[name]Elijah[/name], [name]Jonah[/name], [name]Levi[/name], [name]Noah[/name], [name]Jacob[/name]… Biblical names are quite popular at the moment, and what are your thoughts?
I think biblical names will always be popular to some extent. They or some variant of them have been around for so long that people can consider them safe/comfortable choices. Also, there are a lot of people out there who just like the idea of naming their child after someone in the Bible.
Personally, I’m not a fan of many male biblical names because they tend to be way too common for me. There are a lot of Johns, [name]Matthews[/name], [name]Lukes[/name], Michaels, etc. in the world. Your choices are a bit fresher than the ones I just listed. My favorite of your selections is [name]Levi[/name], (a name I actually really love.)
There are many female biblical names that I think seem a little less like beating a dead horse than the male names, such as [name]Eve[/name], [name]Lydia[/name], [name]Magdalene[/name], and [name]Ruth[/name]. But the ever-present [name]Mary[/name] has been burnt to a crisp.
I’m not sure how to answer this question, but I’ll give it a shot. Being a [name]Christian[/name] I have no problem with Biblical names and happen to have quite a few Biblical names on my list. I especially like Biblical names for boys because they tend to be softer, which I like, and so many of them are undiscovered, quirky choices, which I also like. When I find a name I love that also happens to be Biblical, that’s just an added bonus to me (assuming the Biblical figure is decent).
I love baby names from the Bible. They have great history and meaning. I love how a child can go and read a story of someone with their name. However, I do get a little weary of only a handful of them getting overused. There are so many great ones that are used a lot less.
I am expecting my first, a little boy, and we are naming him [name]Judah[/name].
Not only do many names from the Bible sound great, but they also have a timeless feel to them. I think those two factors alone make the names very appealing to many people.
I grew up hearing Bible stories, so I have positive associations with many of the names. However, my number one criteria for choosing a name is how it sounds. I have to love (or very much like) ALL syllables of a name for me to seriously consider using it.
My children all have Biblical names. As a Christian, I am very pleased it turned out that way; although, it wasn’t originally planned. My daughter’s name was picked out in advance before my husband and I were married just because I LOVED the name. My sons’ names were chosen because they were the only boy names my husband and I could agree on at the time. (Their names turned out to be perfect for them.) Other Biblical names that I love enough to use are: [name]Susanna[/name], [name]Eve[/name], [name]Julia[/name], [name]Peter[/name], [name]Aaron[/name], [name]Isaac[/name], [name]Gabriel[/name], [name]Samuel[/name], [name]Mark[/name] (as mn), [name]Ethan[/name], and [name]Jonas[/name]. (My twin sister used [name]David[/name], so that one was not an option for us.) I used to adore the name [name]Andrew[/name], but I’m surprised to find that I’ve cooled off to the name a bit. Not sure why.
I love plenty of [name]NON[/name]-Biblical names too!
I love Biblical names! As a [name]Christian[/name], I love the connections children will make over the years with “their” Bible characters–at least, in my church, Bible stories are told over and over and by the time those children are going off to college, they pretty much know most of the Bible stories, and will have had a chance to connect with their Bible character. I have a friend named [name]Joseph[/name] who grew up loving the story of [name]Joseph[/name] and the coat of many colors–it was just a part of who he was and how he related to his faith. I helped name my sister after one of my favorite Bible stories when I was four ([name]Isaac[/name] and [name]Rebekah[/name]). Besides, they have all the wonderful qualities that everyone has already mentioned, and they’re so timeless! I’m about 98% sure my first son will have a Biblical FN, [name]Caleb[/name], and there are plenty of other Biblical names on my short list, as well!
I love [name]Caleb[/name], [name]Joshua[/name], [name]Noah[/name], [name]Elias[/name]/[name]Elijah[/name]/[name]Elliot[/name] (all forms of [name]Elijah[/name], I believe?), [name]Jonah[/name]/[name]Jonas[/name], [name]Jude[/name], [name]Peter[/name], [name]Isaac[/name], [name]Josiah[/name], [name]Ezekiel[/name], [name]Ezra[/name], [name]Simon[/name], [name]Silas[/name], [name]Hannah[/name], [name]Eve[/name], [name]Elizabeth[/name] (and its many, many variants!), [name]Miriam[/name], [name]Rachel[/name], [name]Julia[/name], [name]Lydia[/name], [name]Tabitha[/name], etc.
I find it interesting how many Biblical names connected to horrible people/events in the Bible that people love. I suppose people find them on name sites and fall in love with the sound and only later learn the story behind it. To me, it’s almost like naming your kid [name]Adolf[/name] or [name]Judas[/name], but to each his own.
There are definitely enough choices in the Bible that there’s going to be something there to appeal to almost anyone.
