I keep thinking of this post because we used [name_m]John[/name_m] as a middle for our youngest 
[name_f][/name_f] [name_f]My[/name_f] husband picked it as an honor for his brother who passed away in a farm accident a few years ago. It was his middle name too.
Our boy is [name_m]Zebedee[/name_m] [name_m]John[/name_m]. I see your dilemma because I agree with your imagery for [name_m]John[/name_m], and yet it’s so much used that I wouldn’t really have wanted to use it as a first. I adore how it provides the perfect grounding for more unusual names, and in theory I love the idea of using [name_m]John[/name_m] as a first and something crazy wild and free in the middle; but in practice it turns out I prefer to put the wilder name up front, haha!
[name_f][/name_f]I have an acquaintance with two boys, about 5 and 10 months, named [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] and [name_m]John[/name_m] 