(no subject)

[calamitymange.livejournal.com]

Well, i just found out i'm pregnant. I'm already thinking of names.

There's two I like for girls:

Lylia- My mother's name. She got that name when my grandmother went out for margaritas (yes, at 9 months, gotta love the 60s). She went into labor, and at the hospital she thought to name her Margarit. The woman in the room next to her just named her daughter margarit, so she was afraid the nurse would think she's copying her. She decided to name my mother after a doll she had when she was a little girl, Lily Anna. My grandmother has an extremely thick Serbian accent, so Lylia appeared on the birth certificate.

Jonah- I love this name, I always have. I think it's because it reminds me of Joan of Arc. My favorite movie of all time is a silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc (watch it, it's bring-you-to-tears moving!). I just looked up the meaning to it, and it means Dove, which I found adorable, and can find myself using Dove as a nickname. Or as a middle name, I can't decide if Jonah Dove sounds charming or cheesey.

And I can't think of any boy names that stick out, I guess I have a good 6 months to decide that though!

Comments

[p-inkjeans.livejournal.com]

I really like Lylia, but to me, Jonah has always been a boy's name, and I think most people would end up assuming she's a boy.

[calamitymange.livejournal.com]

well, my name is Alex, which is more masculine than Jonah. If I can bare through it, so can she...assuming she's a she.

[p-inkjeans.livejournal.com]

Since when is Alex more masculine than Jonah?

(not trying to start a fight, I'm just curious - I know several female Alexes but I've never heard of a girl named Jonah)

[calamitymange.livejournal.com]

I worded that wrong. You see more boys named Alex than you do Jonah. Even going to a doctor's office when called "Alex?" I'll come up and the secretary will say "are you with Alex? Oh! I thought it would be a boy!". Phone messages for job interviews have said Mr. Alex. My main point across was it's really no big deal to be mistaken for a boy.

My best friends name is Ryan, who's a girl. I don't think sticking with traditional sexes is that big of a deal, and if the name Jonah was traditionally female, I think it would sound very feminine.

[darabelle.livejournal.com]

You see more boys named Alex than you do Jonah.

That's because Alex is much more common than Jonah.

[abandoneddream.livejournal.com]

I adore the name Jonah. It is at the top of my list! :)

[cluckydude.livejournal.com]

I know one woman named Jonah, but Jonah is typically a masculine name. Like Jonah and the whale.

[calamitymange.livejournal.com]

yet, back in the day so was Ashley :)

[miss-tee.livejournal.com]

oooh I love Ashley as a boy's name.

[hotchpot.livejournal.com]

Or, if she loves Joan of Arc so much, why not Joan?

[tokossel.livejournal.com]

i've always thought of jonah as a boy's name, too, but i think it would work for a girl. but that's just me, names that end in 'a' are somehow feminine to me (i really love the name 'noa' for a girl).
i think jonah dove is a bit cheesy tho, and a bit redundant? dove is a great meaning though, i agree. i'm trying to think of names that mean dove... paloma? jonah paloma is a mouthful, haha.

lylia is very pretty. i've seen it spelt 'lilia' quite a bit, think it's fairly popular in france.

[calamitymange.livejournal.com]

awe, yeah Noah would be a cute name for a girl.
And yeah, I can see Jonah Dove being more of a lovey nickname than a legal name.
What origin is paloma?

[ewaeva.livejournal.com]

Noa (f) and Noah (m) are two different names.

[tokossel.livejournal.com]

yeah, i was going to say...noa spelled that way is actually a girl's name. but i hear a lot of people say, "noah is so masculine!". but i don't think it is.
paloma is spanish for dove.

[miss-tee.livejournal.com]

That's right. In my intro to judaism (conversion) class, I overheard a couple who had just been to a brit talking about the trouble that their relative had naming his son because they had family in Israel so it had to be a name that sounded the same in English and Hebrew. They wanted Noah, but since Noa is such a popular girls name in Israel they named him Noam instead.

[mrsduryee.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!!!!!

Jonah is definitely a boy's name to me, but I kind of like Lylia.

[sarahrose.livejournal.com]

CONGRATS!


Great choices. :)

[elemmennope.livejournal.com]

Jonah is really masculine. I had to re-read your message a second time when I got to the end and saw the comment about "can't think of any boy names." Jonah is definitely a boy's name.

Lylia is nice.

[trissyd.livejournal.com]

Lylia is really pretty... but I'm sorry, Jonah is a 100% Boys Only name to me. I think it's the bible association - all I think of is an old, bearded man living inside a whale. What about using "Joan" as a middle name?

[calamitymange.livejournal.com]

I'm not trying to pick a fight, but I don't see how Joan is so girly and Jonah is boys only. It's Joan with an Ah. Joana?

[springtide-hfa.livejournal.com]

Like she said before, Jonah has a male association. Joan, on the other hand, has female associations.
Simple as that.

[trissyd.livejournal.com]

It's your kid, I could really care less, but, since you asked:

Every site & book I looked 'Jonah' up in it came up MALE, not UNISEX. I really don't think it was traditionally a female name, seeing as it's a biblical name from the Old Testament - but if I'm wrong, I apologize. The trend of giving boys names to girls just irks me because really, no one's going to give a traditional girls name like "Mary" to a boy and be like "OMGZ it's like sooo CUTE!!" - but it's all just my personal opinion, which should matter little.