From [name]Felix[/name] to [name]Phoebe[/name], [name]Joe[/name] to Joktan, [name]Adam[/name] to [name]Zeus[/name], [name]Mary[/name] to [name]Jezebel[/name]. Common to uncommon, trendy to never heard before, boring to crazy amazing.
lol, like what? The only one I can think of is [name]Delilah[/name] and [name]Jezebel[/name], and, of course, [name]Judas[/name], but I don’t think [name]Jude[/name] or [name]Judah[/name] are anywhere near as negative as [name]Judas[/name].
The people in the Bible were just that, people, and they had their faults, just like we do… even a “normal” Bible name like [name]David[/name] or [name]Jacob[/name]–he had his faults, too. [name]David[/name] slept with another man’s wife and then had him essentially murdered in battle, and [name]Jacob[/name] conned his brother out of his inheritance… and yet, they were known as men after God’s own heart, men God used to change the world. When I look at Bible names, I think it’s important to look at the character’s heart, if he (or she!) is essentially wanting to do good or evil.
Very true, I meant names like [name]Jezebel[/name] and [name]Delilah[/name] as you mentioned. Also, [name]Cain[/name], [name]Lucifer[/name], [name]Judas[/name], Herod. But also people to whom the only thing mentioned about them is something horrible, like [name]Tamar[/name], [name]Ananias[/name], [name]Sapphira[/name], [name]Saul[/name].
In the end a name is just a name, but I’d personally find it hard to separate the story from the name, mostly because the names tend to be rare because of their infamy.
Hmm, true. I’m the same way, although for some reason I still absolutely love [name]Sapphira[/name]! It’s the one that I would use anyway, although I’m not sure I love it enough. I would probably use the nn [name]Sara[/name], and I think of sapphires more than [name]Ananias[/name] and [name]Sapphira[/name]. [name]Do[/name] Berries consider [name]Ananias[/name]? I’ve never heard that on these boards before. Wasn’t that also the name of the man who restored [name]Paul[/name]'s sight, though? In that case I think [name]Ananias[/name] isn’t all bad.
And for [name]Saul[/name], are you thinking [name]King[/name] [name]Saul[/name], or [name]Saul[/name]-who-became-[name]Paul[/name]? Because [name]King[/name] [name]Saul[/name] started out good, was very humble, the least of the least tribe of [name]Israel[/name], but sought out God’s will, always wanted to serve him, until his ego of being a king went to his head. I agree, if you just think of [name]Saul[/name] before he was [name]Paul[/name], though, that isn’t such a great association.
[name]Tamar[/name] and [name]Saul[/name] aren’t very rare in my culture/religion. I know several of each. And [name]Tamar[/name] and [name]Saul[/name] both have nice meanings, (“date palm” - a botanical name, and “prayed for” which is a sweet meaning) and a mixture of stories, good and bad. There were two Tamars in the Bible, remember.
I’d use either of those names. But I’m Jewish, maybe its different for Christians.
I like some Biblical names and not others. I find some overused, and some just don’t appeal. And some I would like if I didn’t know twerpy people by those names. [name]Samuel[/name] is the type of name I like and I like [name]Sam[/name] as a NN, but I know too many jerk Samuels. [name]Samson[/name] still works for me though. And every guy I know named [name]Saul[/name] has been okay to really cool.
I especially love the boys’ name options, girls are a bit trickier. I have five or so girls names I like and probably four times that many boy names.
I’m a fan of a good number of them, [name]Elijah[/name], [name]Levi[/name], [name]Noah[/name], [name]Matthew[/name], [name]Luke[/name], [name]Jeremiah[/name], [name]David[/name], [name]Ethan[/name], [name]Gabriel[/name], [name]Isaac[/name], [name]Joseph[/name] etc.
I think Biblical names cycle: there’s always a few that are mainstream popular at a time, and the rest are thought odd, but which ones it is varies by decade.
For girls: [name]Hannah[/name] and [name]Abigail[/name] are popular right now - [name]Deborah[/name] and [name]Judith[/name] are missing in action despite massive popularity a few decades ago - [name]Ruth[/name] is maybe going to cycle back, perhaps bringing [name]Susannah[/name] with it - nobody is using [name]Jemima[/name] in the US but they are in the UK and AU/NZ.
For boys: Few were using [name]Noah[/name] and [name]Jonah[/name] all that much twenty years ago - [name]Asher[/name] and [name]Levi[/name] are just jumping up charts now - [name]Cher[/name] was being odd when she chose [name]Elijah[/name] and now its in the top 20 - most people are “over” [name]Michael[/name] and [name]David[/name], but they’ll be back later.
I think there’s always a few Biblical names on offer. But they’re never all fashionable simultaneously, and that’s not even counting ones that have never been in the top 1000.
I think it’s too broad a category. I think biblical names are often no longer associated (at least at first thought) with the bible unless they’re really uncommon. Mostly they’re just “names”.
