Apparently the name [name]Cohen[/name] can be considered offensive. Although I am not sure why? I know that it is derived from a Jewish surname…but why does that make it offensive to use as a first name? To me it seems like using any other name that has a religious background…like many many names do. Sorry I just don’t understand why its offensive? If someone could shed like on it I would appreciate it…I am not a religious person. I just like the name and don’t understand the problem. Thanks!
Cohen is a common last name among Jews and a royal name in the Jewish religion, standing for someone who is the priest in a temple.
The name is reserved for holy/royal members only and is offensive to some when used for their random kids. I’ve seen tons of threads about this, and lots of people suggest using alternate spellings ([name]Koen[/name], [name]Coen[/name], Cowan) to make it less of an issue. 
I have [name]Cohen[/name] on my list at the moment as a middle name, so it’s kind of hidden away. However, I’ve been contemplating the [name]Koen[/name] spelling, which isn’t actually a spelling alternative because it is a legitimate Dutch name, dervied from [name]Conrad[/name].
I’ve met 2 little [name]Cohen[/name]'s in the UK (one is 6 years old and the other is 2 years old) and I think the problem is that peope do not know the name offensive and the large majority of people aren’t name nerds and don’t seek advice and opinons, they just use the name they love and this is why a name like [name]Cohen[/name] will become popular. It has a lovely sound, the spelling is nice and pretty masculine too, so no chance of the girls stealing it.
I find the “[name]Cohen[/name]” spelling used by non-Jews to be really appropriative and offensive. I wouldn’t name my kid Buddha, don’t name yours [name]Cohen[/name].
This. I do think it looks kind of culturally ignorant when I see a random non-Jewish child with this as their first name. I think I would respect it more if the parents used it in Biblical reference vs, “ooo, this has the same feel as [name]Aidan[/name] or [name]Connor[/name], I think its cute” and then uses it without looking up the background of the name. I haven’t even seen Jews use this as a given name, but, it wouldn’t be as offensive if it was used for its religious connotations and the parent is aware that cohens are kind of a big deal in Judaism. I can’t explain really why its offensive. It would kind of be like a non-Catholic naming their child Pope, or better yet, its almost akin to naming your child [name]Rabbi[/name], which is bad enough as a name, its even worse when you are not Jewish and do not have any ties to the religion or culture.
I have posted this before, and will post it again if need be.
[name]Just[/name] because people are starting to name kids this name does not mean it’s ok.
In the Jewish religion this isn’t just any name. This is the last name of the descendents of the high priest [name]Aaron[/name]. These are people with a special place in the Judaism, as they have a history (5000 years) of being high priests.
Being of Jewish descent I would not even name my child this because I am not one of these holy people.
It goes even deeper than that:
Yes, [name]Cohen[/name] is a sacred name for the Jews. I equate it to a [name]Christian[/name] naming their child [name]Mohammed[/name] purely because they liked the sound of it, without considering the political aspect of the name. Think of how a Muslim might feel in this situation.
Having said that, there is a deeper issue, and that is appropriation.
The reason, I believe, that Christians find no name they can feel is offensive to them is because Christianity is the dominant religion and dominates western culture. Often Christians don’t understand appropriation because they’re the ones that exoticize other cultures.
When you are part of a minority group, you are used to the mainstream culture mostly ignoring your specialized customs and culture. You have your shul and holidays, live in your community (in this case the Jewish community) as well as living in a mainstream community also.
Now this actually happens all the time, and it’s level of offensiveness varies, but when the mainstream culture appropriates/gentrifies aspects of other cultures turning them into fads, this is shocking and has the potential to offend- especially when it takes from the holiest part of a culture.
When the mainstream picks and chooses little bits of other faiths and cultures to feed it’s fads it debases those things, because you’re not respecting any other part of that culture. It’s usurping and it feels uncomfortable.
