Sibling for Ransom, Tobias, and Deliverance?

Name Advice
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Not pregnant! Just working on our lists because I’m a name nerd and the lists are pretty sparse. I have a few questions for the Berries.

We put in a lot of work on a boy list our last pregnancy, so some of that will carry over if we have a fourth baby. The problem is that Zebedee, the name we settled on around 36 weeks, was a bit of a compromise. We both liked it, but it was my pick, and my husband agreed we could use it if #3 was a boy. If #3 was a girl (and she is), then some other names could go back on the table for a potential #4.

He likes the -iah names. He preferred Zebadiah to Zebedee. I thought it was just too long and clunky, and besides, it shares sounds with Tobias; having those brothers back-to-back would bother the nerd in me a little.
We also talked about Ransom and Deliverance having a similar vibe, and that it might be nice next time to try and balance the set with something more similar to Tobias, either in sound or in popularity.

Question One: does our sibset strike you as “religious”? Would you assume we were a Christian family just by seeing the names Ransom, Tobias and Deliverance?
If not, would picking a name like Zebadiah, Hezekiah or Azariah definitely give the set that flavor? Are there any -iah names a bit less obvious? (I have a brother Josiah, so that’s out.)

Question Two: what would you name a brother for Ransom, Tobias and Deliverance? Our shortlist near the end of the last pregnancy included Zebedee, Zebadiah, Thaddeus, Nehemiah, Jedidiah, Lazarus, Seamus, and Rory (Irish names were a rabbit trail we chased extensively.)

Question Three: what would you name a sister? We have pretty much nothing here. Some names I like include Anastasia, Jessamine, Una/Oona, Thalia and Cecily. I haven’t run them past my husband recently.

Thanks for reading this ramble!

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One: Absolutely. [name_m]Ransom[/name_m] and [name_m]Tobias[/name_m] alone, maybe not, but throw Deliverance into the pool and I definitely would assume you were a [name_u]Christian[/name_u] family! :relaxed:
And yes, I think picking any of the names you’ve listed would indeed enhance that flavor in your set.

Two: [name_u]Thaddeus[/name_u] is perfect. That would be my choice! [name_m]Nehemiah[/name_m] would also be fantastic with the older three. Something quite long would work best, I think. A few suggestions I might have would be [name_m]Benedict[/name_m], [name_m]Leopold[/name_m], and [name_m]Gideon[/name_m].

Three: [name_f]Cecily[/name_f] is beautiful. :heart: I think [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] and [name_f]Jessamine[/name_f] from your list also go very well!! A few suggestions I’d add are [name_f]Anneliese[/name_f], [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f], [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f], [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], [name_f]Philomena[/name_f], [name_f]Winifred[/name_f], [name_f]Dorothea[/name_f], Mary-Katherine, and Anna-Josephine. A double name would be divine amongst all those brothers. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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  1. Yes, it strikes me as “religious” and [name_u]Christian[/name_u].
  2. I like [name_m]Nehemiah[/name_m] & [name_m]Jedidiah[/name_m] the most from your boy list (excluding Rory–it’s my son’s name, so it’s my real favorite, but not with your set). They are enough like [name_m]Tobias[/name_m] to balance the set, but gives each kid’s name different beginnings and endings, which is satisfying. I don’t feel the same click with the girl list.

Other ideas:
[name_f]Abigail[/name_f]
[name_f]Hosanna[/name_f]

[name_u]Benjamin[/name_u]
[name_m]Isaiah[/name_m]
Leshem
[name_m]Malachi[/name_m]

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1: No, I don’t think I would assume that they or their family belonged to a particular religion, because two out of three are virtue names, which are used across the map. They are also quite unique, so I would probably be thinking more about the parent’s eclectic naming style (certainly not a bad thing!)

2: I would add Hosea or Benaiah. If you wanted to shy away from another biblical name, how about Octavius, Leonid, Valor or Noble (other virtues, but they feel less religious to me), Evander, Leland, Cedric, Theoden, Oleander or Feodor?

3: Wilhelmina, Thessaly, Marianela, Felicity, Reverie, Philomena, Valeria, Vivienne, Hadassah, Tzipporah, Lavender, Theodora or Theodosia.

