Is anyone avoiding names they like the sound of (e.g. [name]Isabelle[/name] or [name]Matthew[/name]) because they have religious meanings? Personally I have a problem with giving names that have to do with the bible and/or ‘god’ because we are atheist and I don’t want my child or anyone else getting the wrong idea.
I’ve definitely thought about that too, but I don’t think it’s much of a problem. I think most normal people have no idea what names mean, and definitely won’t make assumptions based on a name. I would probably have trouble just knowing the meaning myself, but it wouldn’t be a dealbreaker if I really loved the name.
Or you could do this: the name [name]Isabel[/name] means ‘my god is an oath’, but you could pay less attention that meaning, and just understand it as meaning ‘oath’ instead.
My husband and I have had many discussions about this. He was raised Catholic in Catholic/religious schools his whole life so he sees some names very differently than I do. I was raised non-religious (that is what my sister calls it), my family never went to church. So I don’t usually see the religious connection to names.
My husband does not want to use any Hebrew/Jewish names, or names from the Old Testament because we are not Jewish and so he says we shouldn’t use them for our children. I had never thought about it much before, but it cut out a big chunk of names that I liked the sound of. But now it makes sense to me and I also don’t want to use traditionally religious names ([name]Sarah[/name], [name]Matthew[/name], [name]Jacob[/name], etc.) because of the religious connections that they have.
I think that it is a good idea to avoid biblical names if you don’t want some people to assume that you are religious. Although many people won’t see it that way. In the past when friends of my have had babies, I tell my husband the name and he automatically knows what religion they are. He is right almost all the time, it is a little creepy. I don’t think you need to exclude every name that is in the bible, there are lots of obscure names that are not as strongly associated with a specific religion. Good [name]Luck[/name] finding the perfect name for your family!
Personally I wouldn’t avoid a name I liked the sound of just because I didn’t like the meaning. Of course I think it would be fantastic to find a name with an awesome meaning and a lovely sound. I have yet to find the perfect combination. For me the sound of a name is more important than it’s meaning but I’m sure if you asked some one else they would give you a different answer. Actually I think this would make a great poll.
All though both my husband and I grew up in the church neither of us are religious now. [name]Both[/name] of our names have a religious meaning and we’re not bothered by it nor do I feel it defines me as a person. Would it be awful to name your child something that meant “red hair” if they where born with blond or brown?
My daughters name is [name]Kira[/name] and I have found it to mean “light” as well as “dark” depending on the language. Two very opposite meanings.
Oh yes, my husband and I even like the very biblical name [name]Ezekiel[/name] and don’t care if people assume we like it for it religious reference or not. For a middle name we’ve thought of using Jinn/Djinn which may have an unfavorable meaning. Personally I like the name [name]Bodhi[/name] (DH does not) and it has a Buddhist association, again we’re not Buddhist.
I’m sure you’ll be able to find a name that you love. 
[name]Hi[/name]!
I think there is a huge difference between Biblical names ([name]Ezekiel[/name], [name]Zachariah[/name], [name]Bathsheba[/name], etc.), traditional Hebrew names ([name]Sarah[/name], [name]Jacob[/name], [name]Caleb[/name], [name]Eli[/name], etc.), and names with “religious” meanings ([name]Isabelle[/name], etc.). If you aren’t religious - especially not in the Catholic, [name]Christian[/name], or Jewish traditions - I’d stay away from heavily Biblical names. Now, traditional Hebrew names are used in the Bible, but many, like [name]Sarah[/name] and [name]Jacob[/name], aren’t necessarily associated with that anymore because of their popularity. Finally, names with “god” in the meaning, like [name]Isabelle[/name], generally aren’t regarded as religious. So, I don’t think you need to worry about it, but it is all up to personal preference.
[name]Just[/name] a question - does this also mean that you will eliminate all saint names, too, because of the religious connection? For example, [name]Genevieve[/name] is a saint name, but it means “woman of the people,” and is not regarded as a religious name. Would she be off your list?
