Is it weird to use the name Gideon if you are not religious at all? Me and my SO both really love the name, but I’m very nervous because I feel like people will always automatically associate it with the Christian religion. My SO disagrees and says they don’t think anyone will have that reaction though. Am I overthinking it? Or would you automatically assume someone is really religious if they name their baby Gideon? Help!
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I’m irreligious too! I just view Gideon as a name. It’s currently getting popular so I’m sure the religious association with shake off soon or maybe people you meet won’t bring it up. It’s a nice name 
Edit: My middle name is Leah, which is Hebrew and I don’t get any biblical associations because of it.
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We are not religious, and used a Hebrew name for our boy - [name_u]Micah[/name_u] (just because we liked it). Lots of names are found in the bible, but aren’t only usable for people who are Jewish or [name_u]Christian[/name_u]. All names have a history.
[name_m]Gideon[/name_m] is well known, and totally useable for a non-religious person in my opinion. Great name 
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My brother’s name is Gideon, we are not religious, and no one has ever assumed that the family was, or that he was, because if his name.
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I wouldn’t assume [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] had religious parents
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It didn’t occur to me that [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] was a religious name, although I’m also not religious.
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…I never associated [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] with Christianity.
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I probably would guess you were religious but where I live most people are to some extent. But I wouldn’t treat you differently or think you were “very religious.” You might get comments about it being a biblical name but I think that would be the extent of it. I don’t think people would be saying “oh I didn’t know you were religious.” That would just be a strange thing to say.
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Thank you guys for your comments! The only reason it makes me so nervous is because it’s not just a name found in the bible but the name of an actual type of bible. There are a ton of names found in the bible and I wouldn’t associate them all with religion, but if someone named their baby like “King James” for example, obviously my first reaction would be “like the bible?” So that’s the only reason I’m nervous [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] will always automatically be associated with [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] Bibles. But these comments are making me feel a lot better about it!
It doesn’t seem like a overly [name_u]Christian[/name_u] name to me.
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Or maybe they’re a huge LeBron fan!
But I can see the concern… It’s a possibility if people have only ever heard of Gideon in connection to Gideon’s Bibles. I do think most people will just accept it as a nice name, especially once you’re past the “oh this is my new baby’s name! what do you think?” phase. Seems like people make all kinds of weird connections initially.
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If I heard it I’d probably assume the parents were [name_u]Christian[/name_u], even though this name occurs in the Torah it’s not really used by Jews
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I think [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] is well known enough that the only association isn’t religious. I’m not and I still love it and think it’s usable for anyone.
I wouldn’t associate [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] with religion as a name, honestly I’m not exactly sure what the biblical connection would be (disclaimer: I’m irreligious as well, so probably not the best test subject).
In general, I think that most biblical names have been so popular for so long that I would never assume a person’s religion based on whether or not their name featured in a biblical story of any type.
I am a [name_u]Christian[/name_u] and know a couple of religious families with sons named [name_m]Gideon[/name_m]. I didn’t even think of the type of Bible… I might think you may have gotten the name from the Bible but not necessarily that you were religious. I also don’t think that you have to be to use it 
people find inspiration from all sorts of places, including just hearing the name and liking it.
No matter what, [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] is a great name
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To me, [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] is much like [name_m]Isaac[/name_m], [name_u]Jonah[/name_u], [name_u]Ezra[/name_u], [name_m]Jacob[/name_m], [name_m]Zachary[/name_m], [name_m]Peter[/name_m], [name_m]John[/name_m] etc. It has a biblical flavor to it but it doesn’t scream religion to me. It’s mainstream enough that I wouldn’t bat an eye at a non religious child having this name.
[name_f]My[/name_f] personal opinion of [name_m]Gideon[/name_m]: strong, handsome, and underused; great choice!
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I must be a pretty bad [name_u]Christian[/name_u], or at least not a good Bible reader, because I didn’t even know it was Biblical. ! [name_u]Love[/name_u] [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] for anyone.
PS OH, the [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] Bible. Duh. I think my IQ has been shrunk by all the summer sun.
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I definitely associate [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] with the Bible, but I don’t think I would necessarily think that the parents of a [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] were religious.
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i associate [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] with Pinocchio (the cat who is always with [name_u]Honest[/name_u] John/Foulfellow). I didn’t even know it was associated with the bible 
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I think you may be over-thinking it a little. I like names like [name_m]Isaiah[/name_m], [name_m]Elijah[/name_m], [name_u]Michael[/name_u] without thinking of their religious meanings. I think most biblical names are just classic and sound nice more than I think about what they mean.
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