[name]Just[/name] wondering about this one. Is the name Kohen/[name]Cohen[/name] offensive? Is one spelling more offensive than the other or are they different names? I’m just confused! What do you think?
What would be offensive about it?
First, I can’t stand when people replace C’s with K’s so if you’re going to use this, at least use the proper spelling.
As for it being offensive, I can imagine that it could be offensive to people of the Jewish faith if you are not Jewish. I am not Jewish so don’t personally know how it would make a Jewish person feel, but I would want to know before using it.
Yes I am not Jewish so that’s why I’m asking. A Kohen, if I understand correctly, is a jewish priest. And the reason I used both spellings is because the actual Jewish word is spelled with a K, so I was wondering if spelling it with C made it a different name and therefore not offensive. OR if spelling it with a C was just changing the spelling.
Oh wow, I did not know that Kohen was the spelling for the Hebrew word meaning priest. I though that the Jewish surname [name]Cohen[/name], which means priest, was spelled the same as the word. In that case, yes, Kohen would probably be more offensive if either of them are. Hopefully you’ll get some responses from people who know what they are talking about! 
I don’t see how it would be any more offensive than using the names [name]Kelly[/name], [name]Bailey[/name], [name]Blake[/name], [name]Logan[/name], [name]Jackson[/name], [name]Parker[/name], etc. Why does it being a Jewish name make it somehow more offensive than taking a name from any other heritage? You can’t say the Irish, from whom we all love to “steal” names, were never victims of persecution. Personally, I’m not into using surname names unless they really mean something to me, but with all the Haydens and Landons being born today, I don’t see how [name]Cohen[/name] could technically be considered more offensive. More conspicuous, perhaps, but that’s something any parent should think about when naming a child.
It actually is quite a controversial name. Personally, I don’t find it that offensive, but I know some people do, so I’d avoid it because of that. There are plenty of names out there and I’m sure there’s one just as good but less controversial. You may want to read these two articles on the subject:
http://appellationmountain.net/2009/11/18/name-of-the-day-cohen/
hawkrock: It’s not the word, per se, so much as it is a cultural/religious obligation that is a lifelong inherited position. It would be like naming your child G-d or Imam or [name]Rabbi[/name]. The cohenim are not part of a faith that is dead today – they are an active part of an important religious tradition and have important religious and ceremonial duties to perform. As a Jew, for a non-Jew to name a child [name]Cohen[/name] because it sounds good is offensive.
mermuse: [name]Cohen[/name] is not an occupation surname, like [name]Taylor[/name] or [name]Chandler[/name]. It is a lifelong obligation to fulfill certain religious duties in the Jewish community. There is no Gentile comparison, except to say that [name]Cohen[/name] is a title, not a “surname” per se. Jewish tradition has surnames that are [name]Son[/name]/Daughter of. It’s the Western world that bestowed names like “[name]Cohen[/name]” as surnames. In synagogue, Jews still go by their traditional surnames. For example, my children are [name]Leah[/name] [name]Gavriella[/name] [name]Bat[/name] [name]Michal[/name] vi [name]Yosef[/name] and Kalev [name]Ben[/name] [name]Michal[/name] vi [name]Yosef[/name].
As I have suggested, if someone likes the sound of “[name]Cohen[/name]” there are the place names Cowan and Cohan (as in [name]George[/name] M) which would not offend anyone.
I’m Jewish, and personally, yes, I do feel offended. It’s not that it’s a surname; it’s that it’s a sacred word with sacred meaning in the religion. The only reason this name has permeated the mainstream is because of the TV show “The O.C.,” in which the main character’s last name was [name]Cohen[/name], and so he was often called [name]Cohen[/name]. I just think it’s a bad idea in all… I agree with miloowen’s suggestion; what about Cowan or Cohan instead? They sound the same but do not have religious connotations.
My husband (who is Jewish) and I (not Jewish) were just discussing this the other day. Friends of ours (not Jewish) just named their new baby [name]Coen[/name]. I thought they were pronouncing it “coon” as it would be pronounced in Danish. They are pronouncing it like [name]Cohen[/name]. My husband is not offended at all while it bothers me. It bothers me more though for being ignorant rather than being offensive.