I think it is really a question of where to stop, because your restrictions could be endless…
Good luck!
[name]Lemon[/name]
[name]Lemon[/name] has great points!
I also agree that you should avoid distinctive Biblical names ([name]Mary[/name], [name]Abraham[/name], [name]Israel[/name], [name]Ezekiel[/name]) if you’re looking to avoid [name]Christian[/name]/Jewish association, but so many have been assimilated into the mainstream that I don’t think it’s an issue.
[name]Hannah[/name] and [name]Anna[/name], for example are Biblical in origin, but I doubt that’s really what people think of when they hear them nowadays. (A perk to both [name]Hannah[/name] and [name]Anna[/name] is that they simply mean “favour” or “grace.”)
The name [name]Mark[/name] is also Biblical, but is actually derived from the [name]Roman[/name] god [name]Mars[/name].
I wouldn’t limit yourself too strictly if you find a name you love that happens to have some Biblical connection. I’d say a hefty chunk of names are somehow related to the Bible, and if you throw religious meanings and saints in the mix, I’ll bet at least 75% of Anglo [name]Saxon[/name] names are “religious” by your definition.
My advice would be to find names you love and don’t worry too much about definitions or associations! 
Good luck!
I pretty much agree with the general idea here. Any name that looks very Hebrew feels too religious for me. But some common names don’t feel as much associated with that. It’s like how [name]Jason[/name] or [name]Helen[/name], for example, don’t feel like Greek names, while [name]Athena[/name] still does. [name]Mark[/name] or [name]Luke[/name] don’t feel very religious, while [name]Noah[/name] or [name]Eli[/name] feel much more so. A great many names have “god” in their meaning, and I don’t think those names imply strongly religious parents. But if those names bother YOU, that’s what matters. If you have to ask the question “Is this name too religious?” it probably is - for you.
Though I want to avoid overly religious-sounding names, this question would rarely come up for me because my naming style doesn’t lead to those sorts of names in the first place.
Thats a good question! I guess the saint names don’t bother me because their meanings seem a bit removed to me. But then I don’t like the name [name]Genevieve[/name] either lol.
The way I think about this is that using a name from the Bible or other religious text, or a name that has been associated with a religious figure is no more an expression of belief in a particular faith than using the name [name]Juliette[/name], for example, is an expression that you are French. You don’t have to be French to use the name [name]Juliette[/name], and you don’t have to be Catholic to use the name [name]Mary[/name]. Furthermore, you can appreciate the fact that [name]Juliette[/name] means “youthful” in French and even have that factor into your decision in picking the name, even if you are not a French speaker. Likewise, you can appreciate that the Virgin [name]Mary[/name] symbolizes motherhood, etc. and even use the name for that reason, even if you don’t believe in the underlying doctrine. You also might like a name with a “religious” origin because of the sound and the other social and cultural (non-religious) associations it has taken on. You might even appreciate the “meaning” it has in that religion, albeit in a literary rather than dogmatic sense. For example, if you named your child [name]Jove[/name] (a great name, by the way), people would probably be intrigued by the connection to the [name]Roman[/name] God, but need not assume you are actually a worshipper in the literal sense. No matter what your faith (and I am NOT someone who observes any religion either) you can’t deny that the Bible too is a fascinating work of literature (as are texts from other major world religions), and that the stories in these books have even secular associations that might be worth considering in selecting a name for a child who is going to be a member of our global society where those associations are built into the fabric of our shared consciousness.
Of course, you do have to be aware of cultural implications and you certainly don’t want to give your child a name that is going to offend anyone or that is going to make your child uncomfortable because, for example, it is a name that is used 99% of the time only by Quakers and while you live in an area with a large Quaker population, you yourself aren’t Quaker and so it is awkward. I just don’t think that dynamic exists, however, with names like [name]Matthew[/name] or [name]Isabelle[/name], at least here in the U.S.