Congrats on your pregnancy :)

[bagira.livejournal.com]

"I'm not trying to pick a fight, but I don't see how Joan is so girly and Jonah is boys only."

Well, there are names that are male only, and there are names that are female only. Jack, Nicholas, Mark and James are all male names. If you name a girl any of them, she'll go through a lifetime of misery. Jonah is the same.

Alex, by the way, is 50/50 male-female because of Alexandra.

[imyourrapunzel.livejournal.com]

I think Lylia is pretty, but I would advise against using Jonah for a girl. I know a girl named Jonah and she hates her name and does not use it anymore. The majority of people would assume she's a boy if they only see or hear her name. Joan could be a middle name, Lylia Joan sounds nice.

[maude.livejournal.com]

Jonah is a boy's name, sorry, no getting around it. If you like it for Joan of Arc, just name her Joan. Lylia however is wonderful.

[calamitymange.livejournal.com]

because, it's my baby and i don't think it's such a boys only no getting around. it's not a frequent boy name like Bobby or Ryan or Alex or Chris, but I know extremely adorable girls with those names, who don't mind it at all. How would Joan and Joanah differ so drastically?

[maude.livejournal.com]

Because they are DIFFERENT NAMES. I'm not going to argue on this with you. Jonah has been a male name for THOUSANDS of years. If you want to saddle your little girl with an extremely masculine name, whatever, but don't expect to post here asking for opinions and me not to give you mine.

[maude.livejournal.com]

Hundreds of years, rather^

[miss-tee.livejournal.com]

no you are right it's thousands, it's the year 5767 in the Hebrew calendar. And even in the popular calendar it's the year 2006 of the Common Era, there were thousands of years Before the Common Era as well. I'm not sure of the year the story of Jonah is supposed to have taken place but I'm sure it is B.C.E.

[maude.livejournal.com]

Oh okay, thanks! I tried looking it up but every site said different things and didn't specify the time period, so I erred on the side of caution.

[springtide-hfa.livejournal.com]

The name Jonah is pretty popular around my neck of the woods (California). In fact, in the past six years, the lowest popularity ranking it's had is 197.
I know of 4 Jonahs in my classes at school.
I know three little boy Jonahs.
And I know 2-3 Grandfather-aged Jonahs.

When you think about it, that's a LOT of Jonahs.

[ewaeva.livejournal.com]

To echo everyone else: Jonah is a masculine name. Period. You can name your kid whatever you want, but you can't get around the fact that this has been a male name for, oh, about three thousand years.

If you like Joan of Arc, use Joan or Jeanne or Joanna.

[rubytitania.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with what's been said. Jonah is a lovely name for a boy, but for a girl it's ridiclous. It's not about whether the name *sounds* mascline, but the fact that it is and always has been used exclusively for males. Names like Alex and Chris are unisex, even if you might think of them as predominantly male.

Obviously it is up to you what to name your child, and you have to chose something you'll be happy with - but you have to expect people to respond this way.

Lylia is very nice though.

[sotypical42483.livejournal.com]

Lylia is really pretty, I love it. I prefer it spelled Lilia, but if Lylia has family meaning to you, that's cool.

I will echo everyone else. Jonah is masculine. And if you're going to run around claiming Joan and Jonah are soooooo similar, why don't you just name her Joan??

[smileygoldfish.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I just found I'm pregrant too! Maybe our due dates will be close!

oh, and ditto to what everyone else said.

[corielcries.livejournal.com]

Jonah is a boy's name and isn't cute or unique on a girl. How would you pronounce Lylia?

[darabelle.livejournal.com]

Jonah is on my boys' list. Have you thought about other names with similar sounds or connotations, such as Hannah, Jo, or Joanna?

[quiteoutofplace.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the baby!

And as usual I completely disagree with everyone in this community, and think that Jonah would work fine on a girl. It's different, and like you said, your own name is often mistaken for a boy's name, so it's not like you're sentencing her to an unbearable fate, or anything you haven't faced yourself.

I love Lylia. And the margarita story made me laugh, kudoes to your grandmother. I'm 8 months, and I would kill for one. Haha.

[fleckerbug.livejournal.com]

I like both of your names.
Jonah is definitely historically masculine. And yes, other names like Ashley used to be strictly male and are now considered extremely feminine(Ashley seems to be having a male comeback, though), but Jonah is not one of them. I think it's fine if you want to name your daughter that. You might also consider naming a son that, since you like it so much. I hate the names Joan and Joanna, so can see why someone would hesitate there. But I do like the name Jonah; it's on our boy-list. Also, if you really do want to get specific for meaning and such, Joan and Jonah are not the same name and are not derived form the same source. Joan, the Joan you're fond of, is French and means 'believer', which is fitting considering what she is known for. Joan also has Hebraic and English roots, but that's not where you got it from.. so. None of those meanings mean dove, either.

You could also always try something like Darc (Dark).. you know. d'arc. Joan of ark... okay.

Name your kid what you want, it's your kid. To be honest, a female Jonah probably would get some teasing or confusion, but if you're not worried about that, then that's that.