Jonathan

Every shortlist needs a Jonathan. Not necessarily as the winner, but as the name that sits calmly at the bottom of the page reminding you that you could, at any moment, simply stop agonising and pick something lovely.

It's Hebrew, and the meaning is YAHWEH has given. So, at root, a name about a gift. There's a quiet gratitude built into it, which is a rather nice thing to hand a child, and it explains why it has survived so many centuries of fashion coming and going. Names about gratitude tend to stick around.

Three names in one

Here's where Jonathan gets genuinely clever. It shortens to Jon, plain and easy. It softens to Jonny, ideal for the years when he's mostly knees and enthusiasm. And if you're feeling adventurous, you can lop off the front and get Nathan, which is a perfectly good name in its own right and one most people won't even realise is hiding in there. Very few names offer that many exits. He can reinvent himself at every school without a single form being changed.

In the charts it's the steady sort. Jonathan is number 70 in the United States and 76 in Mexico City, then keeps a comfortable presence through the 100s and 200s in Canada, Argentina, Brazil and New Zealand. England & Wales has it at 302, Catalonia at 413. That's a name that has never gone anywhere near the top and has never gone away either. Dependable, well-travelled, and unlikely to date.

Namesakes worth mentioning

The full version has literary pedigree. Jonathan Swift, the Anglo-Irish satirist and essayist, is the sort of namesake that makes a name feel like it has read a few books. And for the short form, Jon Voight, the American actor, shows that Jon can carry a career all on its own. Writer and actor: a decent pairing for a name that likes words and doesn't mind a stage.

Sibling-wise, Jonathan is happiest among the classics. It sits naturally next to Benjamin, Nicholas and Daniel, and pairs with Sarah or Emily without a hint of friction. If your shortlist looks like the register of a good primary school in any decade of the last fifty years, Jonathan will feel right at home.

The trade-off is that it's a long name for a small child to write, and a familiar one for everybody else. Nobody will be startled by it. But nobody will mispronounce it, misspell it, or raise an eyebrow at it either, and there's a lot to be said for that at three in the morning when you're too tired to defend a bold choice.

So: a gift, three nicknames, and a name that plays well with others. Is it your gift? You'll know when you know, and probably not before. Until then, keep it on the list, right there at the bottom, being sensible while you flirt with something ridiculous above it.