Tobiah

Tobiah is Biblical name. Its origin is Hebrew, and it means "God is good." Tobiah appears in the Old Testament as an Ammonite opposed to Nehemiah. The more familiar Tobias comes from this name.

Nathan

Nathan is a Hebrew name and means "giver." Because Nathan appears inside two other names, Jonathan and Nathaniel, Nathan is sometimes considered a short form of those names. In the Old Testament, King David had a son named Nathan, and Nathan was also a prophet who served King David, but who also rebuked him after the Bathsheba incident, and intervened when Adonijah attempted to take the throne for himself. Much later, another Nathan, Nathan Hale, was an American Revolution hero who said "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country," before being hanged by the British. Nathan is currently an internationally popular name, holding a position in the top 30 most popular names for boys in not only the U.S., but in nearly all English speaking countries.

Seth

The name Seth is an Old Testament name; Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve. It comes from a Hebrew word that means "placed" or "appointed." Seth was a popular name among Puritans, especially if the baby had had an older sibling who had died (in such a case, Seth was a reference to the fact that the Seth of the Old Testament who was born after Abel died at the hands of Cain.) After the Puritan days the name slipped in popularity quite a bit, but never fell completely out of use. Seth is currently enjoying a major popularity revival, having spent a large part of the last two decades in the top 100 names for baby boys in the U.S. If you are expecting a baby boy I definitely recommend this name. It's common and known enough to not be considered "odd," but not overused enough that your child would be in a classroom with several other Seths (well, probably not, anyway.) Besides, I really like it, and that ought to be reason enough.

Susan

Susan is a short form of the name Susanna, which comes from the Hebrew name Shoshana, and means "lily," or "rose." This sort of qualifies it as a plant or flower name (such as Rose or Lily or Heather, but it's not really considered in that group, normally.) From the 1940's through the 1970's, Susan was a ridiculously popular name. Its popularity finally started to wane in the 1980's, and has been declining steadily ever since, mainly because people simply grew tired of the name. Susan is still used, but not nearly as much--it has even fallen out of the top 500 in the U.S. Famous Susans include Susan B. Anthony, actressess Susan Sarandon, Susan Lucci, and Susan Hayward, and in fiction, Susan is one of the children in the Narnia series, and Suellen O'Hara, Scarlett's sister from Gone With the Wind is actually named Susan Eleanor--Suellen is her nickname. Usual nicknames for Susan include Sue, Suzie, and Susie, which makes it a quite versatile name, but those nicknames are in the same boat as Susan--they are considered a little overused and old-fashioned at this point. Susan is a name that has been around for a long time though, and probably should be considered a classic. It is more than likely that in future generations it will regain its popularity once again.

Laban

Laban means "white," and comes from Hebrew. It is a Biblical name; Laban was the father of Rachel and Leah in the Old Testament. Laban is a very rarely used name, but the meaning can make it useful for naming a white pet.

Aaron

Aaron is a biblical name; Aaron was the brother of Moses. It has been said that the origin of this name is Hebrew, and that it means "high mountain" or "mountain of strength." In fact, the meaning and origin of the name are uncertain. No one really knows for sure where it came from or what it means. What we do know is that the name has nearly always been in use as a Jewish name, and has been used by Christians as well since the 17th century. Currently Aaron is a popular name in nearly all English speaking countries. In the U.S. Aaron has been a top 100 name since the 1970's, and might be due for a drop in popularity soon as parents start to consider it over-used.

Judah

Judah is a biblical name, from a Hebrew name (Yehudah) which means "praised." Judah is known in the Old Testament as one of the sons of Jacob. It was the Tribe of Judah that led the Exodus from Egypt. Another well known Judah, Judah the Maccabi, was a Jewish warrior who led a rebellion agains the Greeks. His story is celebrated during the festival of Chanukah. Interestingly, Judah had not appeared at all in the U.S. top 1000 names for baby boys in all of the 20th century until 1998, when it was just barely enough to make the list. Since then, it has climbed steadily, and seems poised to possibly make it into the top 500. Why the sudden rise in popularity? I have no idea.

