There's an assumption in American naming that names ending in A are feminine. Emma, Olivia, Ava, Sophia, Isabella — the top girls names are overwhelmingly A-ending.
But look at the boys top 25, and the assumption falls apart.
Noah (#2). Luca (#23). Ezra (#24). Elijah (#9). Joshua (#58). Micah (#92). Jonah (#166). Elisha (#620).
These aren't crossover names or gender-neutral experiments. They are solidly, overwhelmingly male names — most of them biblical Hebrew names that have been masculine for thousands of years. The "A endings are feminine" rule is an English assumption applied to a naming tradition that predates English.
The data
| Name | 1994 Rank | 2004 Rank | 2014 Rank | 2024 Rank | 2024 Babies |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noah | #94 | #11 | #1 | #2 | 19,502 |
| Elijah | #93 | #38 | #11 | #9 | 14,498 |
| Joshua | #6 | #5 | #16 | #58 | 5,975 |
| Luca | #2,118 | #272 | #76 | #23 | 11,166 |
| Ezra | #338 | #209 | #100 | #24 | 10,885 |
| Micah | #172 | #88 | #82 | #92 | 4,199 |
| Jonah | #380 | #171 | #103 | #166 | 2,264 |
| Elisha | #498 | #458 | #549 | #620 | 482 |
Noah: the #2 boys name with an A ending
Noah — Boys #2, 19,502 babies in 2024.
Noah has been in the top 2 boys names for over a decade. It was #1 from 2013-2016. The fact that it ends in A has not reduced its masculine association by one degree.
| Year | Rank | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | #94 | 3,660 |
| 2000 | #20 | 9,890 |
| 2004 | #11 | 12,738 |
| 2010 | #7 | 16,198 |
| 2013 | #1 | 18,266 |
| 2016 | #1 | 19,115 |
| 2020 | #2 | 18,454 |
| 2024 | #2 | 19,502 |
Noah's rise follows the general biblical revival that also lifted Elijah, Isaiah, and Ezra. The biblical flood narrative (Noah's Ark) is one of the most universally recognized stories in Western culture, giving the name cross-religious appeal beyond observant families. Noah is short, pronounceable in virtually any language, and has no obviously dated generation associated with it.
Luca: the Italian import
Luca — Boys #23, 11,166 babies in 2024.
Luca is the Italian/Romanian form of Luke (from Latin Lucas). In Italy it's been a top-5 name for decades. In America it was barely used before 2000.
| Year | Rank | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | ~#2,100 | ~20 |
| 2000 | #754 | 268 |
| 2004 | #272 | 1,164 |
| 2010 | #144 | 2,676 |
| 2014 | #76 | 5,398 |
| 2018 | #50 | 7,059 |
| 2022 | #28 | 10,607 |
| 2024 | #23 | 11,166 |
Luca is still rising. The Pixar film Luca (2021, set in Italy) helped normalize the name in American ears. But the rise predates the film — Luca was already climbing fast in the 2010s, driven by Italian heritage families and the broader embrace of Italian names (see italian-origin-names and italian-names-america).
The A ending in Luca is clearly Italian masculine, not feminine — no one in Italy or America confuses this. Luca sits alongside Lucas at #22 (2024), and the two names account for over 21,000 babies annually combined.
Ezra: the fastest-climbing biblical name
Ezra — Boys #24, 10,885 babies in 2024.
Ezra was a minor biblical name — a scribe and reformer in post-exilic Judaism — that was barely used in modern America until recently.
| Year | Rank | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | #338 | 758 |
| 2000 | #268 | 1,010 |
| 2004 | #209 | 1,476 |
| 2010 | #158 | 2,344 |
| 2014 | #100 | 4,335 |
| 2018 | #59 | 6,539 |
| 2022 | #24 | 10,618 |
| 2024 | #24 | 10,885 |
Ezra's rise mirrors Elijah and Noah as part of the Old Testament name revival. The name also got a celebrity boost from Ezra Miller and Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend), giving it indie cultural cachet alongside its biblical roots. It may still be rising — it hasn't plateaued convincingly.
Elijah: the Hebrew giant
Elijah — Boys #9, 14,498 babies in 2024.
Elijah is the Old Testament prophet who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire. As a name, it was popular in the 19th century, declined sharply in the 20th, and has made a massive comeback.
| Year | Rank | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | #93 | 4,018 |
| 2000 | #55 | 6,984 |
| 2004 | #38 | 8,869 |
| 2010 | #21 | 11,502 |
| 2014 | #11 | 13,398 |
| 2020 | #7 | 15,156 |
| 2024 | #9 | 14,498 |
Elijah has been in the top 10 since 2020. It has the weight and biblical gravitas of a name like Isaiah or Solomon, but the clean three-syllable flow (eh-LIE-jah) that makes it melodic. Elijah Wood (actor, Lord of the Rings) gave the name some pop culture presence in the early 2000s.
Why do these names have A endings?
The answer is historical linguistics. In ancient Hebrew, many masculine names end in consonants that were later transliterated into English as "ah" or "a" — Elijah (Eliyahu), Noah (Noach), Jonah (Yonah), Micah (Mikhah), Isaiah (Yeshayahu). When these names came through Greek and Latin translations, the transliterations preserved the final vowel sound.
None of these names were ever feminine in any language. They're ancient masculine names that happen to end in the sound Americans typically associate with girl names. The data proves the association is cultural, not universal.
For parents looking for boy names with softer endings, this set offers historically masculine names that sound modern and fresh — without being trendy surnames or invented spellings.
See hebrew-origin-names for the broader Hebrew naming tradition, and biblical-names-2024 for the full biblical revival picture.