Unsavory Biblical Namesakes (Christian Berries!)

General Name Discussion
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[name_m]Hi[/name_m] berries!

Would love to hear thoughts (especially from any Christians on here) regarding using the names of unsavory Bible characters. I’ve found there seems to be a spectrum - [name_m]Lucifer[/name_m] & [name_f]Jezebel[/name_f] seem to be taboo; people recognize [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] generally doesn’t have a great connotation in the Bible, but she became popular despite that; and some names I’d consider being linked to not great characters (like [name_m]Eli[/name_m], a not great parent who let his sons commit all sorts of awful things without trying to stop them), and then there’s rare names like [name_m]Tobiah[/name_m] that seem lovely but the Biblical character was really not that great at all (but maybe aren’t really known by most people because the character was very small).

Maybe it’s my current fascination with [name_m]Tobiah[/name_m] (which has such a lovely meaning and appeal otherwise!), but where do you draw the line? What makes a Biblical name usable or not? [name_m]Even[/name_m] popular characters mostly seen in a positive light (like [name_m]Abraham[/name_m], [name_m]Noah[/name_m], etc.) did some awful things, but are usually seen as usable given their stories overall show redemption… I’m just curious what others think and where they would draw the line, if they would use a name with a not fully great namesake.

Thanks berries!

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I think about this a lot! I actually feel strongly about not using the name [name_f]Delilah[/name_f], as I feel the story of [name_m]Samson[/name_m] and [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] is so pervasive, even creeping into secular culture on occasion. With a name like [name_m]Tobiah[/name_m], no one is going to be like, “oh, that guy did bad things!” It would be more like, “oh, this sounds like a rare Biblical name that must have significance to the parent.” While the latter isn’t good, not many would actually care to look up the association.

Anyway, I always err on the side of caution and probably wouldn’t go for it.

As far as Biblical figures who have done bad things but are overall seen as positive, that would include almost everyone! Not one character is perfect (except [name_m]Jesus[/name_m] [name_m]Christ[/name_m], of course!) It is interesting to hear other people’s take on this though, because my grandma always said “why would anyone name their son [name_m]Jacob[/name_m]? That’s not a good role model.” So everyone is different.

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I don’t think any Biblical name is “unusable” mainly because a lot of Biblical names are cool. but also because I have good memories surrounding a lot of the “unusable” names.

like [name_m]Lucifer[/name_m], the show me and my adopted mom always watch together is [name_m]Lucifer[/name_m] and those memories mean a lot to me, I have a good association with the name, while I wouldn’t use it, I can see what people would use it, specially with its meaning “light bearer”.

and [name_f]Delilah[/name_f], my favorite song is “Hey There Delilah”, yeah she did a jerky thing, but I don’t think of the bible story when I hear it.

[name_f]Jezebel[/name_f] just sounds cool, I can see why someone would use it, it has an edgy feel and cool nicknames.

so essentially, I don’t think there are any unusable Biblical names, because when it comes down to it, they are just names, not the people.