Zachary

By request, we now have Zachary. Zachary means "God has remembered." It started out as the Hebrew name Zechariah, which became Zachariah in the New Testament (the Greek form.) Probably the most famous Zachary was Zachary Taylor, who was the 12th president of the United States. Interestingly, in the case of this name, Ask Oxford seems to be more than a little wrong, because they state that Zachary is "out of fashion" currently, and is simply "familiar" in the U.S. because of Zachary Taylor. In fact, Zachary has been a top 100 name for boys in the U.S. since 1976, and was in the top 20 from 1992 through 2002. It might be out of fashion elsewhere, but in the U.S., at least, it seems to be right in style. Zachary is a fairly versatile name, insofar as it brings with it the short form Zack or Zach, both of which have been used as given names in their own right to some extent. It seems to be dropping just slightly in popularity, which makes it still a good choice as a name for a new baby--it's not terribly over-used and doesn't look like it will become so, if the current trend continues. Zachary's biblical connection, historical connection, versatility, along with the fact that it sounds good, and looks good on paper, should all contribute to keeping this name in use, if not in fashion.

Asa

Asa means "doctor" or "healer" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament Asa was a king of Judah. Asa was a Puritan name (17th century) and has been popular with Jewish families. In the United States in the last century Asa has usually appeared in the top 1000 names for boys, but in the bottom 500 of that list. Personally I really like this name. Its only real drawback is that it is already such a short name that there are no real nicknames or short forms of it, so a child named Asa wouldn't have a lot of choice about what to be called later. Paired with a versatile name like William or Robert though, Asa could work out wonderfully. Asa is also a wonderful name for a dog. I don't know why it is, but it is. Trust me. An interesting (or sort of interesting) but totally irrelevant aside here: a search on Google for "Asa" shows that it's also apparently a very popular acronym. The entire first page of results is nothing but associations and societies with ASA as their initials. (See? Irrelevant. I told you.)

Jacob

Jacob is the English version of the Hebrew name Yaakov. Jacob was of course a very important person in the Old Testament, and the name Jacob means "holder of the heel," and "supplanter." The story there is that the biblical Jacob was born holding onto his twin brother Esau's heel, and later "supplanted" him--basically by being pretty tricky, when you come right down to it. First he persuaded Esau to trade his inheritance for a bowl of soup (mmm mmm good but surely not that good,) and later Jacob tricked their blind father into giving him instead of Esau. The lesson here might be that resourcefulness is an important asset to survival, because Jacob went on to have twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob is at a peak in popularity right now, having held the number one spot for more than five years. It's never really been an unpopular name, anyway, having always been in favor with Jewish families. If you name your baby Jacob he will most likely go through school with a few other Jacobs, so you might want to look for something a little less popular. If you have your heart set on the name though, go ahead. It's fine. Just pair it with a less common but still "normal" middle name, preferably one with a lot of nickname potential, like Robert or William, and there you go: the perfect baby name. The most usual nickname for Jacob is Jake, but since that name has also been given as a first name in its own right, I'll deal with it seperately at some point in the future.

Jada

Jada is really two names, sort of. The one that isn't used much--if at all-- is the masculine version. It comes from the Old Testament and according Behind the Name it is Hebrew for "He knows." Jada appears amongst all the begats in Chronicles, and is the son of Onam, and the father of Jether and Jonathan. The other version of Jada, (if you do want to consider it two names, rather than one rediscovered name given to the opposite gender,) is a derivative of Jade, which means just what you think it means--the precious stone jade. In this case Jada is almost exclusively a girl's name, while (interestingly) Jade is sometimes (rarely) given to boys. Jada has been gaining in popularity steadily since the early 1990's, and is currently a top 100 name. A major difference between Jade and Jada though is that while Jade can be looked at as a "classic" name--as "gem" names such as Pearl and Ruby--come into and go out of fashion fairly regularly, Jada is probably more of a "fad" name. Jada could possibly become a classic name, but it's more probable that when Jade goes out of fashion, Jada will as well. Jade will almost certainly come back into fashion at some point, while Jada might, but might not. Jada is a good name for a fantasy character--whether fictional or in a role-playing game. It'd also be a good name for a fictional character who is born between the 1990's and now. An alternate spelling, Jayda, is also used.

Matthew

Matthew comes ultimately from the Hebrew name Mattathia,which means "gift of God." The apostle Matthew was author of the first gospel of the New Testament. According to Ask Oxford's name dictionary, the name Jonathan comes from the same root, only reversed, so Matthew and Jonathan might be perfect names for a pair of twin boys. The name was used in the Middle Ages, and several surnames, including the obvious "Matthews" are derived from it. Matthew is currently going through a popularity spike; it has been a top 10 name since the 1970's. For this reason it might be a little too popular to be a good choice right now--then again, if you don't mind that your child might be in school with several other Matthews, there's no reason not to use the name anyway. Pair it with a somewhat less common middle name, and you're good to go. Matt is the common nickname for Matthew, but since it's also a short from of Matthias, and also has been given as a name in its own right at times, I'll deal with Matt as a seperate name at some point.

