If you like solving puzzles…

Name Advice
1

I want to start by saying I know this is ridiculous.

We’re expecting our third & I have unintentionally boxed myself into a bit of a pattern with my kids’ names that I would like to keep… if possible. Maybe I just need to accept my kids’ names won’t have symmetry… BUT, I figured if anyone could come up with the right name, it would be this community!

My son’s name is Luka Daniel, my daughter’s name is Kaja (danish spelling of Kaia) Eden.

I am looking for BOY names that…

  • Are 4 letters
  • End with “a”
  • Aren’t biblical (I want to keep the middle names biblical but not the first)
  • Doesn’t start with L (like Luka,) K (like Kaja,) or M (like me and my husband’s names)
  • Isn’t meaningless / doesn’t have a strange meaning
  • And… needs to be easy to pronounce in both English and Danish. (My husband is Danish and we live in Denmark.) If you’re unfamiliar with Danish pronunciation, it means things like NO R’S IN THE MIDDLE (I can’t pronounce “Sara” here to save my life) & no “Z”s… they pronounce them like “S”s. Also no “Th” (that sound is really hard for Danes, haha.)

I have a surprisingly long list of girl names that fit these requirements! But we don’t know the gender yet & I’m racking my brain to think of even one boy option that I like.

Last note - if you can’t find a name that fits my stupid little riddle of hopes, I’m open to suggestions in general. :slight_smile:

Thanks in advance. I hope this is a fun activity for someone out there, ha!

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2

Just because the name is in pink doesn’t mean it isn’t used for boys as well (it’s just an indication of the dominant usage in the US I believe.) I only searched under boy names. Also, you may find even more by doing a search on behindthename.com :slightly_smiling_face:

I will come back after more research since my phone is about to die but how about…

Alba “white”
Alva “his highness”
Coda possibly “friend” (Meaning, origin and history of the name Koda - Behind the Name)
Dana (have actually met a male Dana in the US)! “from Denmark, gift or wise”
Dema “to subdue/tame”

I like tying in biblical meanings that are symbolic/maybe not so obvious so where meanings like “white” may seem to be without depth, I like to draw significance from it in abstract terms (white robes/clean garments, washing sins away/white as snow). I know you said no biblical firsts so not sure if that breaks that rule?

Really interesting post, thank you for asking :grin: these are my favorite kind of names to help with!!!

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[name_f]Nova[/name_f] “new”

[name_f]Ilia[/name_f] “the [name_m]Lord[/name_m] is my God” (breaks some rules)

[name_m]Esca[/name_m] “water”

[name_m]Geza[/name_m] “little prince”

[name_f]Inia[/name_f] “praised one”

[name_f]Isha[/name_f] “master/lord”

[name_m]Ezra[/name_m] “help” (breaks some rules)

[name_f]Esra[/name_f] (same)

Resa “journey” in Swedish according to NB (These Names are Made for Walkin’ | Nameberry)

[name_f]Elia[/name_f] “Jehovah is God” (breaks 1 rule)
[name_m]Numa[/name_m] “law; delight”

[name_f]Hima[/name_f] “snow”

Still coming back later maybe haha!!!

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[name_f]Alva[/name_f]
[name_f]Isa[/name_f]
[name_f]Noa[/name_f]
[name_m]Rafa[/name_m]
Sacha/Sasha
[name_f]Toma[/name_f]
[name_f]Nova[/name_f]

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5

Not sure if any of these are quite right for you or if the means are 100% accurate (some vary website to website) but I tried :see_no_evil: Hope it helps somewhat! :blush:

Koda / Coda (friend)
Juda (excellence, praised)
Mika (who resembles God)
Raja (king / ruler)
Jona (dove)
Raza (satisfaction/ contentment)
Rafa (happiness / prosperity)
Atta (father)
Enda (like a bird)
Tega (gods favour)
Buba (brother)
Tyga (variant of tiger)
Essa (love)
Mosa (graceful)
Musa (means deliver / child)
Kuba / Cuba (may protect / island name )
Eesa (God is salvation)

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6

Not sure if these really work but…

[name_f]Dana[/name_f]
[name_f]Nima[/name_f]
[name_m]Oiva[/name_m]
[name_m]Juda[/name_m]
[name_m]Tola[/name_m]
[name_f]Alfa[/name_f]
[name_m]Rafa[/name_m]
Boda
[name_f]Rica[/name_f]
[name_f]Alva[/name_f]
[name_f]Arta[/name_f] (not sure if this counts as an R in the middle - I’d say t was the middle, but I don’t not [name_m]Danish[/name_m] pn!)

