The Hoarder's List of Names

While Jairus is rare, this Spanish variation is heard in the US, having ranked in the Top 1000 for the last three decades.

In the Bible, Jairus was the father of a girl resurrected by Jesus. Though it is the original, its variation Jairo is more popular.

A current creation used far more for boys at this point.

James is one of the classic Anglo-Saxon names, a stalwart through the ages that is more popular—and yes, stylish—than ever today. It recently came out Number 1 in a poll of America's favorite boys' baby names, and is the most common male name, counting people of all ages, in the US.

No, we don't consider Jane too plain. In fact, for a venerable and short one-syllable name, we think it packs a surprising amount of punch, as compared to the related Jean and Joan.

Used in France as a male name, this would make an appealing and unusual choice, as would two other Gallic month names, Avril and Mai.

Jason, the Number 3 name for the entire decade of the 1970s -- thus the title of our original baby-naming book, Beyond Jennifer & Jason -- is more likely to be dad's name now than baby's, but it's still a widely used name.

While the biblical Javan, the son of Japheth, is spelled with two a's, the -on version is by far the favorite in contemporary America. Variant spellings and pronunciations abound. This name has ranked in the US Top 1000 since 1976, though it's in danger of falling off.

Jax is the Dex-Jex-Pax type of x-ending cool -- possibly too cool -- variation of Jack or nickname for Jaxon or Jackson.

Like Jaxon, Jaxen is an attempt to switch things up from the more popular Jackson. News flash - Jackson is cooler.

Jaxon has been mostly climbing in popularity since it entered the Top 1000 in 1997, proving that many parents have decided to rev up the cool factor of Jackson by giving it this streamlined spelling. (Though we still prefer the original.)

Like its better known cousin Jedidiah, Jebediah is one of those four-syllable Old Testament names that is being shorn of its long white-bearded image, with the help of its modern-sounding Jeb nickname.