Sibling for Eva (Ruth options added for MN)

We have a DD who will be 2 years old when our new baby is born. Her name is EVA JOY. We both loved her name and we had no alternatives really! We found boys names much easier to agree on.

Our family has a tradition of using biblically based names and we would really like to continue it. Problem is we have a large family and a lot of names are already taken!

If our dd was a boy she would have been called Jacob Alexander. This name is still in contention (especially for my husband) though I am considering changing it as some one I know has had a Jacob recently (and it is a very popular name – which puts me off a tiny bit, though doesn't automatically rule it out. When dd was born we had no idea about the growing trend (in US, UK???) for Eva and similar varieties. It's not really popular here. Have met a couple of Avas (which is quite popular) but never another Eva or any Evangelines or Evelyns).

I tend to like shorter names and seem drawn to names beginning with vowels and -a endings (I love Ella, Isla, Anya, Ayla... etc though of course they don't work with an Eva!) These aren't necessities, but just letting you know. I have names I like but I tend to have a hesitation with just about every one, so I'll tell you my thinking.

Boys
Jacob (popular, friend has a Jacob)
Asher (does it go with Eva? 2 syllables, begins with a vowel, ends -a)
Eli (also starts with E, 2 syllables)
Matthias (nephew called Matthew)


Girls
Zoe (My favourite. Husband not persuaded yet. Is quite popular, but not too popular here. My only hesitation is that our nephews would have two cousins called Zoe. But not too worried about that)
Zara (My husband's favourite. I just like Zoe better)
Anna
Johanna (My husband loves Joanna but I don't. I like Johanna but it would have to be pronounced Yo-hana (the German way). Then there would always be spelling and pronunciation issues which I'm not keen on)
Leah (Not sure it goes with our last name)
Naomi (Seems quite long with our last name)

Other names (don't think my husband will be swayed on these ones)
Zaria
Sadie
Anya
Annina
Gabrielle (I prefer Gabriella but the -ella part is also in our surname so sounds silly)
Eden (as a middle name but not with Eva as a first name)

I really love the name Eva. :-)


Jacob: Like you said, it's very popular (#1 in the U.S. for seemingly ever), but I do think it's a handsome name.
Asher: I can definitely see Asher and Eva as siblings. :-)
Eli: With the repetitive E beginnings, I'd personally go with a different name...
Matthias: I think this is handsome, too, but there's the nephew issue.

What about:

Abraham
Benjamin
David
Elias (has more of an "el" beginning, as opposed to a long e like Eva)
Gideon
Gabriel
Isaac
Josiah
Jude
Nathaniel
Simon
Silas
Samuel
Zachariah
Tobias

Non-Biblical:

Augustin/August
Calvin
Conrad
Dexter
Henry
Leo
Milo
Maxwell
Raphael
Sebastian
Xavier (a bit similar to Eva, though)



Zoe: I think it works with Eva, but I also think it changes Eva's feel from exotic/European to more modern.

Zara: I think this is beautiful, too, and empasizes Eva's exotic international feel.

Anna: Very pretty...

Johanna: It's not your cup of tea, and that's what matters!

Leah: I prefer some of your other choices due to the long e sound (like Eva), but I do think it's pretty.

Naomi: I think this is great with Eva!

You may also like:

Ariana
Abigail (very popular in the U.S.)
Anneliese
Charlotte
Daphne
Dahlia
Georgiana
Helena
Iris
Julia
Juliet
Lila
Liliana
Lydia
Miriam (nn Miri)
Sarah (nn Sadie)
Simone
Susannah
Tabitha
Tess/Tessa

(Not all of the names I listed are Biblically based, because I saw that you like Zoe...)

Good luck! :-)

My friends son is Gabriel Luke and I think he has one of the best names I've ever heard.
I also like the name switched to Luke Gabriel. Lucas Gabriel and Gabriel Lucas are nice too.
A biblical name that I'm in love with is Ezekiel, you could nn Zeke and I bet you could get away with the nn Eli as well.

Lets see if can think of more-

Boys-

Aaron
Amos
Asher
Ephraim - has the long e beginning though like Eva
Abbott - okay not quite in the Bible.
Cyrus
Daniel - pretty popular
Michaiah or Micaiah
Matteo - a varation of Matthias.
Boaz - maybe just Bo?
Elijah
Ira - pretty matchy with Eva
Isaias - a form of Isaiah
Israel
James
Jesse
Joel
Josias - a form of Josiah
Micah
Omar
Peter
Philip
Reuben
Solomon
Titus
Uriah
Ezra - pretty close to Eva

Girls -

I love Jill's suggestion of Lydia. Eva and Lydia look great together

Adalia - a mans name in the but feels more girl to me.
Adina - ditto
Priscilla
Bethany
Leah
Naomi
Noa - a girls name.
Phoebe
Rhoda -means "rose"
Tarah - place name.

Thanks posters.

We are pretty happy with our list of boys names (though Luke and variations would be up there on the list of my all time favourites, it's a no-go). We've scoured the Bible and these really are our favourites (plus a few more that we've got for middle names). We'd be happy using any of them.

As for the girls..... Lydia..... I might add that one. Seems more appealing now. And will think on Adalia and Adina.
As for biblically based girls names, we are being a bit liberal simply because we feel there is a lack of good or untaken biblical girls names.

Zoe is greek for eternal life
Zara - we're taking it as a variation of Sarah

I think Zara is cool with Eva, I also really like Zora

Zora also reminded me of Nora(h) which is greek like Zoe and also I think Pheobe and maybe Petra would be cute with Eva

I like Jacob Alexander

I also like Christopher and Eva
and
Christian and Eva
Jonathan and Eva
James and Eva
Paul and Eva
Jude and Eva
Phillip and Eva

I love Anya and Asher :D They go perfect with Eva and I've always loved those names

From your girls names I like the combo of naomi leah! I like the name noa for a girl as well. For a boy I LOVE asher. Good luck.

From your girls names I like the combo of naomi leah! I like the name noa for a girl as well. For a boy I LOVE asher. Good luck.

I'm really liking Asher Matthias at the moment (Matthias is on our first and middle name list). Still not any further forward with girl names.