Some suggestions that don’t quite fit the rules but I’ll throw them in:

[name_f]Sasha[/name_f] / [name_m]Sacha[/name_m]
[name_f]Elia[/name_f] / [name_m]Ilya[/name_m]
[name_m]Jona[/name_m]
[name_m]Hugo[/name_m]
[name_m]Niko[/name_m]
[name_m]Otto[/name_m]
[name_m]Vigo[/name_m]
[name_f]Shea[/name_f]
[name_f]Senna[/name_f]
[name_m]Pasha[/name_m]
[name_f]Atta[/name_f]
[name_m]Emil[/name_m]
[name_m]Tarka[/name_m]

Good luck :slight_smile:

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7

I love others suggestions of Koda for a boy!

Alma “nurturing soul”
Anna “grace”
Lena “beautiful light”
Luna “moon”
Mira “peace”
Rosa “rose”
Tula “tranquil”
Willa “resolute protection”

Atlas “bearer of the heavens”
Beau “handsome”
Finn “fair”
Hugo “intellect”

I don’t have names ending in a for boys and dont know of many that would be easy to pronounce in Dutch but keeping to 4 letters would be fine imo! ex: Ezra doesn’t work bc or r and z

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Isia “salvation of the Lord” “Izzy” nickname in English (biblical again)

Issa “salvation of the Lord” “Izzy” nickname in English (same)

Goga “farmer”
(Meaning, origin and history of the name Goga - Behind the Name)

Jaka “young man” “Jak/Jack/Jax” in English

Jona “dove” “”Jon” nickname (I’m going to stop pointing out when they’re breaking the biblical rule assuming you’ll know!)

Jaša “supplanter” (could go by Jay/Jace in English)

Juda “excellence/praised” “Jude” English

Jura “farmer”

Jusa “fair/righteous” “Jace/Josie/Jay” in English

Nata “Christmas” “Nate” in English

Nima “blessing” in Arabic “Nim” for short

Oiva “splendid” Finnish If you used Nathan/Nathaniel, Nehemiah, Nicodemus, Nicolas, etc in middle he could go by “Van” in English

Otha “wealthy” (variant of Otto)

Pava “small” (variant of Paul, I really like this one since you have Luka already!)

Pema “lotus flower” Pem/Pim as English nickname

Pepa (Czech for Joseph “God will increase”)

Rava “a father”

Risa “dominant ruler” german, “laugh” Spanish “Reese” English nickname

Roma “citizen of Rome” (could symbolize Gentiles and how God shows mercy and gives grace to both the Jew & the Gentile) “Ro” for short in English. Or “Roman” in English.

Tama “son or boy” “Tom” in English

Tima “honoring God” “Tim/Timmy”

Uria “God is my light” “Uri/Uriah”

Uzia “Jehovah is my strength”

Vána “God is gracious” (variant of John) “Van” in English

Vega “swooping eagle/meadow”

Yura “farmer” (form of George)

Vesa “sapling/sprout”

Vila “resolute protection” (form of William)

I HOPE I CRACKED THE CODE :rofl: thank you for the challenge!!!

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9

What about:

[name_f]Alva[/name_f]
Bela/Béla
[name_m]Dima[/name_m]
[name_m]Ilya[/name_m]
Miha/Mika (maybe too religious, since it’s a form of [name_m]Michael[/name_m]? But [name_m]Luka[/name_m] is related to [name_m]Luke[/name_m] who is also a Bible character, so I thought maybe this would be ok)
[name_m]Oiva[/name_m]
[name_m]Rafa[/name_m]
[name_f]Reza[/name_f]
[name_f]Roma[/name_f]
[name_f]Shea[/name_f]
[name_f]Toma[/name_f]
[name_f]Zola[/name_f]

It’s been a while since I practiced by [name_m]Danish[/name_m], so I’m not sure if any of these would work, but I was hoping at least [name_m]Rafa[/name_m] or [name_m]Oiva[/name_m] might? I really like [name_f]Alva[/name_f] with [name_m]Luka[/name_m] and [name_f]Kaja[/name_f] too.

Good luck!

10

Im not very familiar with danish but Ill try!

