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HelpRe: Atheists giving their kids Biblical names
in reply to a message by Laslow
Not at all! A LOT of common names have Biblical origins but don't have any kind of biblical associations anymore. Even if you're aware that a name is Biblical, you're not going to think "oh, you named your baby a common popular name that happens to be from the bible so you must be religious!"
Like yeah, Nehemiah = probably religious. Jacob, David, etc = definitely not. Very neutral common names. My brother is named Jacob, and it's technically Biblical but I don't think anyone would see it that way. Nobody told my parents not to use that name because it was Biblical. (It's also a family name so that's another reason you might use a Biblical name).
The only religious names I think are weird is if you name a baby something obviously meant to refer to that religion. Like if you name your kid Christian, that's weird. There are two things that could happen: he'll either end up as a non-Christian named Christian or a Christian named Christian. Either way it's just weird. It's either ironic or awkward.
(Interestingly, I don't feel that way about people obviously named after a religious figure. Like babies are named things like Muhammed and Jesus, but those are still names that exist outside of the religious context. They're very much associated with religions, so it would still be ironic if the baby grew up to be anything other than that specific religion. But it wouldn't be awkward the way something like "Christian" would be.)
ETA: Many/most Biblical names are associated with specific stories. So you could still name your baby a Biblical name in reference to a Biblical person without being religious. For example, Ruth in the Bible basically represents kindness, so that's a good thing to name your kid after regardless of whether you're religious or not. And I think everyone can agree that Jesus (historically and/or Biblically) was at the very least great role model-- not a bad person to name your baby after, even if you don't think he was the son of God.
Like yeah, Nehemiah = probably religious. Jacob, David, etc = definitely not. Very neutral common names. My brother is named Jacob, and it's technically Biblical but I don't think anyone would see it that way. Nobody told my parents not to use that name because it was Biblical. (It's also a family name so that's another reason you might use a Biblical name).
The only religious names I think are weird is if you name a baby something obviously meant to refer to that religion. Like if you name your kid Christian, that's weird. There are two things that could happen: he'll either end up as a non-Christian named Christian or a Christian named Christian. Either way it's just weird. It's either ironic or awkward.
(Interestingly, I don't feel that way about people obviously named after a religious figure. Like babies are named things like Muhammed and Jesus, but those are still names that exist outside of the religious context. They're very much associated with religions, so it would still be ironic if the baby grew up to be anything other than that specific religion. But it wouldn't be awkward the way something like "Christian" would be.)
ETA: Many/most Biblical names are associated with specific stories. So you could still name your baby a Biblical name in reference to a Biblical person without being religious. For example, Ruth in the Bible basically represents kindness, so that's a good thing to name your kid after regardless of whether you're religious or not. And I think everyone can agree that Jesus (historically and/or Biblically) was at the very least great role model-- not a bad person to name your baby after, even if you don't think he was the son of God.
This message was edited 9/23/2016, 9:42 PM
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