I’m sorry, but I have to continue to play devil’s advocate here. The name [name]Deacon[/name] doesn’t seem to bother anyone, though it is taken straight from a title given to certain overseers in the [name]Christian[/name] New Testament. In fact, let’s talk about the myriad of people named [name]Christian[/name] or [name]Kristian[/name] or [name]Khristian[/name] (gah!). Perhaps I am too young to have been around for the “offensive” debate when non-Christians started naming their kids [name]Christian[/name] just 'cause they heard it on TV and thought it was cool. I’m sure I would have said it was offensive, because I kinda think it is. I also think it’s stupid.
I think it’s stupid, also, that people are naming their kids [name]Cohen[/name]. Now that I understand more about the name, I understand why it is offensive to some. I guess we can all commiserate together at the next birthday party we end up at for little [name]Cohen[/name] and his buddy [name]Kristian[/name]. (And–no offense to the entire Hispanic community–but I’ll never get over the use of the name [name]Jesus[/name]. Can someone try to explain that one to me?)
This is a bad name and it pops up every month on nameberry with someone asking if it is offensive! The general consensus has been:
- yes it offends many people
- many think it sounds silly as a first name
mermuse: I’m not sure that you’re playing devil’s advocate so much as you’re simply not getting “it”. You cannot compare the title/office/surname “deacon” with “cohen”. There is nothing in Christianity that compares to the cohenim. There are many types of deacons in the world and not all of them have to do with a church duty. That goes for all the people who have the last names of [name]Bishop[/name], [name]Priest[/name], etc. As for naming your child [name]Christian[/name], Christians have been doing that since [name]Constantine[/name]'s council in 300 CE. The most famous “[name]Christian[/name]” in the English language is the protagonist from “Pilgrim’s Progress,” whose name was [name]Christian[/name] because he symbolised the journey of all Christians. Naming your child [name]Christian[/name]/[name]Christina[/name]/[name]Kirsten[/name] etc is honouring one’s faith, not disparaging it.
Lastly, if you can name your child [name]Maria[/name] after the [name]Queen[/name] of [name]Heaven[/name], surely you can name your child [name]Jesus[/name]? Many people name their sons [name]Joshua[/name], and that was [name]Jesus[/name]'s real Hebrew name – would you object to that as well?
Honestly, I think you need to think before you post.
Here’s my two cents: It’s one of those things where it’s like, if you’re asking if it’s offensive, you probably already know it is to some people. I just think it’s better to play it safe. Without even getting into whether or not it’s right/fair for some people to feel offended, let’s just start at the point that they are, and your child might one day work with/work for/date/befriend/be the classmate of someone who is, and that’s setting him up for discomfort. Why should parents not consider that? I understand some people live in an area without a lot of Jewish people, but your child could move when he is an adult.
As to why Spanish speakers use [name]Jesus[/name]: I don’t know why, but I’d wager that Spanish-language culture has just developed a different relationship with that name than Anglo culture has, the same way Jewish culture has a different relationship to the name [name]Cohen[/name] than Catholic/[name]Christian[/name] culture has to the seemingly similar (but still clearly different) names [name]Christian[/name] or [name]Deacon[/name]. I am not a cultural relativist, but this is one area where I don’t really think either model is better than the other, it really just is a case of difference.
About religiously-significant names generally: Catholic English-speaking culture has had no problem with using [name]Mary[/name]'s name for several hundred years, which in theory could have been just as difficult as [name]Jesus[/name], and I believe for a long time it was actually kind of off limits; the culture just shifted. [name]Delilah[/name] is getting used a lot these days by observant Anglo Christians, and I’ve read the puritans actually used it too! It was (Anglo [name]Christian[/name]) generations between the puritans and today’s English-speaking Christians that put it off limits for a while, and so even within one culture, there’s change and difference in the relationship to religiously significant names. To give another example of this, I’ve read that for a long time [name]Eve[/name] was considered a taboo name in Anglo-[name]Christian[/name] naming (she did, after all, eat the apple and cause the fall) - but now I think even people who are still finding [name]Delilah[/name] awkward are comfortable with [name]Eve[/name]!
