Don’t get me wrong though, I do like Ezra, Noah, Elijah and other ending in -a boys’ names bit I happen to know a little girl named Ira. She was in my younger daughter’s grade 1 class.

Yeah, I think this name does need to hibernate for a bit longer before it gets revived.

Then again, I once felt that way about Charlie, and now it seems like every small boy I know is called Charlie.

Personally, I’d probably use Ezra before Ira, but only because I have an affection for the letter “Z.” I love boys’ names that end in vowels.

BTW, my brother probably would’ve been Ethan had my mother had her way – but my father campaigned hard for a “junior” instead and after three daughters, well, my mother caved. It’s another great name, common or not, that suits a small child as well as a grown man.

Back to Ira. Simple to spell (great for a three year old learning to spell, hmm?), strong and handsome. The IRA connections (both money & militant) don’t really bother me much at all (but then, my front runner is Cosmo, so who am I to judge?). So I say Ira’s an undiscovered gem of a name. I think he’d make a great brother to Ezra, even!