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  1. yes, I would assume you were a [name_u]Christian[/name_u] family from your names. If you had a [name_m]Tobias[/name_m] and an -iah name, I probably wouldn’t think as much of it, but Deliverance and [name_m]Ransom[/name_m] do strike me as religious. While I know it’s biblical, [name_u]Azariah[/name_u] strikes me as less religious to me for some reason, as do [name_m]Zachariah[/name_m], [name_m]Jedediah[/name_m] or [name_m]Zechariah[/name_m].

  2. i really like [name_u]Thaddeus[/name_u], [name_m]Lazarus[/name_m] and [name_m]Seamus[/name_m] :slight_smile: I’d consider: [name_m]Caspian[/name_m], [name_m]Gideon[/name_m], [name_m]Mahlon[/name_m], [name_m]Cormac[/name_m], [name_u]Micaiah[/name_u], [name_m]Finbar[/name_m], [name_m]Finnian[/name_m], [name_m]Horatio[/name_m], [name_m]Fiachra[/name_m], [name_m]Edmund[/name_m]

  3. [name_f]Jessamine[/name_f], [name_f]Oona[/name_f], and [name_f]Cecily[/name_f] are lovely!! I’ll suggest [name_f]Cherith[/name_f], [name_f]Sarai[/name_f] (okay, I’ll stop suggesting my faves :grin:), [name_f]Bridget[/name_f], [name_f]Clodagh[/name_f], [name_u]Abilene[/name_u], [name_f]Liadan[/name_f], [name_f]Kinvara[/name_f], [name_f]Ginevra[/name_f], [name_f]Vashti[/name_f], [name_f]Mirabel[/name_f], [name_f]Jemima[/name_f], [name_f]Generosity[/name_f], [name_f]Paloma[/name_f], [name_f]Ishbel[/name_f], Eilis/Eilish

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  1. No, but yes picking an -iah name would probably set that tone.

  2. Zadkiel (Angel) or Kemuel.(biblical figure)

  3. Judith (biblical figure) or Esther (biblical figure)

I made a caf recently using only biblical names and if that’s the sound you’re looking for check out the list I made, you may enjoy some of the names. Plenty of -iah names that are uncommon

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Honestly, unless you name a fourth [name_m]Lucifer[/name_m] or something like that, the set does sound very [name_u]Christian[/name_u] to me. Not a negative thing!

I think [name_m]Zebedee[/name_m], [name_m]Lazarus[/name_m], and [name_f]Cecily[/name_f] from your would work perfectly. I’d also add [name_m]Ebenezer[/name_m], [name_m]Barnabas[/name_m] (is the repeated -as ending an issue?) and [name_f]Philomena[/name_f].

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Honestly, yes. If these names were separate, I would not assume, but, as a sibset, that would be my natural guess. However, I don’t think those names can or should only be used by religious families. They just do carry very Christian connotations – especially together. And I think any -iah name would definitely cement that vibe. Not that that’s a bad thing, but if that’s not preferable, you might want to consider a name that is traditional and matches the vibe, but maybe with less of a strong Biblical association.

I really think that all of the names on your previous short list (except Rory) would work perfectly! But if you are looking for less of a Christian feel, Seamus is a great option.
I’d also suggest these for traditional, but not overtly religious options:
Sebastian
Nathaniel
Felix
Jasper
Atticus
Dominic
Jonas
Cyrus

Of those you like, I particularly like Thalia in your set! Anastasia is also a lovely choice.
I’d suggest…
Selene
Alethea
Cassia
Aurelia
Cosima
Eulalie
Nadia
Petra
Corinna
Helena
Philippa
Sybil

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Loving the suggestions! Thank you all so much!

To be clear, I don’t think it’s a bad thing for the set to sound Christian, since that’s what we are. We chose the names with that influence clearly in mind, and we chose the names we loved, so if that’s the flavor they are, so be it. I do kind of like the idea of some ambiguity, making people think a little more about our name choices, and I thought perhaps we had retained that (none of the names are actually “Bible names,” though Tobias is in the Apocrypha and Tobiah and Tobijah are in the Old Testament; and Ransom and Deliverance are of course in there as words.) And it sounds like maybe we did keep a little ambiguity for some people. I had wondered (for anyone who cares about sibset style coherence) if it would be too offbeat to pick an Irish name like Seamus at this point. I kinda think it would.