About [name]Jesus[/name]: [name]Jesus[/name] etymologically is interesting: his Aramaic name was [name]Yeshua[/name] or something similar, to which [name]Joshua[/name] is related. I believe [name]Joshua[/name] is the Hebrew equivalent of [name]Yeshua[/name] and [name]Jesus[/name] is the (English take on the) Greek equivalent. [name]Both[/name] the English and Spanish pronunciations of [name]Jesus[/name] are probably not how the Greeks said it (I think this is Yesu). Jews and Christians both use [name]Joshua[/name], albeit likely thinking about the Biblical [name]Joshua[/name] in many cases, and not thinking about the relationship to [name]Jesus[/name]'s name in any case. Spanish has the name [name]Josue[/name] (Spanish version of the Hebrew version) in a similar role, I believe, so it’s like Spanish adopted both (their take on) the Greek and the Hebrew versions on this Aramaic name, and English only adopted the Hebrew one.
[name]Messiah[/name] is getting some low-level use these days: I’m not offended by it per se, but it strikes me as VERY odd, a lot for the kid to live up to. I would completely understand if some people were offended by it (you’re taking on [name]Jesus[/name]'s title, to Christians, and the title of the future [name]Messiah[/name] to Jews).
Muslims have no problem using the name [name]Mohammed[/name] among themselves, so Spanish speakers using [name]Jesus[/name] is probably sort of similar. I would think Muslims would be offended if some non-Muslim just used the name [name]Mohammed[/name] for liking the sound, but maybe not?
[name]Hope[/name] this was interesting reading. Sorry not to offer citations, but a lot of this is from the nameberry entries on these names, and the rest is accessible on the internet by googling these names. I’m not saying anything here is truly definitive, but I have some academic background in the history of language, and all of this had at last good face value when I read it.
I guess I am in the group that just doesn’t “get” the name being offensive. As a [name]Christian[/name], I am not offended at the hispanic use of [name]Jesus[/name]. Muslims dont seem to be offended by people naming a child [name]Mohammed[/name]. There are many so called sacred names and titles. I am not sure why this one is so controversial. Before nameberry, I didnt even realize this. I knew a woman who was going to use [name]Cohen[/name] for child, because it was her maiden name. I am not Jewish, so I guess I dont appreciate the importance of the situation. The only names that I would find offensive would be taboo names like Hitler and the like. I dont personally like [name]Cohen[/name] as a name, but if I loved it, I would probably use it since I am not in an area that has a Jewish population.
Ha, So true. [name]Every[/name] month this pops up. Agreed on all points.
I also agree. I think the important thing here is that even if you don’t understand why some people will be offended, you should know that many/most Jewish people will be offended. You don’t need to understand why they are offended to respect their feelings, [name]IMO[/name].
I don’t see the appeal of [name]Cohen[/name]/Kohen as a first name, anyway, but I suppose you could use it if you don’t care about offending people or don’t associate with Jewish people, though many people will still read it as Jewish even if they don’t know more about the name. This could also lead to some awkwardness for your child if they ever move to a city with a lot of Jewish people or make Jewish friends or marry someone Jewish. I wouldn’t want to put my child in the position of defending a name that might offend many people. I also wouldn’t want to seem culturally ignorant or ethnocentric by using a name that I don’t fully understand (though I realize that doesn’t bother lots of people).
I am probably just going to repeat what a lot of other people have said but yes, it seems as though the use of [name]Cohen[/name] as a first name by non-Jewish people is offensive to many, if not all, Jews. [name]Cohen[/name] is an inherited title, one of the Priests. While anyone (or at least any man depending on the denomination) is able to become a deacon or a [name]Priest[/name] or various other positions in Christianity, this is/was not the case in Judaism, it is a position you must be born into. I am not Jewish and I have no clue if [name]Cohen[/name] is used as a first name in Judaism or not.
Muslims may use [name]Mohammed[/name] themselves as a name but I imagine it would be offensive if a non-Muslim used [name]Mohammed[/name], most people would not use it if they were not Muslims themselves and I would say that they should not. While I don’t get offended really easily, as a [name]Christian[/name] I would find it odd, at the very least, if someone who practiced another faith or was an atheist named their child [name]Christian[/name].
Anyway, that is just my opinion. I also don’t think spelling variations make a huge difference, it is still the same pronunciation. If you really love the name maybe look for other C/K names that have a similar feel/sound, maybe something like [name]Corbin[/name]?
[name]Cohen[/name] is not just a title it is a bloodline. If the temple were rebuilt tomorrow those of the priestly bloodline would become the priest in the temple. Its more like naming a child Pope rather than deacon or [name]Christian[/name]. I do think some Catholics would be offended by that
In one word: yes.