Gabriel or Elijah?

[AngryBirdsNoMore]

What do these names bring to mind? And how would you abbreviate them?

Gabriel - love it.

Neither. Gabriel will. Get called Gay, Gabe or Gabby. Elijah is awful in my opinion. I assume you're religious.

My teen Gabriel gets called Gabe, G, G dog, Gabee, Gabester.
Don't think he's ever been called Gay or Gabby.
We're not religious but assume if you want.

I don't associate Elijah with religion or the Bible at all. It just makes me think of Elijah Wood. I really love this name.

Gabriel is very biblical to me though and I just think of the angel.

Love them both. As they are longer names they are likely to get shortened, then I prefer Eli to Gabe.

Elijah. I really wanted this for my son but dh hated it, just couldn’t persuade him.
I still pref it to the name we gave ds.

I like both and don’t assume religious family when I hear the names. Most of the names of my family and friends are biblical and nobody is particularly religious.

Gabriel will just become another Gabe, not that there is anything nothing with that. It's a nice name.

I love them both. Good choices! I love Jonah too

The NN "Gay" would put me off Gabriel TBH

Why is that a problem?

I love Elijah.

The only thing it brings up for me is vampire diaries. Not a bad association.

Yes.
Elijah makes me think of Mendelssohn's oratorio, and Gabriel brings nativity plays to mind.

It seems everyone on MN is calling their son Gabriel at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised if it made top 5 names lost this year or next.

Thank you all for comments! Very helpful.

I love the name Gabriel/Gabe.

Gabriel: angel
Elijah: Old Testament prophet

I love both

It is very funny to see that in response to the OP’s question ‘what do the names bring to mind?’ quite a few people thought it worth responding ‘neither’ 😂

I know an absolutely lovely pair of brothers named Elijah and Gabriel, who both largely go by their full names. I think Gabriel’s role in the Bible is probably more widely known because of the Nativity.

Both biblical sounding to me. Prefer Elijah nickname Eli

I absolutely adore both! But I am religious and would probably assume you were too if you used these names so something to bear in mind if you’re like a militant atheist or something!

I like both and ds is Gabriel. Most call him Gabe. He has never been called gay as a nickname. I still adore his name.

No, total opposite for me! Elijah definitely brings to mind dark hair, and Gabriel is blonde.

Both are wonderful names OP!

Also to add, I wouldn't assume you're religious. I went for Biblical names and I am somewhat religious, but I didn't choose them for that reason exactly. I did a lot of biblical studies at Uni and that's mostly why I became fond of the names. My religious convictions aren't specific enough to choose names on religious grounds!

I know lots of people with Biblical names that aren't religious.

Love Elijah. Gabriel just makes me think of Angel Gabriel.

Eli and Gabe

Similar vibe - middle class, relaxed confident

They are both very nice although both a bit overused