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While I would not consder myself religious now, for almost thirty years I was a very devout Christian; I come from a heavily religious background as well full of Biblical scholars, pastors, evangelists, ect. Ethnically I am Jewish, which adds another layer to it. I say all of this to give some context for my coming essay about my thoughts as I find this a very interesting and nuanced topic :joy:
While I think any Biblical name is “usable” in a secular sense, I have sometimes questioned the choices of parents who I know are Christian/devout Jews that choose the names of the more unsavory Biblical characters. I always take it as they are choosing the name because of the character and/or they just may not be as Biblically literate if they pick a name mainly connected to someone from the Bible that has a questionable moral character (villain type to “lesser” unsavory sorts like [name_m]Simon[/name_m] [Magus], [name_m]Eli[/name_m], [name_f]Martha[/name_f], [name_m]Josiah[/name_m], ect).
While I myself wouldn’t be negatively judgemental, I know a lot of folks who would be/are when it comes to those situations, but I know that’s not everyone. I would personally heavily consider the Biblical characters before using their name if your child will grow up in a heavily religious community too, as my BIL, [name_m]Jonah[/name_m], has gotten teased his whole life about having an unrepentant/stubborn attitude like his Biblical "namesake"even though he was named to honour his grandmother, [name_f]Joanne[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] parents got a lot of heat from my grandparents (who are pastors) when they wanted to name me Jakob/Jacob if I had been AMAB; the same with my cousin who is a [name_m]Jacob[/name_m]. I have a more distant cousin named [name_m]Cain[/name_m], and the family has always side-eyed that choice which was accidental; his mom thought [name_m]Cain[/name_m] was the "good"brother. [name_m]Jonah[/name_m] and [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] are generally considered “positive” namesakes by many, but not so much by others who are more concerned with their moral character overall. [name_m]Cain[/name_m] is also a fairly common name, but he is also the first human “villain” mentioned in the Bible.
[name_m]Even[/name_m] with [name_f]Delilah[/name_f], one of my S/Os cousins named their daughter this and there has been a lot of drama in his family about it. It’s a fairly popular name, especially in our area, but they are a very devout Messianic Jewish family and they cannot fathom why anyone who knows the story of Samson/Shimshon would choose it.
Again, I don’t necessarily agree with that, but if your child will grow up in a more devout/Biblically literate environment I would truly consider all Biblical namesakes carefully before choosing the name, no matter how obscure like your aforementioned [name_m]Tobiah[/name_m], or even others like [name_m]Herod[/name_m], Jude/Judah, [name_f]Korah[/name_f], [name_m]Esau[/name_m], Ananiah/Hananiah, [name_f]Peninnah[/name_f], [name_m]Saul[/name_m], [name_m]Solomon[/name_m] ect. Most of the time it likely wouldn’t matter, and a lot of the names have heavy usage outside of the verses that mention them and/or their “unsavoriness” isn’t considered by most. It’s unlikely most people would even get the reference of [name_m]Tobiah[/name_m] specifically, especially with how obscure [name_m]Nehemiah[/name_m] himself is for most, let alone those involved in his story.
I myself used [name_f]Rahab[/name_f] as a middle for my child, who was also an “unsavory” sort even though she helped the Israelites in the end and went on to mother [name_m]Boaz[/name_m]. I considered [name_f]Bathsheba[/name_f] for similar reasons too; it’s more about what the name means to you and if you can overcome the more negative aspects of their stories and aren’t going to be too worried about what those in your religious community may think or say about your choice. And just liking the name outside of the Biblical source too is so valid, and why I think some names have entered into modern secular use outside of their religious connotations.
[name_m]Even[/name_m] now as a non religous person I always try to look at what the name means and what the story they were a part of was trying to teach before deciding if it’s a name I could potentially use. I do still live in a very religious community afterall, am married to a religious person, and mine and S/Os still very devout families will hopefully be in any potential childrens lives and their overall opinion and comments will affect my child/ren whether I like it or not. It’s something I honestly weigh a lot more carefully than non Christian/Hebrew names on my lists because of that.
I hope this convoluted mess was helpful/insightful, I apologize if it comes across as too stream of consciousness :sweat_smile:

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I don’t think I can add much that hasn’t already been said more eloquently, but I will just say that I second the general consensus of the previous comments! I think that, unless you are surrounded by people who are extremely well-versed in the Bible and would recognise most namesakes, nearly any name from it is fine to use. The exceptions would be the names that are well-known by the general population to be “bad”, like Lucifer and Cain. In terms of Delilah I feel like more people learnt about the story in the Bible after the name became popular, it almost feels like the perception of it as potentially “wrong” came as a response :sweat_smile: But I could be wrong! Still, when it comes to names that are so popular I think you can disregard the Bible associations as the names have clearly become acceptable and been able to shake off the Biblical namesake as being the only association that defines them. I guess that’s where the line is drawn: is the story so prominent that the association couldn’t be let go off, or not? It helps when the name follows name trends in terms of sound (Delilah, Tobiah) which helps it blend in and be normalised as just another name, which simply also happens to have a mixed namesake in the Bible.

It reminds me of how my mother’s told me she almost named me Salome, but didn’t because my dad didn’t like the Bible namesake. I remember laughing about it but in the end thinking that I wouldn’t really have cared about any Biblical baggage that came with the name, only that it sounded too similar to “salami” :sweat_smile: I don’t think the average person cares about these slightly less culturally salient Bible references, even if they’re potentially negative.

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This is a very interesting topic - I can’t add to it, but I was intrigued to see a devoutly [name_m]Christian[/name_m] family use the name [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] recently - so this was intriguing to see all these different perspectives.

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Personally, I wouldn’t use an unsavory biblical name unless I had another positive connection to it that overshadowed it for me. As someone else said, they are just names, not necessarily the people. [name_f]My[/name_f] best friend in the universe is named [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] and so I would absolutely name a child after her in some way, even though the biblical character is bad, because that biblical character is not the only person with that name.

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Thank you, everyone! I do feel a bit better about [name_m]Tobiah[/name_m], I’m sure the people in my church community would be fairly familiar with the name, but the good meaning and familiarity of [name_m]Tobias[/name_m] make me feel more comfortable adding him to my list; I’m not fully there yet, but I’m seriously considering him. I feel like he goes really well with a lot of my more obscure Bible names (like [name_m]Boaz[/name_m], [name_f]Aquila[/name_f], [name_m]Asa[/name_m], [name_m]Barnabas[/name_m], [name_m]Judah[/name_m], [name_m]Reuben[/name_m], [name_m]Bartholomew[/name_m], [name_m]Cyrus[/name_m], [name_m]Eliel[/name_m], etc.), too! Plus the meaning, “God is good”, really resonates with me, even though the character was an enemy of [name_m]Israel[/name_m] and did some not great things.