I tend to be this way, too; Bibical names themselves are not a problem for me (the Bible is literature, after all), but names that relate to any god widely believed by the mainstream to exist (the Abrahamic one, as opposed to [name]Apollo[/name] or [name]Isis[/name] or Amaterasu…) make me uncomfortable. I mean, they don’t make me cringe when I hear them - lol, I’m non-religious, not possessed! - but I still wouldn’t feel comfortable bestowing a name like that on my own child. I think it causes people to assume things about you that they have no business assuming, if you name all your kids after Biblical figures. Names like [name]Isabelle[/name] or [name]Christina[/name] don’t have the same effect on me because I think less religion and more royals.
(In the same vein, I MUCH prefer [name]Christina[/name] and all its derivatives to…say, [name]Christian[/name]. Assuming your kid will believe one thing or another is way too much for me. I’d rather my kids’ names not determine their spiritual path or what-have-you, because that’s something personal that I feel I have no business meddling in. If they want to become a priest and rename themselves Pious, that’s their choice- I am NOT going to force that decision on them!)
I would just like to say that I am a [name]Christian[/name] and I really love Hebrew names. So just because someone uses a Hebrew name, doesn’t mean they’re Jewish. I also love Saints’ names, and I am not a Catholic. I don’t think you can pigeonhole people according to what they name their children.
Another complication in naming children is that one parent can be religious and the other parent can be an atheist or agnostic. My sister [name]Kathy[/name] is an Episcopal priest and her husband [name]Ira[/name] is a Jewish Atheist/Agnostic. [name]Ira[/name] kind of wavers between the two ways of thinking. When [name]Kathy[/name] and [name]Ira[/name] were about to have a baby, [name]Ira[/name] was opposed to all Hebrew names. And all [name]Christian[/name]-sounding names. They ended up naming their daughter [name]Julia[/name] [name]Rebecca[/name]. My sister chose [name]Rebecca[/name] because, like me, she loves Hebrew names. Plus my Great Great Aunt [name]Rebecca[/name] was a very wonderful person to my grandfather and his family. If [name]Kathy[/name] and [name]Ira[/name] had had a son, my sister would have wanted to name him [name]Jacob[/name]. But no, [name]Ira[/name] wouldn’t have wanted that! So she probably would have named him [name]Michael[/name]. It is a Hebrew name, but is so popular that it just sounds neutral. Then she probably would have sneaked a more obvious Hebrew name into the middle name slot.
If I could have another baby, I would have a hard time deciding whether to use a Hebrew name, Greek name, or a Celtic name. My husband doesn’t like Hebrew names usually, but I can change his mind by threatening to sit on him!
I think you’re being extremely literal in your thinking. For example, I love the name [name]Diana[/name], but I do not worship the goddess [name]Artemis[/name], and I doubt anyone would think I do.
I think hardly anybody associates the very popular Biblical names ([name]Michael[/name], [name]Elizabeth[/name]) with religious fervor any more. Besides, Arabic and Hebrew are related languages, so [name]Sara/name is an Arabic name as well.
You might try turning this idea on its head. Instead of deciding what sources you don’t want to draw names from, are there ones that you do? For instance, do you find that [name]Shakespeare[/name] is meaningful? Or perhaps science? If you name your son or daughter after a famous scientist or a [name]Shakespeare[/name] character then that significance for you will be greater than any relationship that name might have with a religion of some type. I also am an atheist and this is how I think of it. Another idea might be to draw your inspiration from nature or perhaps astronomy – something that will be new and fresh and not connected to the idea of religion in any way.
Seconding what pdxlibrarian has to say about drawing name ideas from other meaningful sources- part of the reason why I love the name “[name]Alfred[/name]” so much is because of the extensive history and pop culture references that it has acquired over the years! There’s [name]Alfred[/name] the Great, [name]Alfred[/name] [name]Lord[/name] [name]Tennyson[/name], [name]Alfred[/name] [name]Hitchcock[/name], [name]Alfred[/name] E. [name]Neuman[/name], [name]Alfred[/name] Binet, [name]Alfred[/name] [name]Kinsey[/name], A. E. Housman, [name]Alfred[/name] Noyes(!!!)… The USS [name]Alfred[/name] was the first ship to fly the Grand Union Flag. A name doesn’t have to be Biblical to have significance. If it resonates somewhere within you, then it’s a good choice.