Abia- my father is yahweh
Arda- marker/stake
Béla- young
Boza- divine gift
Cola- charcoal
Enda- possibly bird
Enna- possibly bird
Inna- meaning unknown
Jada- he knows
Juda- goodness/ excellence
Orla- meaning unkown
Peta- stone
Safa/ Sefa- serentiy, clarity
Sava- old man/ grandfather
Shea
Sota- great sudden sound of the wind?
Tola- october
Vida/ Vita- life
Ziba- station
Ziya- splendor, light, glow
Zola- calm

(Meaning from behind the name which usually has a different oeigin from the ones listed on nameberry)

11

I can understand your predicament, because I am very particular about patterns and would 1000% feel the same way in your position

That being said I think it’s more important to use a name you love over trying to fit a pattern. So if you can’t find a name that fits the boxes in these ways, try not to stress too much about it (I know easier said than done)

I think the A ending maybe the biggest struggle finding a name to go with [name_m]Luka[/name_m] and [name_f]Kaja[/name_f] (at least that’s what I noticed when looking up names for you guys.) What about looking at names that have a K like both of them in it rather than the A at the end, as both [name_m]Luka[/name_m] and [name_f]Kaja[/name_f] have a K. [name_m]Or[/name_m] even expanding your search to 3 and 5 letter names, that way it still won’t look out of place. [name_m]Even[/name_m] have it 2 syllables instead to fit the pattern

I did look up some names that fit your criteria though. So… [name_m]Luka[/name_m], [name_f]Kaja[/name_f] &

[name_f]Aisa[/name_f] or [name_f]Aysa[/name_f] (Asa)
Akoa
[name_m]Coda[/name_m]
[name_f]Dana[/name_f]
[name_m]Eesa[/name_m] / [name_m]Eisa[/name_m] / Eysa
[name_m]Enea[/name_m]
[name_f]Issa[/name_f] / Iasa / Iysa
[name_m]Jaca[/name_m] / [name_m]Jaka[/name_m]
[name_m]Jooa[/name_m] (Joa)
[name_m]Mata[/name_m]
[name_f]Mesa[/name_f]
[name_m]Mica[/name_m] / [name_f]Mika[/name_f] (Micah)
[name_m]Nooa[/name_m] (Noah / Noa)
[name_f]Rama[/name_f]
[name_f]Roma[/name_f]
[name_m]Ruda[/name_m]
[name_f]Shea[/name_f]
[name_m]Trea[/name_m]

1 Like
12

This is a tricky one (but fun!). I wonder if names that are longer than 4 letters but 2 syllables like your other children’s names would still feel like a pleasing pattern to you? So for example:

August / Agust
Axel / Aksel
Alvar
Anton
Artur
Eskil
Folke
Victor / Viktor
Oscar / Oskar
Felix
Hugo
Konrad
Johan
Nelson
Henrik

Sorry, having trouble thinking of any that also end in -a! But if that’s not really cutting it, maybe…

Four letters ending in -a, many are biblical though:

Atta
Ilia
Esra / Ezra
Misa
Sasa
Elia
Jona
Mika (probably too close to Luka?)

Names that are 4 letters / not biblical but don’t end in -a:

Emil
Frej
Anto
Alek
Edin
Finn
Erik
Rune

Or if I ignore the pattern completely, Luka, Kaja, and…

Oliver
Valentin
Frederik
Kristian
Niels
Frans

(Sorry about the multiple edits to this post, turns out I can’t count to 4 :woman_facepalming:)

13

Names that meet all of your criteria from my search on Behind The Name (sorry for any repeats…):

  • Bada (derived from Old [name_f]English[/name_f], means “battle”)
  • [name_m]Enda[/name_m] (Irish, means “bird”)
  • [name_f]Goda[/name_f] (Germanic, means “good”)
  • [name_m]Koda[/name_m] (modern [name_f]English[/name_f], means “friend/companion”)
  • [name_m]Soma[/name_m] (Hungarian, means “dogwood, cornel tree”)

I missed out a few that were foreign diminutives of Biblical names, since you did not want a Biblical name for the first :slight_smile: I hope you find something you like here!

14

[name_m]Luka[/name_m], [name_f]Kaja[/name_f] and [name_f]Elia[/name_f] would be lovely together :white_heart:

[name_f]Elia[/name_f] is easy to pronounce and very popular across Europe just like [name_m]Luka[/name_m].

