Jonathan

Jonathan is the full-length tuxedo of Hebrew names, three measured syllables meaning gift of God. It belonged first to the beloved friend of King David in the Book of Samuel, one of the Bible's most tender male friendships, and has been in continuous American use since the Puritans, who favored it for its forthright theology. The name has remained remarkably steady near the top 85 for decades, rarely fashionable but never out of style. Jonathan reads as intellectually earnest, a little bookish, the kind of name attached to editors and rabbis and second basemen. Shortened to Jon, it relaxes; kept whole, it keeps its collar pressed.