[name]How[/name] do Christians know when the bible is metaphorical or not? Like whenever you point out how the bible says that the earth has four corners around it in revelations. And when [name]Isaiah[/name] calls the earth a circle even though a circle is a 2 dimensional shape by definition unless it’s a sphere. Why do they just say the bible doesn’t really say the earth is flat and those are just metaphors? [name]How[/name] do they know when it’s a metaphor or not?
How do Christians know when the bible is metaphorical or not? Like whenever you point out how the bible says that the earth has four corners around it in revelations. And when Isaiah calls the earth a circle even though a circle is a 2 dimensional shape by definition unless it’s a sphere. Why do they just say the bible doesn’t really say the earth is flat and those are just metaphors? How do they know when it’s a metaphor or not?
Huge tangent coming, I’ll get to names, but I want to answer your question first. I’m non-religious now, but was raised Catholic. I think the answer to that question varies tremendously. In my area, they took almost everything in the bible except what’s in the creed (basically the whole [name]Jesus[/name] is the son of God and died for us thing) as metaphorical. In my particular Church, even stories like [name]Noah[/name]'s Ark and the creation story were looked at metaphorically. The entire book of Revelations was seen as a metaphor for the fall of the emperor [name]Nero[/name] and the end of presecution of the Christians, not the end of the world. It was written like that because the early Christians couldn’t have [name]Nero[/name] know what they were talking about, so it was impossible to understand what it was about unless you already had a general idea. This is a very historical and scholarly approach to religion, looking at historical context and authorship in addition to religious meaning. This was a NY Catholic Church, and that is the most liberal view I’ve heard of, though of course it varies. There are very conservative Churches (usually not Catholic) that see most of the Bible as literal, but pick and choose what to focus on. For example, they say homosexuality is a sin, citing [name]Leviticus[/name], but ignore the part in [name]Leviticus[/name] that says women should be stoned to death for adultery. Anyway, tangent over.
As for names, I think it’s virtually impossible to pick a name with no religious conotation at all. [name]Even[/name] if a name isn’t in the Bible, there’s thousands, if not tens of thousands of saints, many very obscure- there’s probably one with the “non-religious” name you’ve chosen. And, like a pp mentioned, many (if not most) “normal” names, like [name]Diana[/name], came from non-[name]Christian[/name] religious sources. Religion, culture, and language (and therefore names) are so closely tied that it’s virtually impossible to pick a name with zero religious connotations in any religion. And people picking names like [name]Taylor[/name] don’t mean that they want their child to become a tailor. They just like the name. It’s really the same thing for me with religious names. Of course, I wouldn’t name my child anything hyper-religious like [name]Christian[/name] or [name]Mohammed[/name], but I’d have no hesitation about [name]Isabel[/name] or [name]Matthew[/name].
Neither of us our religious so we both tend to shy away from biblical names. However, that are very few biblical names I even like so it really has never been an issue. The meaning is less important, and I dont mind names that are variants of biblical names. For instance [name]Andreas[/name], [name]Mattias[/name], and [name]Isabel[/name] are all in my top 5. Certain biblical names though do not give me a religious vibe. Very popular/traditional names like [name]Jacob[/name], [name]Joseph[/name] (both names of my nephews), [name]John[/name], [name]Michael[/name], [name]Matthew[/name] ect seem more traditional or classical to me, as I’ve known lot of people with the names that were not neccesarily religious. [name]Even[/name] though I would never name my son [name]Jonah[/name] or [name]Ezekiel[/name], I still wouldnt assume that someone who did was religious. Many people like names for their sound alone, I think that is fine too.