Other suggestions…

[name_f]Mika[/name_f]
[name_m]Noah[/name_m]
[name_m]Vova[/name_m]
[name_f]Roma[/name_f]
Sava
[name_f]Dana[/name_f]

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[name_f]Alva[/name_f] - [name_f]Elf[/name_f]
[name_f]Nova[/name_f] - [name_m]New[/name_m]
[name_f]Vida[/name_f] - Life
[name_f]Tyla[/name_f] - tyle worker/roof worker

16

Here are my ideas!

  1. Doesn’t end in a, but [name_m]Noah[/name_m] because it ends in an a sound and it means “peace” which could be nice and it’s 4 letters

  2. [name_f]Elia[/name_f], another variation of the name [name_m]Elio[/name_m] meaning sun, and elia has been commonly used as a boys name

  3. [name_f]Runa[/name_f], which is a girl’s name but you could call him rune

  4. [name_m]Koda[/name_m] which means “friend” or “ally” and is another spelling of the musical term “coda.” “Kody” could also be a nickname.

  5. Doesn’t end in a but [name_m]Cato[/name_m] would be a nice name, if you’re a hunger games fan one of the tributes is named cato

  6. [name_m]Rafa[/name_m] (not sure if r’s are pronouncable in the beginning of a name, I don’t speak danish)

This link has over 1900 four letter boy names so hopefully it can provide some extra options!

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[name_f]Dana[/name_f]
[name_m]Coda[/name_m] -
[name_f]Shea[/name_f]
[name_f]Arya[/name_f]

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I love the names [name_m]Luka[/name_m] and Kaja/Kaia!

It might be hard to find a name that fits all of your rules. I think you’d have more luck if you adjusted your requirements to these:

  • 3-5 letters
  • ends with “a” sound
  • may or may not be biblical
  • No L, K, or M names
  • not meaningless/no strange meaning
  • easy to pronounce in both [name_f]English[/name_f] and [name_m]Danish[/name_m] (I think this is a very important one)

With those minor adjustments, you have a lot more names at your disposal. Please note that I am not familiar enough with [name_m]Danish[/name_m] pronunciation to make the call on which of these would be too hard to say, so throw the names out that are too challenging. Here are the names:

[name_f]Alba[/name_f]
[name_m]Asa[/name_m]
[name_m]Coda[/name_m]
[name_m]Ezra[/name_m]
[name_m]Ira[/name_m]
[name_m]Joa[/name_m]
[name_m]Jona[/name_m]
[name_m]Jonah[/name_m]
[name_m]Josia[/name_m]
[name_m]Judah[/name_m]
[name_f]Lima[/name_f]
[name_m]Noah[/name_m]
[name_f]Oda[/name_f]
[name_m]Rafa[/name_m]
[name_m]Sacha[/name_m]
[name_m]Tekoa[/name_m]
[name_f]Toma[/name_f]
[name_m]Uriah[/name_m]
[name_f]Vega[/name_f]
[name_f]Vida[/name_f]

I think of these names, [name_m]Asa[/name_m], [name_m]Ezra[/name_m], [name_m]Jonah[/name_m], [name_m]Judah[/name_m], [name_m]Noah[/name_m], and [name_m]Rafa[/name_m] stand out as strong contenders because they are more similar to [name_m]Luka[/name_m] & [name_f]Kaja[/name_f] in style, as these are normal names you could expect to come across. They may not fully check all your boxes, but I think they are still very similar.

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19

If you can’t find a 4-letter name you love that ends in -a, I wonder if tweaking the rule to names with soft vowel endings would work! That way you wouldn’t be in a bind if you have another baby that ends up also being a boy. I think it would fit well with your other names, and it wouldn’t seem out of place even though the others both end in -a. If so, here are some suggestions:

[name_m]Nico[/name_m]
[name_m]Hugo[/name_m]
[name_m]Milo[/name_m]
[name_m]Otto[/name_m]
[name_m]Elio[/name_m]
[name_m]Enzo[/name_m] (I know it has a -z, but maybe the -nz- makes it sounds the same in both languages? I’m trying to pronounce it like Enso in my head, and it sounds like [name_m]Enzo[/name_m] to me at least haha!)

And if you wanted another boy name that ends in -a and is still 2 syllables, but it isn’t 4 letters, [name_m]Asa[/name_m] could work! I I don’t think it would look out of place with [name_m]Luka[/name_m] and [name_f]Kaja[/name_f].

20

I think names that are 2 syllables ending in the ‘a’ sound would fit just fine with siblings?

E.g. [name_m]Asa[/name_m] or [name_f]Sasha[/name_f] (though I’ve got no idea how they’d sound in Danish)