@Julie_NameNerd - thanks girl! your points are definitely fair. On the one hand, I’m not sure more obscure characters like [name_m]Tobiah[/name_m] or [name_f]Sapphira[/name_f] would go unnoticed in my church, as there is a heavy emphasis on getting into the Bible and reading it for ourselves and studying what is being preached to make sure it aligns with the Gospel, so most people are probably going to be familiar with Sanballat and [name_m]Tobiah[/name_m], but I can see your point! I think [name_f]Sapphira[/name_f] is sort of ok, too, just because it’s also basically a fancy gem name :rofl: (Tobiah and his crony Sanballat were two men when [name_m]Nehemiah[/name_m] was trying to rebuild [name_m]Jerusalem[/name_m] after the Israelites were taken captive by [name_m]Nebuchadnezzar[/name_m] in Babylon, and Sanballat and [name_m]Tobiah[/name_m] were trying to destroy all their efforts… I haven’t read [name_m]Nehemiah[/name_m] for a bit, but if I remember correctly, they attacked them by force, also reported them to try to get them to not be able to keep building, etc. Basically just an enemy of Israel… I think that’s the only time a [name_m]Tobiah[/name_m] was mentioned, but his name meaning is so nice!)

@may.rose - it’s nice to find that I’m not the only [name_m]Christian[/name_m] who feels pretty strongly about [name_f]Delilah[/name_f]! Ironically there was a little old lady in my church for years whose name was Delilah; her parents named her that while they were Christians… I spoke with her about it once and she was like “yeah I have no clue why my parents named me this” lol. But I agree that I wouldn’t willingly use the name, even though it’s got a nice sound (I like Elila and [name_f]Delia[/name_f] much better as alternatives for the sound, or just Lila!). But you’re definitely right that no one was fully good, and traditionally I try to look at it like… is there something that redeems this character or this name?

@GreenEyes375 - wow, thank you for sharing your experience! I come from a fairly conservative [name_m]Christian[/name_m] background but in a different way, and I can’t imagine my family or even my church family reacting like that… we have had many [name_m]Jacobs[/name_m] in our congregation! (And Jonahs!) [name_f]Rahab[/name_f] is beautiful; I don’t see it as unsavory, I love the redemption of her story that she helped save [name_m]Israel[/name_m] and in turn [name_m]Israel[/name_m] saved her, [name_m]God[/name_m] protected her, she like you said became Boaz’s mother (and I think is probably a big reason why he was so kind to Ruth!), and she eventually became part of the lineage of [name_m]Christ[/name_m]. I have several close ties to [name_m]Brazil[/name_m] and I’ve been seeing a lot of Raabes popping up there (Rahab in Portuguese)… it’s a fascinating name and I’ve actually been thinking about her a lot myself. A couple years ago I read [name_f]Tessa[/name_f] Afshar’s “Pearl in the Sand” which follows the story of [name_f]Rahab[/name_f], and it’s made me love and admire her story in a way I never had before. “Unsavory” people have been redeemed throughout history, and I hope your family didn’t make you feel bad for using her!

Also I’d love what is considered unsavory about Ananiah or [name_m]Hananiah[/name_m] - the only ones I can think of are Daniel’s friend (who ended up in the fiery furnace… which is positive for me?) and the [name_m]Ananias[/name_m] who healed and baptized Paul… is there a negative one?

@Greyblue - yes, that will never not surprise me, lol!

@em73 - thanks girl! I agree, when the name is redeemed for another reason, I would be much more willing to use it! I feel like the meaning is starting to overshadow the negative character for me, “God is good” is such a lovely meaning.

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All of the names you mention here – with the exception of [name_m]Lucifer[/name_m], which comes from [name_m]John[/name_m] Milton’s poem [name_f]Paradise[/name_f] Lost and is not “biblical” at all – are Hebrew names with Hebrew specific meanings.

Personally, I find it the height of supersessionism to criticize Hebrew names from the Tanakh without knowing anything about what is actually said in the Tanakh about them, but there it is, the ultimate definition of the word.

[name_m]Eli[/name_m], [name_f]Dalila[/name_f], [name_f]Tovia[/name_f] are reclaimed names in [name_m]Israel[/name_m], although [name_m]Eli[/name_m], [name_m]Elisha[/name_m], [name_m]Eliakim[/name_m] have always been used. I personally, as a Jew, would never use the names of [name_m]Ahab[/name_m] and [name_f]Jezebel[/name_f] (Jezebel wasn’t even a Jew). We have a tradition of not using pre-Avraham and [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] names as Hebrew names in the synagogue, so my daughter’s Hebrew name is [name_f]Leah[/name_f] [name_f]Gavriella[/name_f] and my son’s is [name_m]Kalev[/name_m].

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Summary

This may be due to my dealings with certain translations of the New Testament, as I was considering Ananias from Act 5, and in some versions of bibles I’ve used it translates his name to the original Hebrew Ananiah or Hananiah. This is probably so obscure that it may not even be an issue for anyone considering the name :sweat_smile:

I’m also so glad to know Rahab seems to be a well loved choice; her story always touched me and it does my heart good knowing there are others might feel the same :heart:

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OOF, and we were just talking about Sapphira earlier in the thread :woman_facepalming:t3::woman_facepalming:t3:. I know who you mean now… I do think mostly positive because of the other characters, though!

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