We are an atheist (or non-religous) family as well. Our son Is named [name]Kodiak[/name]. This is for [name]Kodiak[/name], Alaska (geography) or as some people think the [name]Kodiak[/name] bear (animal name). Our oldest daughter is named [name]Lace[/name] (word name). just a pretty name with no religion involved. Our youngest daughter is [name]Willow[/name] (nature name). We are due with #4 and are having a hard time coming up with a name for this baby. It is a girl. We are totally unsure about names this time around. Any ieas? Of course: no names out of the bible and no names that to me sound religious ([name]Grace[/name], [name]Hope[/name], [name]Joy[/name], [name]Faith[/name]) Yuck!
Any nature names or girly names that are hopefully 1 or 2 sylables.
(We already used [name]Cadence[/name] and [name]Torrie[/name] as middles for our other girls)
Interesting debate: Two points/questions:
On being comfortable with [name]Matthias[/name] but not [name]Matthew[/name] and similar kinds of things: I hear where you’re coming from, and in many cases the variants are less tired from overuse anyway! But I just think it’s important to bear in mind that many of the famous Biblical names are pretty much all English adaptations too, sometimes English adaptations of Greek adaptations of Aramaic names – [name]Jesus[/name] was probably Yeshue or [name]Yeshua[/name], and [name]Matthew[/name] and [name]Andrew[/name] probably went by names closer to [name]Matthias[/name] and [name]Andreas[/name] than [name]Matthew[/name] and [name]Andrew[/name] back in their own day!
On what the assumptions are about names: I definitely assume nothing based on selection of the more popular names, and I’d be surprised if that wasn’t a common enough stance. I also imagine the assumptions about some of the less common ones (maybe the common ones, too?) probably depend a lot on where you are in the country. I now live in a heavily Jewish area and my last name is very frequently assumed to be Jewish, even though to my knowledge, going back several generations, there’s no Jewish heritage, and the name was only very rarely regarded that way where I grew up.
Regardless of what my beliefs are (I find it very hard to sum them up), I like a lot of Biblical names. I don’t mind that they’re Biblical at all. But honestly a lot of what I like about them is that most of them are in my family tree, and it’s not by any means a particularly devout tree! I’m a name nerd, and I think religion is very interesting, and despite those two things it took me a bizarrely long time to figure out that a very large percentage of the important men in my life have Biblical names! Intriguingly, in the tree as a whole, some of the more religious ones have non-Biblical names, and the Biblically-named ones are largely more neutral!
Anyway, if you want to avoid these names, more power to you, there are plenty of others – if you want to use them actively, there are plenty to choose from!
[name]Both[/name] my boys have very religious names ([name]Isaiah[/name] [name]Gabriel[/name] [name]Joseph[/name] and [name]Zachariah[/name] [name]Xavier[/name] [name]Joseph[/name]) and when we picked [name]Isaiah[/name]'s name we had no idea that it was so biblical. We aren’t really religious. I mean the boys are baptised as well as [name]Matt[/name] and I but that’s about it. I really loved the name [name]Isaiah[/name] ever since I was a little girl so I was definitely not ruling it out and because I have a need for patterns the boys names had to match (same ending, religious background) I love their names and the meanings fit them really well but I kind of wish I had avoided that just because now, trying to name a third baby, it is really hard finding a good biblical name with a good meaning. Most of the boys names are overused ([name]Noah[/name], [name]Elijah[/name]) and most of the girls names I can’t see on an adult ([name]Hannah[/name], [name]Tabitha[/name], [name]Delilah[/name])
I think if you avoid [name]Moses[/name], [name]Jesus[/name] any name that really screams BIBLE. You should be good. [name]Isabelle[/name], to me at least, doesn’t have that connection. But I also think you should use a name if you really love it. If the meaning is throwing you off then don’t use it but if you can see past the meaning you still love it then go for it. Forget about what other people will think.
I get crap all the time for naming the boys what I did because we aren’t religious. They fit them, I love them and that’s all that matters.