I know a [name]Christian[/name] who never goes to church, but a [name]Faith[/name] whose parents are there every [name]Sunday[/name]. [name]Cohen[/name] is a popular name on nameberry, and I know some people find it offensive. [name]How[/name] do you feel about names like these? Would you use them?
Let’s not re-open the [name]Cohen[/name] debate AGAIN, please.
I wouldn’t give my kids a religious name because, well, I’m an atheist. They’ll be free to choose whatever beliefs suit them best. I would give them names that represent neutral values or figures I admire from literature and history.
I only use them 
Then again, I’m religious.
DH is somewhat religious, he goes to church once every few moths but firmly believes in God. I, on the hand, am not very religious at all, more agnostic than anything. However almost every name I like has a biblical connection. It doesn’t bother me at all. A name is a name, I don’t care where it came from.
I would give my child a religious name, but not with the intent of forcing my child into a certain belief system. My children, like all humans, will have the freedom to decide what they will believe, but my husband and I are Christians and our faith is very important to us, therefore some faith-related words hold special meaning to us and will likely be name options that we will consider. Names reflect the values of the parents, not the child. A child named [name]Ruby[/name] may hate the color red, but it may be her mother’s favorite color. My faith is invaluable to me. Hopefully my children will embrace it, but if not, they may still have names that reflect my faith because they are special to me and my husband.
It depends. I’m nonreligious, and I would not give a child a name that had very obvious religious connotations ([name]Christian[/name], [name]Muhammed[/name], [name]Jesus[/name], etc.) However, I have no problem with names that have a connection to some religion that aren’t tied to that religion. For example, names like [name]Isis[/name], [name]Diana[/name], [name]Orion[/name], [name]John[/name], [name]Marco[/name], [name]Freya[/name], [name]Julia[/name], and [name]Noah[/name] are all fine. There are a few names that are a bit on the edge. [name]Genesis[/name] and [name]Trinity[/name], for example, have obvious religious connotations, but I refuse to believe that a religion can “own” a colloquial word. Luckily I wouldn’t consider either of those names anyway, so I guess I don’t have to worry about it.
Personally, I wouldn’t (I’m agnostic.) But I have no problem with other people doing it. There are some names with [name]Christian[/name] meanings and some Hebrew names that I really like and would consider using as middles.
We’re atheists so we try to avoid names that are biblical. There are some biblical names ([name]Elizabeth[/name] for example) that I would still use though. It has enough history and usage beyond the bible that it doesn’t feel overly religious.
Very interesting subject!
As a person who is a theist, but doesn’t adhere to a specific religion, but grew up in a very specific involved religion, I’ve thought about this subject a lot.
There are certain names I’d be willing to use, but at the same time I factor in the questions “What if my child becomes an atheist?” “What if my child changes religions?” “Would this name place too much of a religious burden on them, and result in resentment of religion or myself?”
And for that reason, I wouldn’t use names like [name]Christian[/name], and I’d never use [name]Cohen[/name] because I firmly believe that I have no right to the name, just like I wouldn’t use the name [name]Syed[/name] or Pope (which is a title but still) as I have no right to the name.
(I also don’t agree with just anyone using [name]Cohen[/name], and find it incredibly pretentious and disrespectful of other people’s treasured beliefs.)
Names like [name]Faith[/name], and [name]Hope[/name] I have no issues with because they can be applied to non-[name]Christian[/name] settings.
I love the name [name]Christian[/name], but that’s far too religion specific for my liking. Other names for religious human figures are completely fine to me. Such as [name]Peter[/name], [name]Paul[/name], [name]Luke[/name], [name]Ezra[/name], [name]Ali[/name], [name]Jonah[/name] etc.
[name]Jesus[/name] I wouldn’t even think of using it because I know how controversial an issue it can be, and it’s extremely religiously specific.