I honestly wonder where this sudden [name]Cohen[/name] trend is coming from…I have noticed more and more babies with this name. Is there someone famous who has this as a first name? I know there are plenty of famous people with it as a last name. Its usage as a name still boggles my mind, it boggles my mind even more that it just suddenly came out of nowhere with really no rhyme or reason as to its popularity.
I think it’s piggybacking on the surname trend, plus it has the “-en” spelling that’s so popular right now. It’s also close to “[name]Cullen[/name]”, another name that’s rocketing up the charts.
There are very informative threads on this name if you do a quick search. They are worth checking out, if you can weed through all the posters who say “who cares? It’s your baby.” They didn’t really add to the conversation. There are some thoughtful and informative responses as well.
I think the question’s been well answered, but just a few other points:
@sheflieswithherownwings Not sure if you are aware but the Dutch name [name]Koen[/name] is actually pronounced like “coon.” It does come from [name]Conrad[/name], but it’s the Dutch version: [name]Koenraad[/name] prn coonrahd. So if you go with the [name]Koen[/name] spelling, either you are going with a variation on [name]Cohen[/name] (pronounced like cohen, ko-uhn) or you are going with a Dutch name (pronounced like coon).
@juliet.a I agree with what you say, but I find your sweeping view of Christians rather upsetting. Most Christians I know do respect other religions, and in my experience people of any background can cause offence by appropriation or ignorance.
@shaymin2 I know of someone who named their kid [name]Cohen[/name], after [name]Seth[/name] [name]Cohen[/name] from The OC who is called [name]Cohen[/name] as a nickname. Perhaps some of the popularity is due to this, although I wouldn’t have expected it to have so great an effect.
@eskay: Oh, well that rules that name out, thank you for informing me!
@eskay: sorry i didn’t mean to generalize, i meant it as a shorthand for the dominant culture. I know many Christians, Muslims and Atheists (of which, funny enough, i am one) who are gentile and respectful. I only meant to reference the feeling of people who live in the dominant [name]Christian[/name] culture who may not see how this is offensive.
Sort of. Except Jews don’t name our kids “[name]Cohen[/name]” as a first name either. It’s not like we’re jumping around claiming “wait wait [name]Abraham[/name] was ours first, don’t use it! [name]Moses[/name] was ours first, don’t use it!” etc. We use those names as first names and other people certainly can and do as well and even the stuffiest of Orthodox Jews don’t walk around getting offended by atheists or Christians etc. using names that we think of as Biblical or Jewish.
But [name]Cohen[/name] isn’t a name, its a title. I don’t know anyone Jewish who uses [name]Cohen[/name] as a first name. [name]Even[/name] Cohanim. (People who are [name]Cohen[/name] bloodline)
It is a last name, because it was a title. Like Pope. It’d be someone’s right to name their kid Pope if they wanted, but they couldn’t very well get that surprised if some Catholics felt a bit trod on by that. It’d be antagonistic and kind of tacky. Especially with the tacked-on “But it doesn’t mean that to us; we don’t care what it means to them” that follows [name]Cohen[/name] around when it’s used as a name. There’s issues of cultural appropriation a yard thick.
This thread is really interesting! I’ve never considered the name [name]Cohen[/name] as a first name,but I had no idea how offensive it was to appropriate it!
I don’t know a lot about Jewish culture beyond the bare bones,but it always seemed a very religion specific name to me. In that part I was right,but interesting to learn how important a name it is in Jewish culture.
I agree it would seem culturally ignorant to use it. It would only take an Internet search to find out as I have.
[name]Cohen[/name] would be offensive, so I wouldn’t use it. But I don’t like it when people say those who use it are culturally ignorant. Not everyone Googles a name before they use it, and not everyone is going to know about the ties to Judaism. It’s just a human error. Maybe if they used the name knowing it was offensive I would consider them ignorant, but not if they did it accidentally, without realising.