Daniel

Daniel is of Hebrew origin and means "God is my judge." The Book of Daniel in the Old Testament tells the story of the prophet Daniel. The story of Daniel in the lion's den was a favorite in the Middle Ages, and children in the Middle Ages were named for Daniel, which lead to the the use of "Daniel" and "Daniels" as surnames. Use of the name continued past the Middle Ages. Although not always at the very top in popularity, the name is always used enough to be considered familiar, if not common. Currently it is a top 10 name in the U.S., and has been so for some time. One good reason for the name's continued popularity is its versatility; a child named Daniel can choose whether to be Daniel, Dan, or Danny. Both of the nicknames have been used as given names in their own right. Famous Daniels have included author Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe,) and Daniel Boone.

John

From John the Baptist to King John to John Lennon to John Kerry, if I need to tell you how popular this name has been through the ages, you just haven't been paying attention. Everyone from saints to kings to popes to pop singers have been named John. Actually, the Hebrew name was more like "Johanan," but since John is the version used in the Authorized Version of the New Testament, and is the English form, that is the name we know best. Due to its extreme popularity over so many centuries, "john" has picked up at least two seperate meanings as a word rather than just being a name. "John" is a recognized synonym for a toilet, and, probably because of the habit of calling anonymous men "John Doe," prostitutes commonly refer to their customers as johns. Despite these bad associations, the name is still a reasonably good choice for a boy's name. One common nickname for John is Johnny, or its alternate spelling Johnnie, both of which are also used as names in their own right.

Benjamin

Benjamin is of Hebrew origin. In the Old Testament Benjamin was Jacob's youngest son. There is no definite meaning for the name Benjamin, but rather several possible meanings. It may mean "son of the right hand." Or, it may mean "son of the south," referring to the fact that Benjamin was the only one of Jacob's sons born in Canaan rather than Mesopotamia, which is farther north. Another possible meaning is "son of my old age," referring to Benjamin having been Jacob's last son. Benjamin's original name was Benoni, given to him by his mother Rachel, who died shortly after, but Jacob renamed him the more pleasant Benjamin. Because of this, the name Benjamin in the Middle Ages was sometimes given to boys whose mothers had died in childbirth. The most famous Benjamin in more modern times was Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd president of the United States. Today the name is still quite popular, not just in the United States, but around the world. Benjamin is a true classic name, and is always a good choice for a baby boy. The cute Benjy for a little boy, and Ben once he's old enough to protest being called Benjy, are nicknames that add to the appeal of this name, though it must be noted that the most famous recent use of the "Benjy" was for a very smart and resourceful dog in the movie of the same name, and its sequels.

Ruth

Ruth comes from Hebrew and means "friend" or "companion." We know Ruth from the Old Testament, but some of us also think of Babe Ruth when we hear the name (or Baby Ruth, if we happen to be hungry at the time.) Ruth was a popular name with the 17th century Puritans, and was extremely popular from about 1890 through the 1920's in the U.S. It started to lose popularity, slipping out of the top 100 in the 1960's. I was fairly surprised to find that it is still ranks in the top 400 in the U.S. It may owe much of its continued level of use to the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. The meaning of Ruth makes it an ideal name for a dog, cat, or other pet.

Thomas

I really like the name Thomas a lot. My mother had a cat named Thomas--we called him "Sir Thomas" most of the time. My boyfriend's first name is Thomas, so that's another reason to like the name a lot. Thomas is a wonderful name to give a baby boy--in my opinion, because it has that versatility thing going for it. The child you name Thomas can grow up to be a casual Tommy or Tom, or he can use the more formal Thomas. I love names that allow a person to choose who they'd like to be. According to Behind the Name, Thomas is derived from "Te'oma," meaning "twin." I find this pretty darn interesting because I've started to really like the search engine Teoma, and now I'm going to have to remember to look up how they got that name. Some sources say that Thomas is from Hebrew. Behind the Name says it's a Greek form of an Aramaic name. Aramaic was a language that was very similar to Hebrew, and was likely the language spoken by Jesus Christ, so that's reasonable. Thomas was one of the apostles, and gave us the phrase "doubting Thomas." Thomas is a saint name. This name is one of those classic names that might never go out of style. In the U.S. it's currently at a sort of "low point" in popularity--meaning, it fell out of the top 20. Not much of a "low" there. The name is popular in pretty much all countries with a high Catholic population, so that is part of the reason for its popularity. Again, a name I would definitely recommend.