn't terrible but....
Malachai John - love Malachi, are you pronouncing it like chai tea at the end tho? I like it ending to rhyme with guy
Asa John - feels unfinished
Gabriel John - just gorgeous
Elijah John - prefer Elias
August John - no, it's a month, not a cool name month and if you have to at least go Augustus
Theodore 'Teddy' John - lovely but pretty popular

Gabriel for sure

I like Elijah best then Theodore
Least favourite are Asa and August

Gabriel

I was going to say Gabriel John but I'd say scratch that if popularity bothers you. I'm hearing little Gabriels everywhere, same with Theodore (well Theo)
I love Malachi.

Iver is a place near Slough.

Not August, because it's too similar to Augustus John!

Theodore, probably.

I'm not keen on any of them apart from Gabriel.

Iver/Ivor John - possibly, hard to judge without the full surname
Malachai John - I quite like it. Likely to get Mal as a nn when older.
Asa John - don’t like
Gabriel John - safe bet
Elijah John - makes me think of Elton John
August John - too trendy with Princess Eugenie’s son
Theodore 'Teddy' John - massively popular

I love Malachi. And it goes beautifully with John.

Iver / Ivor - Not a fan sorry.
Malachi - Love it! Traditional yet uncommon.
Asa - Also love Asa. Sounds strong and cool.
Gabriel - I like it but don't like that it could be shortened to Gabe.
Elijah - Eli is one of my top names, so of course I love Elijah.
August- I like it but prefer Augustus.
Theodore - Cannot stand Theodore or any of its nicknames, especially Teddy. Sorry!

Iver/Ivor John - Ivor is too dated for me, Iver looks misspelt. Ivo is pretty cool though
Malachai John - okay if you don't mind regular misspellings
Asa John - really gorgeous, wish I was brave enough to use Asa (so my 3rd choice as I worry he'd get called "Asser" by ignorant people )
Gabriel John - the most classic sounding, so probably my 1st choice
Elijah John - too trendy/popular for me
August John - the "braver" but still classical choice so my 2nd option
Theodore 'Teddy' John - really trendy/overused now (so many Theo's/Teddy's/Theodore's - there were hardly any 30 years ago!)

Love Malachai

Iver/Ivor John - Iver is a village in Buckinghamshire. Ivor is ok but prefer Ivan
Malachai John - will be Mal. Malachai sounds like malloc, memory allocation function
Asa John - best of the bunch
Gabriel John - Gabriel too long
Elijah John - Elijah a bit babyish
August John - sounds like Disgust
Theodore 'Teddy' John - don't like Theodore and Teddy is overused

Malachi or Gabriel.
Asa doesn't work in English, unless you want bum jokes, and it's too late in the year for August.

Elijah

August - my favourite it's my current top boys name. Rising sharply, but still only 62 baby boys in 2020.

Gabriel - my second favourite of your list. However, you note popularity as a concern, it was 65th most popular boys in 2020 (888 babies) and had been rising since the 90's, seems to have plateaued somewhat over the last couple of years, but remaining popular. I don't know what your 'comfort level' with popularity is.

Don't pressure yourself too much on the name, you may look at him when he arrives and just know which ones right for him. I used this site to look at popularity names.darkgreener.com/#gabriel

Asher?

Theodore is very popular and as lovely as Gabriel and Elijah are, they are increasingly popular too.

Ivor and Asa are my favourites.

Gabriel! I also love Theodore but very popular where I am, and Edwards. Basically anything to give the nn Teddy.

Gabriel and Elijah are my favourites from your list

I also really like Elias

Ivor John sounds too similar to I've a John (a prostitute's client or a toilet in American English).

Ernerst John
Cedric John
Nathanial John
Mordecai John

Sacheverell.

Ivor the best but not keen tbh.

Conrad
Torin