I’m not necessarily an atheist just a spiritual person, I don’t really get the point of organised religion to be honest. It’s something quite funny for me and my husband because neither of us are religious but both have super religious names, he’s called [name_m]Simon[/name_m] and I’m called [name_f]Molly[/name_f] which is a nickname of [name_f]Mary[/name_f] but we both come from pretty religious families.
When we were choosing names the meaning was kind of second or third place in importance, it’s nice if there is a nice meaning to it but not incredibly important and if one of the names just so happened to be one from the Bible or had the word God in it then so be it.
Completely agree. Besides, most common biblical names have been used so much that they lose that connection, you know?
[name_f]My[/name_f] top boys name is [name_m]Jethro[/name_m], who is [name_m]Moses[/name_m]’ father-in-law in the Bible. But, that’s not the association I have with it, and I reckon many people would probably think of the other associations before the biblical one, so I have no qualms about using it!
EDIT: A lot of name-nerds seem to care so much about meanings, but the general population will not know the meanings of most names, let alone the biblical ones, nor do they particularly care! So, don’t get too bogged down by it; if you love the name for its look, sound or importance to you - then use it!
I am a [name_m]Christian[/name_m] and I agree with this!
If the tables were turned though, and I really liked a name that was strongly connected to another religion and was highly recognized as being such, I probably wouldn’t use it. (Like [name_m]Mohammad[/name_m], for example) But [name_f]Athena[/name_f] (even though Greek mythology isn’t practiced much, if at all, anymore) I would totally use, because I like the character it represents, not the “[name_f]Goddess[/name_f].”
If you view the bible as a story rather than a creed you live by, and you love a name for a character in the story, then you should be able to use it.
If I could use [name_m]Holden[/name_m] from Catcher in the [name_m]Rye[/name_m], Atheists should get to use [name_u]Noah[/name_u], because we view both stories just the same.
I’m also a [name_m]Christian[/name_m], but, not exactly a practicing one (?), and I see absolutely zero problems with someone of any denomination using a Biblical name that isn’t considered ‘sacred’ - it’d be weird to meet the child of an atheist named [name_u]Messiah[/name_u], for example. Biblical names ([name_f]Hannah[/name_f], [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], [name_m]Daniel[/name_m], [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_m]Jacob[/name_m], [name_m]John[/name_m], [name_f]Mary[/name_f], etc) are so commonly used, I don’t think people really think much about them in that aspect - yes, we know they’re Biblical, but, they’re not ONLY Biblical names anymore - they’re completely well known now, out in the open for anyone to use.
This might not make any sense, haha, but anyways, I don’t see a problem at all, nor more than I see one with naming your child [name_f]Jemima[/name_f].
Exactly. I’m attracted to sciency names and the few names that allude to subversion of religion a la [name_m]Darrow[/name_m] and [name_f]Hypatia[/name_f]. To turn the question on its head (rhetorically) should very religious parents not use names of scientists and athiests? It probably doesn’t matter much because I doubt they find names like [name_m]Darwin[/name_m] appealing so they probably don’t feel like they’re really missing much by not using those names. [name_m]Just[/name_m] as I don’t feel like I’m missing out by not using [name_f]Mary[/name_f] or [name_m]Matthew[/name_m].
The Liberal vs Conservative divide among educated mothers makes sense to me. But I don’t buy into the “cultural superiority” thing. The names of artists/historical figures are kind of like virtue names in the sense that we may hope our children emulate some of their qualities.
I’m an atheist, and I’m pretty much in agreement with redwoodfey–all religions are mythology to me, so for the most part, I feel like I can use names with religious ties.
What makes me hesitate is the overall perception of a name, rather than its meaning. Like, I’d be fine with using, say, [name_u]Michael[/name_u] or [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], because as someone pointed out, their popularity has sort of transcended their religious ties. But I’d be more hesitant to use [name_u]Eden[/name_u] or [name_m]Christian[/name_m] or anything that really screams Bible, just because I’d rather not confuse people into thinking I’m deeply religious based on my children’s names when in fact the opposite is true.
Fortunately for me, there are few biblical/religious names that I truly like enough to use. [name_f]Susannah[/name_f]/[name_f]Susanna[/name_f] is the only one that comes to mind, and none of my top twenty are particularly religious.
I know of two families who changed the name of their child because they are not religious people. The one family wanted to name the kid “[name_m]Johannes[/name_m]” but since “[name_u]Jo[/name_u]” means God they only named him “[name_m]Hannes[/name_m]”. The other family shortened “[name_u]Michael[/name_u]” to “[name_u]Micha[/name_u]” because “[name_f]El[/name_f]” also means God.
I am agnostic, long term relationship with an atheist and I love a lot of biblical names because of their familiarity and historical value. But I know I feel like our religious families will think we are paying homage to religion if we use them and I really don’t care if people think we are religious from our children’s names. I just like what sounds appealing to the ears… I like [name_m]Judas[/name_m] and [name_f]Jezebel[/name_f] but they are unusable due to religious cultural stigmas, not my own