A friend wrote yesterday. I will not name him. But he was eager that our son be named Jack. We named our son Jonathan. Our friend was happy with this because, he reasoned, Jonathan is like John, and Jack is a nickname for John. So he plans to call our son Jack.
It is true that Jack is a nickname for John. I don’t know why, but it is. It’s also true (according to Wikipedia) that John is the most popular name in the United States and Jack was the most popular name given to newborn boys in England and Wales every year from 1995 to 2005.
It is not true, however, that Jonathan is like John. Wikipedia gives me the most handy copy/paste source. This is what it says in the entry “John,” under “Common mistakes”:
Because the name Jonathan is sometimes abbreviated as Jon, John is sometimes incorrectly considered to be a short form of Jonathan, especially in the United States. John comes from the Hebrew name YôḥÄnnÄn, whereas Jonathan derives from the Hebrew ×™×•Ö¹× Ö¸×ªÖ¸×Ÿ YônÄṯÄn, which means "Gift from the Lord" [tb edit: better: “the Lord [Yahweh] has given”] and thus is a longer version of Nathan.
If you know Hebrew, you don’t need this explanation, but at least one of my friends does. YôḥÄnnÄn (John) means “God is merciful” and it is not related to Jonathan. Many of my heroes are named John. My son is not one of them.
Jonathan. More new photos here.
LOVE the pic of Jonathan with his mommy! Now you just need to get her to take one of you:) He is a precious gift from the Lord and I hope you you can lovingly help people call him by his proper name!
What a beautiful little boy… congratulations! What a gift from the Lord:) I agree with Emily–great pic of Jonathan with Kelli!
Congratulations Todd. Praise God for a healthy baby. May momma have a quick and efficient recovery.
I am so thrilled for you guys! I got to get to Texas one of these days.