I think your explanation of the history of Cohen is very helpful. I beg to differ though that Christians are somehow oblivious to the potential for a name to be offensive. Christians are often very aware of name meanings, the concept of sacredness, the appropriateness of a name for a child given history/background, etc. Especially Christians who are devout and really delve into their religion. In short, being a religious person makes you more sensitive to other religious people. As a devout Catholic, I would never disregard or downgrade the importance of respecting what is sacred in other religions precisely because I “get” how offensive it is when say, someone who is not Catholic desecrates something Catholics consider sacred. The OP in fact admits she’s not very religious so she doesn’t (initially) “get” why something would be offensive to a Jewish person. Well, as a religious person, I “get it” and so would the vast majority of Christians I know.
So yeah, just wanted to throw in there this isn’t just about being the minority or being the majority (although arguably, there are many who report themselves to be Christian culturally but don’t practice their religion, so practicing Christians may indeed be in the minority. Hard to get the numbers on that).
ETA: Ah, I saw your clarifying remark! Still, I am not sure being Christian is the issue as much as the “dominant culture” is the issue (which nowadays I feel is pretty diverse). But anyway, this is a fascinating thread! And I totally agree that Cohen should be off the table as a name out of respect.
Agreed! Except - I think it is way too much of a generalisation to say that only the religious understand religion. I am not religious, but I still understand the importance of religion; religion is something that I absolutely love learning about (I find it fascinating. Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, you name it - I want to know about it :).) So I still “get” why [name]Cohen[/name] would be offensive, and you don’t have to be religious to “get” it. My best friend ever is a [name]Christian[/name], my other best friend is/was a Buddhist (which is still atheism, I guess, but still) and I was friends with a Hindu and a Mormon in my old school, and I have seen varying levels of devotion to these religions. Ha ha maybe that’s why religion interests me so much, even though I don’t have one. Basically, I don’t think the usage of [name]Cohen[/name] is anything we can blame on any specific group. I think it comes down to people - regardless of religious denomination - simply not being aware that it is offensive.
I too have seen the [name]Cohen[/name] discussion many times and if I had not been a name nerd for so long I would not have known about the religious significance of the name. Obviously most of the modern Cohens have parents who have no idea that the name is taboo.
I can understand why people like it as it is a distinctive name. I haven’t much knowledge of the Jewish religion and to the best of my knowledge there aren’t any Cohens in the Torah. I would have thought that the name [name]Levi[/name] would have been in the same category as [name]Cohen[/name] as they were the priestly people as far as I know.
I would be interested to find out how/when the name [name]Cohen[/name] became a holy name for the Jews. So, can anybody out there fill me in please?
In conclusion to the baby namers don’t use [name]Cohen[/name] now that you know it is offensive to the Jewish people. I don’t think the alternative spellings are usable I think they are pretty awful.
rollo
PS I have just read some of the pp’s and it is interesting, many thanks for sharing your knowledge.
[name]Levi[/name] was a name. [name]Levi[/name] was one of the 12 Tribes. They became a tribe of priests but the name itself ([name]Levi[/name], rather than Levite) was always a name in regular rotation.
Cohanim were definitely in the Torah. [name]Aaron[/name] ([name]Moses[/name]'s brother) was the first. They were both - being brothers - Levites by bloodline, but [name]Aaron[/name] was the first [name]Cohen[/name]. And its his decendents who are Cohanim. But [name]Aaron[/name] is a perfectly usable name. [name]Cohen[/name] as a given name? Noooot so much.
It’s rather the difference between, say, [name]Benedict[/name], as a name, and Pope? I’m not trying to be rude. I hope that didn’t come across as offensive. I’m trying to explain the difference.
Anyway, yes, there are tons of Cohanim in the Torah and rules pertaining to what they can/can’t do.
Oh, I totally agree! Religious people aren’t the only ones who “get” religion, so I hope it didn’t come off that way. Was just trying to point out that having a devotion to one religion doesn’t automatically make a person insensitive to another religion (a stereotype I sometimes see) and can aid in being more sensitive.