@snowmaiden thanks for the Thaddeus love! It was Top 3 last pregnancy. The similarity to Tobias was bugging me, but with a sister in between, I think it would work better in my mind. Gideon would work well as a “match” for Tobias, too. And I will explore the idea of a double girl name. Also Evangeline has been on my longlist forever :heart:

Yes. Ah I love Rory so much, and I think Ransom, Tobias and Rory would have worked, but I have serious doubts with Deliverance in the mix now.
Abigail is great, but I know so many, including one of my kids’ little cousins. My parents considered using Hosanna for one of my sisters, so it’s been on my radar for a long time too; Benjamin is my dad’s name–good call! And I had another friend suggest Isaiah, which has been on my longlist forever and would complement Tobias excellently. I think it merits a harder look. PS I love your username.

@may.rose Hosea and Benaiah are going on the list. I’ve admired Benaiah for awhile. I like Theoden; is it too Tolkien? (Though I love Tolkien.) Thessaly is gorgeous, and I now have three separate suggestions of Philomena :eyes:

@Greyblue do you think Seamus still works in the set? I find myself pining for that one a little, but it might bother me that it’s stylistically pretty different. Ransom, Tobias and Seamus would have worked for me. Ransom, Tobias, Deliverance and Seamus? :thinking: Horatio and Edmund are on my longlist! I actually had Ransom Horatio as my “perfect combo” before we decided to go with an honor middle. And the Irish F’s are just so handsome. Finbar has been on my list. I have to be careful since I have an F surname. Sometimes the alliteration seems like too much.
Sarai has intrigued me since you’ve really brought it to my attention. Kinvara is gorgeous, and I don’t remember having seen it before! Ginevra, Jemima and Paloma have all been on my radar from time to time.

@ajenni10 thank you! I’ve been mulling over Hezekiah recently, as my OP suggests, maybe with nn Kai. It would definitely tip the set directly into Biblical territory.

@ethelmary thanks! Zebedee will be staying on the table, but I think my husband is going to push harder for an -iah if we have another boy, and there are -iahs I prefer to Zebadiah…I couldn’t sell him on Lazarus. Maybe next time! And I love love Barnabas. Why aren’t more people using it? It’s my oldest brother’s name, so kinda taken for me. I’m close with all three of my brothers, so I think I’d feel weird using one of their names and not the others.

@elanorelle thank you! You think Seamus still works? I’ve been inclined to think he would really be the “odd man out” now.
On a quick read-through, Nathaniel strikes me as one I haven’t seriously considered that would work well in our set. It would balance Tobias beautifully.
Aw, some Thalia love! It is such a gorgeous name, and for some reason few girl names strike me that way. I’ve had Cassia, Aurelia, Eulalie, and Petra on longlists. I will be mulling these over.

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I do! I don’t know where you are from, so it may be different for you, but, where I am, Seamus is just as rare as the other three, so it fits in as a unique, but still fairly traditional name. It’s not the exact vibe, but I totally think it could work! :slight_smile: :woman_shrugging:t3:

I love Nathaniel with Tobias, too! It was my first thought when I read that you were looking for a name that would match with Tobias and essentially bring cohesiveness to the set as a whole.

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I think Seamus works - it comes from James which has biblical ties (though I’m sure you know that!) and it has a strong, rugged vibe like Ransom and a similar feel to Tobias (the similar endings, the familiar but underused style). Your kids names all work perfectly together but if someone said what would you name a sister/brother to any of them individually, I might not immediately suggest what you chose. What I mean by that is that I think you can get away with names so long as they’re distinct like your kids and Seamus is!!

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As the numbers go, [name_m]Seamus[/name_m] is as rare as the others, but I know of a couple in the town down the road! That may actually be a positive, since local folks may already be familiar with the name, its pronunciation and spelling. [name_f]My[/name_f] mom really dislikes it, sadly, which was a deterrent when we considered it before and probably would be again.

I think so far, [name_m]Isaiah[/name_m] and [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] have top billing as the names that would do exactly that. I know a few Nathaniels, but they mostly go by [name_m]Nate[/name_m] or [name_m]Nathan[/name_m]. We could use [name_u]Nat[/name_u], which I like as being a little less expected, if we thought he needed a nickname. [name_u]Toby[/name_u] and [name_u]Nat[/name_u] :heart:

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Very sweet! I love those together.

(And Isaiah would also be a great choice.)

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I love [name_u]Thaddeus[/name_u] for another boy! [name_f]Hadassah[/name_f], [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] or [name_u]Wisdom[/name_u] come to mind for a girl.

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