Ezra Kyle: The Name

The story behind the name. Kind of sounds like a VH1 program. It’s a lot simpler than most of you would believe: it started in conversation because one of Ahna’s favorite children’s book authors is named Ezra Jack Keats. Beyond that, it fit our wishes for a name that was unique, simple, and easy to say. It grew on us during conversation over the course of a couple of years to the point that when we found out we were pregnant with him we didn’t give too much thought to a lot of other names. It comes from old-school Hebrew times, so in that sense it really draws on the traditions of both Judaism and Bible that are important to us. Biblically speaking, Ezra is referred to as “the flowers that appear on the earth.” He was a scribe that led 5,000 Jews out of Babylon and into Jerusalem and is thought of amongst the Rabbinical community as someone that “if the law had not already been given to Moses before, Ezra would have been a worthy vehicle.” Ezra is not specifically mentioned in the Quran, but is thought of as a prophet by most Muslim scholars. Besides that, the name starts with a vowel.

His middle name was the middle name of my brother: Jonathan Kyle. It’s pretty much as simple as that.