Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed.
We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight!
Jenny writes:
I’m expecting baby #8 in just a few short weeks and having the hardest time finding a name.
We have 2 boys, Isaac Aiden and Levi Josiah.
We have 5 girls, Jordan Grace, Eden Elizabeth, Selah Rose, Zivah Joy, and Petra Jayne.
This will be another girl!
Thus far our trend has been two-syllable first names each beginning with a different letter, and dad prefers something at least vaguely related to the Bible or Hebrew, but none of those are hard and fast rules we must stick with.
A few names we’ve tossed around are Olive, Ruby, Esther, and Noa, and some possible middle names are Louise or Margaret, which are both family names.
Any suggestions would be happily considered!
Please read on for my response, and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.
Dear Jenny –
Congratulations on your new daughter!
This makes for a little bit of a name game, doesn’t it? Every time I think I’ve found The Name, I realize it repeats an initial. Or maybe the origins aren’t quite right.
Still, I did find a few that satisfy your requirements and I think that’s the trick – to find a pool of possibilities that you and your husband can consider.
I’ve avoided all names starting with E, I, J, L, P, S, and Z. But I’ve also tried to avoid other -a ending names, even though that’s not a rule of yours at all! It just adds some more options.
Two-Syllable Girl Names
Anya – It’s a form of Ann, by way of Russian. That’s a strong link to the Old Testament, as well as the New. And it offers a lovely meaning, too – grace.
Celeste – Maybe this is too much of a stretch, but Celeste comes from caelestis – heavenly. That’s Latin, of course. But the King James version of the Bible, and many other translations, use the word celestial. (Others prefer heavenly.) So it’s not a complete leap.
Chloe – Chloe’s roots are Greek, but the name does appear in the New Testament.
Dinah – A great, underused Old Testament possibility.
Marie – Okay, I know – it seems like it ought to be really common. Lots of women have Marie as their middle name. But as a given? It’s surprisingly rare. And it connects to Mary – again, far less common than you’d guess – and Miriam, so it’s Hebrew and Biblical, too.
Rachel – I know. Rachel feels a little 90s, a name forever sipping coffee at Central Perk on Friends. Except it’s really quite the classic, an Old Testament name with a long history of use.
Tamar – Another Old Testament name rare in the US today.
Vera – I’ve avoided most -a enders, but Vera is too good to resist! It means faith in Russian and truth in Latin. The latter connects it to lots of phrases, like vera cruz – true cross. So while it misses your requirements for origins, I wonder if it still has the right spirit?
From your list, I love Ruby and Olive – probably because they satisfy your requirements plus have a different ending sound, which seems ideal.
But from my suggestions, I wonder if you’d consider Celeste? It’s not specifically Biblical – and it’s not Hebrew at all – but it feels like it’s in the same general space. Plus, it balances out the rarer names (Petra, Zivah) and the more popular ones (Levi, Eden).
I know the community will have some great suggestions, so let’s turn it over to them.
What would you name a sister for Levi, Isaac, Jordan, Eden, Selah, Zivah, and Petra?
Or perhaps Magda Louise or Esther Pearl.
I am loving Olive Margaret for you. Another idea is Carmel Margaret. I also love Phoebe Margaret, but it would repeat an initial.
I need to suggest the name of one of my nieces! Her name is “Rinnah”, which derives from a Hebrew word for a “ringing cry of joy”. I’ve never come across this name outside of my niece!
Another slightly unusual — but nicely historic — suggestion is “Osanna” (from the same root as “Hosanna”): https://dmnes.org/name/Osanna
What about Vida? I see that it can be a form of David. I like the repeating d sound from Jordan and Eden and the a sound from the other girls. It also makes two n’s, two h’s, and two a’s for endings for the girls. Vida Louise?
From the given list I love Noa. Noa Magaret.
Ohhhh, I have to suggest two names: Octavia and Valo!!!! Octavia is Latin for eighth, and it’s a such a pretty name. Always wanted to suggest that name to someone who is expecting 8th child but that’s a rarity! Valo is Malagasy word for eight. Unfortunately, being deaf, I don’t know if they fit the naming restrictions you have, but I had to share these names. May I tell you your other children’s names are so lovely? I love finding a family with well-named children.
These don’t quite follow your rules, but how about these names…
Magda/Magdala
Phoebe
Lydia
Nympha
Junia
I would be very Very tempted to put Octavia in the middle.
Talia
Debra
Dove
Hope
Carmel
Tabitha
Beth
Olive and Esther are both such beautiful names. I wonder if you had considered Shiloh? It starts with an “S” but it’s an entirely different sound from your other daughter’s name. Some other possibilities, although they don’t all meet your two-syllable, no-repeating-initials pattern and a few of them are “out there”:
Miriam
Ophir
Bethel
Psalm
Sheba
Genesis
Mara
Galilee
Salome
Ariel (“Lion of God”)
Hannah
Michal
Lydia
Keziah
Leah
Magdalena
Jochebed
If you’re willing to consider the deutero-canonicals, there’s also Judith and Susannah, who were both strong and courageous figures.
Fun fact: When I was in middle school, I was so obsessed with Biblical names that I went through the entire Bible and made a complete list of all the women’s names I found. Sadly, I didn’t keep it, but I remember my favorite name from a random genealogy: Hazalel-poni. Not very wearable today, but I loved it because it sounded like “has a little pony.” 🙂
A couple of other ideas for name-searching the Bible: In ancient Israel, it was the king’s mother and not his wife that was the real powerhouse at court. If you go through the kings of Israel and Judah mentioned in the Old Testament, they’re usually listed along with the name of the queen mother. Granted, many of the kings were wicked, but there are at least some good ones from Judah and you might look at their mothers’ names. You might also go through the Psalms and Song of Songs and look for place names with romantic or poetic associations (Ophir is my favorite). You can also take your favorite word or virtue names and look up the Hebrew translations to see if any of them are pretty and wearable.
MIRIAM!!!!!!! My second choice for you is Olive. It is a gorgeous name. If you wanted to fancy it up a little to match your more rare names, you could go with Olivet or Olivett. Then you have the nns Vett or Olive.
Miriam Margaret (I am a sucker for alliteration)
Miriam Louise (gorgeous!)
Olive Margaret
Olivett Louise
Good luck!! I also have eight kids (one is named Miriam, so I am a little biased there). It is awesome!
Gosh Zivah Joy makes me happy, what a lovely pairing.
My first thought was Tirzah. Tirzah Margaret.
Tovah (may be a little too close to Zivah)
Aviva
Arielle
Talitha (love the meaning of this so much)
Adara
Hadassah
Ayelet
Ruth
Liora
Adah
I think Tirzah is my favourite, followed by Talitha and Adara.
Esther is lovely.