A reader named Julia is trying to come up with a name for her second son:
My first is a boy named Gabriel. We chose that name because we wanted a “less common” name, but one that was still considered “normal.” Now we are having a really difficult time figuring out another boy name with these same qualities. A few friends suggested Nathan, but that’s out because of a close cousin with the same name. Your ideas would be greatly appreciated!
I think Nathan was a great suggestion — too bad it’s out of the running. Here are some more names that might work:
| Alastair Benjamin Caleb Dominic Douglas Edgar Edward Elijah Everett Gregory Henry | Isaac Josiah Julian Julius Kenneth Leo Levi Lucas Malcolm Maximilian Noah | Oliver Raymond Richard Roman Sebastian Simon Theo / Theodore Timothy Victor Vincent Xavier |
Can you think of other boy names that sound good next to Gabriel?
Sticking with the archangel theme, you get Raphael or Rafael.
Other suggestions: Toby/Tobias, Luis/Louis (with the long ee sound), Zachariah, Jude, Ezekiel
(OK, I seem to be stuck in Biblical/religious mode for names today. You get the idea.)
Perhaps because I’m Jewish and speak Hebrew, Gabriel strikes my ear as distinctly Biblical. (Its literal meaning, in Hebrew, is “God’s hero.”) Another Old Testament name (e.g., Isaac, Elijah, Benjamin) would certainly be consonant; if the family is not Jewish, I agree that names from the early Christian era, such as Theodore and Timothy, would be good choices. Also consider Daniel, Alexander, Samuel. If the family is European, names such as Marco or Pablo might work.
I’d caution against Caleb in this case, although I like the name. Sonically it’s too close to Gabriel (Gabe and Cabe), and I know how easy it is to get kids’ names confused (especially when you’re yelling at them to come in for dinner)!
A personal anecdote: my brother and our first cousin, who grew up not far from us, share a first name, and it never was a problem. The cousin preferred to use a double-barreled name (his one-syllable middle name in addition to his first name), and eventually dropped his first name altogether in favor of the middle name. Moral: make sure your kids have some latitude with their names!
If our two girls had been two boys, they would have been Edward Gabriel and Raphael Joseph, going by both angel names. But we had a different theme going.
Henry and Theo are great choices, as is Dominic. What about Benedict? Ben is still the nickname but it is different. Augustine? August? Ian, Samuel, Micah?
Thank you for the suggestions and advice!
I would go with Caleb. It’s stylish, classic, traditional, unusual, but not a name where people would reply “What?”. In order, from best to worst, using the names from you’re list, I would choose:
Caleb
Sebastian
Dominic
Kenneth
Oliver
Alastair
Noah
Isaac
Henry
Benjamin
Julian
Everett
Leo
Julius
Malcolm
Lucas
Max (Just max, not maximilian)
Levi
Xavier
Josiah
Vincent
Richard
Elijah
Simon
Douglas
Theo/Theodore
Timothy
Gregory
Raymond
Roman
Edward
Edgar
My nephews are named Ezra and Gabriel. I think that works well.
I googled “best name to match Gabriel” because we are in the exact same situation. We also chose “Gabriel” because it is common yet unique. We have also been trying to stick with the angelic theme and are considering “Michael” or “Raphael.” Michael is a bit too common but I also wonder if Raphael is a bit too uncommon. Reading comments from others suggesting Raphael make me feel more confident about this name.