Hello everyone, I’m very new here; however, I’m a lover of names and am now expecting our first son!
After much discussion, we’ve decided on the first name of Islan (eye-lan) but we’re struggling on a middle name. We like Biblical names, we like unique names, we like some of everything…we’re very open. We just need help, please!
To give you an idea of our style, if we had been expecting a girl her name would have been [name]Aris[/name] [name]Simone[/name].
Thanks in advance!
Islan [name]Caspar[/name]
Islan [name]Reese[/name]
Islan [name]Nash[/name]
Islan [name]Phoenix[/name]
Is Islan set in stone? I see three problems with it:
it is one letter away from Islam, and will doubtless be confused constantly with the religion. It will be even more likely pronounced the same-- isss-LAN rather than EYE-lan.
it is one letter away from the Narnian/Azerbaijani name Aslan, and will potentially be seen as a variant. Again, this means it will be pronounced iss-LAN.
it is very similar to your daughter [name]Aspen[/name]'s name. Two syllables, same ending sound, looks quite similar on paper.
It’s not. Nothing is with me until I see this kiddo 
I quite agree with you…it does seem eerily similar to my daughters name. What’s funnier is I hadn’t even thought of that until I wrote the post. Also, I brought up the Islam issue, my husband says “I don’t want to name my son based on what other people may or may not be confused about”. I have to admit, it’s given me a moments pause.
I like the spelling [name]Ilan[/name] better than Islan, but my husband disagrees with me. I’m still fighting this battle…
Thank for bringing up potential issues.
I wouldn’t pronounce Islan: “eye-lan”. Islan is less popular than [name]Isla[/name], which would also have pronunciation problems.
I would use Aslan instead. Aslan, parallels with [name]Christ[/name], in the [name]Narnia[/name] series, written by C.S. [name]Lewis[/name], a firm believer in [name]Christ[/name]. Though not a biblical name, I still associate Aslan with Christianity. I also am reminded of fearlessness, bravery, heart, and mysticism when I hear Aslan.
Islan [name]Daniel[/name]
Islan [name]David[/name]
Islan [name]Dylan[/name]
Aslan [name]Elijah[/name]
Aslan [name]Michael[/name]
Aslan [name]Raphael[/name]
Aslan [name]Theodore[/name]
[name]Ilan[/name] looks eastern European to me, vaguely Slavic. I would pronounce it ill-LAHN. Like [name]Ilana[/name] minus the final A.
I can’t think of a pretty way to write eye-lan, and even without the Islam/Aslan issue (and I think the Islam one would really create a lot of headaches) its still close to [name]Aspen[/name].
Since you described your tastes, are you open to suggestions? Many have the wild open spaces, Western feel of [name]Aspen[/name].
[name]Callan[/name]
[name]Cyan[/name]
[name]Kieran[/name]
[name]Gideon[/name]
[name]Bryce[/name]
[name]River[/name]
[name]Walden[/name]
[name]Conall[/name] (“little wolf”)
[name]Ephraim[/name]
[name]Malachi[/name]
[name]Josiah[/name]
[name]Bridger[/name]
[name]Ridge[/name]
[name]Laird[/name]
[name]Frost[/name]
[name]Sterling[/name]
[name]Laramie[/name]
[name]Sylvan[/name]
[name]Phoenix[/name]
[name]Birch[/name]
I am totally open to all suggestions! Thank you
[name]Callan[/name] - I like, my husband not-so-much
[name]Cyan[/name] - I like this one! My seemingly very picky husband isn’t
[name]Kieran[/name] - I know too many [name]Kieran[/name]'s…it was once a favorite of mine
[name]Gideon[/name] - I dig this, I’m just not sure I could use it as a first name
[name]Bryce[/name] - Something about it I don’t care for
[name]River[/name] - I like, again, husband not-so-much
[name]Walden[/name] - Reminds me of someone I knew once and wasn’t a huge fan of
[name]Conall[/name] - It doesn’t sound great with our last name (which I know you would have no way of knowing)
[name]Ephraim[/name] - I [name]LOVE[/name] this!
[name]Malachi[/name] - We have a great friend who just named his son this
[name]Josiah[/name] - Our very first pick that we agreed on; however, my husband nixed it because he didn’t like the idea of him ever going by or being called [name]Joe[/name]
[name]Bridger[/name] - I’m keeping this one in mind
[name]Ridge[/name] - I like [name]Bridger[/name] better
[name]Laird[/name] - I’m not a huge fan of “L” names, my name begins with “L” and I’ve never been a huge fan
[name]Frost[/name] - Not too shabby but it doesn’t jump out at me
[name]Sterling[/name] - We have a friend that is due in a couple of weeks and they’re using this name
[name]Laramie[/name] - Same “L” name issue
[name]Sylvan[/name] - I’m so-so on this one
[name]Phoenix[/name] - I really like this name for a girl; however, because of [name]Aspen[/name]'s name I’ll probably never use it
[name]Birch[/name] - Not a big fan of this one
Thank you again for all the suggestions! Naming a boy is SO much harder for us than a girl.
What about Islan [name]Graham[/name]?
While your husband, theoretically has a good point, the confusion would likely be a reality and your son is the one who would have to live with the practical consequences – constantly correcting and clarifying the spelling and pronunciation and having to answer questions about his name. Perhaps your husband would be willing to consider whether using the name is worth putting your son through lifelong headaches and mix-ups over his name.
I went to google “names similar to Islan” , just because it piqued my interest, and google immediately corrected it to “names similar to Islam”, just putting that out there…
That said, I found the site I was thinking of, and here’s the suggestions it gave for names similar to [name]Ilan[/name] (magicbabynames.com)
Eyal
[name]Avi[/name]
[name]Eitan[/name]
Yoram
[name]Yair[/name]
[name]Jonathan[/name]
[name]Yaron[/name]
[name]Gadi[/name]
Ronen
[name]Daniel[/name]
Majael
Lior
[name]Shai[/name]
[name]Ari[/name]
[name]Rony[/name]
Sayan
[name]Ilan[/name] is a modern Israeli name which is why the suggested names were similar modern, non-religious Hebrew ones.
I’m glad you liked [name]Ephraim[/name]; it’s quite stunning. Has that rugged western vibe and is of course biblical to boot. A variant spelling is [name]Ephrem[/name] if you like the sleeker form more.
You also liked [name]Cyan[/name], [name]Gideon[/name], [name]Josiah[/name] and [name]Bridger[/name]. So, narrowing it down, we can focus on the “rail-splitting pioneer” vibe of [name]Ephraim[/name], [name]Josiah[/name] and [name]Gideon[/name], with some nature names thrown in the mix.
[name]Micah[/name]
[name]Adlai[/name]
[name]Cyrus[/name]
[name]Caleb[/name]
[name]Elias[/name]
[name]Ezra[/name]
[name]Hosea[/name]
[name]Jared[/name]
[name]Jericho[/name]
[name]Joah[/name]
[name]Jonas[/name]
[name]Kenan[/name] (means ‘cedars’)
[name]Samson[/name]
[name]Tobias[/name]
[name]Seth[/name]
[name]Carson[/name]
[name]Destry[/name]
[name]Judd[/name]
Gunnison
Routt ([name]Colorado[/name] forest)
[name]Ansel[/name]
[name]Fremont[/name]
Ruxton ([name]George[/name] Ruxton, famous mountain man)
[name]Beck[/name] (a small stream is called a ‘beck’)