Little brother's name

[ab03]

We are struggling with names for our boy due early next year, he'll be a little brother to Elizabeth who we are calling Elsie while she's little. If this baby had been a girl she would be Beatrice or Dorothy, but we're not sure now it is a boy.

My favourites that DH has vetoed are Arthur (he says too trendy), Edward (doesn't like matching initial with sister), Fraser (flat no) and Joseph (too biblical!?). His favourites are Jonathan, Harry, or Benjamin, which to be fair we had agreed on for our first but have since become friends with a Ben so I now find it weird!

There are lots more we each kind of like but we're not finding much in common! We had a much better list of names we both liked for girls but I feel like we've been through every boys name going now and need to start fresh. I would have said our taste was established but not too popular names but I don't know any more!

Family names we can't use are Alexander, Charlie, Thomas and Sebastian

Henry nn Harry would work well, especially as you say you your DH really likes Harry. I feel a full name with nn option would work best with Elizabeth/Elsie.

I'm surprised he has vetoed Joseph for being "too biblical" but is keen on Benjamin. Benjamin screams Biblical to me (not that that's a bad thing, it's a lovely name, but it is very traditionally biblical). Benjamin does go nicely with Elizabeth, but if you are now close to a Ben it could feel a little odd. Only you two knows whether you would be comfortable using it or not.

If you like Nicholas he could be Nicky for short while he's little? I agree Nick sound too old for a young boy, but short forms evolve over time to suit different ages.

Noah?

John goes better with Elizabeth imo than Jonathan - John was nearly as timeless as Elizabeth until the last decade or two, although it is underused now (Elizabeth being the ultimate timeless girls name- lovely choice!)

Edward and Joseph would be the other obvious options - neither have ever left the Top 100 so both pair really well with Elizabeth (Joseph as it is Biblical like Elizabeth, Edward as it is Royal like Elizabeth). Either would be a great pick imo - I don’t really understand your husbands objections as several of your choices are Biblical and anecdotally I share an initial with my brother and it was really handy for sharing/passing down labelled stuff (eg. at school) and it never caused any issues as we were Mr/Miss on post for example.

Other classic timeless boys ideas (that haven’t ever left the Top 100 - but most are Biblical, sorry!) - James, William, Daniel, George, David, Michael.

Jonathan is lovely.

Elsie and Jonty

Alexander
Willoughby
Montgomery
Donovon
Thomas
Timothy

Henry
Daniel
Matthew
Thomas
Luke

Joseph is too biblical but Benjamin is not?!

Both Jonathan and Benjamin are biblical names.

OP, you write
"Family names we can't use are Alexander, Charlie, Thomas and Sebastian".

Could you look for family names that you CAN use? Look for the names further back in your families. Perhaps someone had a nice middle name that you could use for your son.

Good suggestion @SkaneTos . My grandparents had traditional timeless names but some of their siblings had names that were just about to come back.

Well, the old answer here is - do the children have his surname? If so then sorry but you get first dibs in my book.

Joseph is immensely popular and is in no way a primarily ‘biblical’ - associated name! If that’s his only reasoning, he’s just out of touch, so I’d dismiss that!

I really like the ones you dh vetoed!

Elsie and Isaac
Elsie and Max (Maxim? Or just Max)

Benedict?

(benet the traditional abbreviation)

I know a french/swedish couple and they have Elsie and Hugo. So cool in my opinion 😍

Elizabeth and

Nathanial
Hugo
Benjamin
Christian
Augustus
Xavier
Fredrick
Jonathon
Matthew
Joel
Tatum
Henry
Harry
Sean
Alfred
Benedict
Dorian
Marcus
Conrad
Finley
Thomas
Geraint
Rhys
Iestyn
Lloyd

Elizabeth and Elsie are 2 different names, Jonathan and Joe are 2 different names.
Elizabeth is a biblical name🤷‍♀️
How about
James,
Peter,
Theodore,
Hudson
Thomas

@Bigstuffypillow , Elsie can be used on its own but traditionally was short for Elizabeth.
Meaning, origin and history of the name Elsie - Behind the Name

Diminutives of Elizabeth tend to go in trends. In my grandmother's day they were Elsie, Lily, Lizzie and Bessie. In my parents' day they were Liz or Betty. In my day they were Lisa or Beth.

I'm sure you are aware but maybe your husband isn't that Elizabeth, Jonathan and Benjamin are all bible names.

How about Andrew, Could go by Drew. Or Michael, Luke or Simon. All bible names but your husband might be ok with them?

Was going to suggest James but that might be a bit too on the nose as a successor for Elizabeth.

Albert nn Albie

Lawrence
Leon
John
Stanley

Of the names either of you like, I think Jonathan goes the best with Elizabeth, and I would have liked Alexander if you hadn't got reasons for not using it. Would Alastair (a variant of Alexander) be an option? I also like Theodore with Elizabeth.

I have known a Jonathan who went by Joe, at least when he was a little boy (the family moved away when he was still quite young so I don't know what name he uses now).

I would avoid another royal name like Charles, William, Harry, Philip, George… They are classic names but best not paired with Elizabeth.

One of my adult sons has Joseph as middle name and really likes it. If it had been his first name then he’d prefer being known as Joe over Joey because of Joey Tribbiani from Friends. I am atheist so don’t see it as a religious name Joe/Joseph could be any age really and more unusual than Jack and Jake but that might be my area.

Lawrence

Wilfred