I do have some religiously connected names on my list, such as [name]Gabriel[/name] for example, which is the name of an [name]Angel[/name]. Since this angel is present in more than one religion, and not as religion specific in this day and age, I have no worry of it being overbearing.
As someone who grew up in one religion, and pretty much left, and as the child of parents who grew up in one religion and switched to another, I would pick a religiously specific name because you never know what set of beliefs your child will have, or how they will feel towards their name. It also can cause them to dislike or even hate their name, and as a name nerd I’d really love to avoid that. 
This is a lovely post. A great reasoning system behind choosing a religious name.
I named my son [name]Christian[/name], but not because I plan to force him to be a christian (even though we are lds). It was simply a name I liked and it meant something to my grandma.
I would say maybe. It wouldn’t bother me. I am Catholic and technically we are suppose to name our kids after saints, but my parents didn’t worry about it, so neither will I. If I really liked a name, I wouldn’t let religion keep me from using it unless it might offend someone like [name]Cohen[/name]. A name like [name]Eden[/name] doesn’t sound particularly religious to me and yes I know about [name]Eden[/name] the place in the bible. I would [name]Eden[/name] as girl’s name in group with the boy’s names [name]Caden[/name], [name]Aiden[/name], [name]Brayden[/name], etc. So it can be hard to figure it out if a name is religious or not.
Anyway the only [name]Christian[/name] I know cheated on his wife so I wouldn’t use it.
I really like this. I tried to type out a decent answer to this question but the words just weren’t coming to me. The short answer for me is yes, I would give my child a name that reflects my religious beliefs. It isn’t because I plan to force my child to be religious, but because my faith is something that is important to me and something that I hope to pass down to my child. Simple as that.
I wouldn’t. I don’t think parents should feel as if they have the authority to brand their religion into their child. I don’t have a religious name, but I was brought up Catholic, and am now realizing that my beliefs do not correspond with that religion at all! I know if my name was [name]Christian[/name], [name]Faith[/name], or [name]Cohen[/name], I’d feel like I was stuck in a box.
Most of my favorite names for boys are biblical. I don’t know why I’m not drawn to biblical names for girls–maybe it’s just stylistic preference. But with whatever names I choose, I want there to be something substantial, meaningful, and personal behind it. And since my husband and I actually [name]Christian[/name], yes, biblical and [name]Christian[/name] influences will work their way into our naming set.
But in a broader view, I mean there are lots of names that are technically “religious,” that aren’t really thought of that way anymore…[name]David[/name], [name]Matthew[/name], [name]John[/name], [name]Rachel[/name], [name]Leah[/name], [name]Hannah[/name]…some families choose those names for the biblical perspective, while many do not.
I would hesitate to name a child something related to a religion different than my own, unless it had some other significance. [name]Shanti[/name] is a cool name and I love the meaning (peace), but I would feel more comfortable naming a child [name]Olive[/name] (also related to peace).
I’m not religious. A lot of biblical names have become quite common and are not necessarily associated with only religion, so I’d be okay with that. Basically I’d pick [name]John[/name] and [name]Matthew[/name] over [name]Ezekiel[/name] and [name]Solomon[/name] any day!
It was important to me that my children have saints’ names because I loved reading about ‘my saint’ as a child and it gives us an extra celebration when we have cake on their feast days, not fair to do that for one child called [name]Mary[/name] or [name]James[/name] and not for poor [name]Tiffany[/name] or [name]Oak[/name]. Another swaying factor is that any saint’s name has been used by people before, usually at least 100 years ago (obviously) so they are marginally trend proofed by that. Having said that, most saints weren’t named after a saint, in fact there are some very ‘pagan’ saints names like [name]Apollo[/name] and [name]Flora[/name] from [name]Roman[/name] converts and there is nothing to stop any baby becoming St [name]Jayden[/name] or St [name]Chelsea[/name].
I would use a religious name, but I’m a [name]Christian[/name], so…
I absolutely loved this explanation. Replace “[name]Christian[/name]” and “faith” with “atheism” and “skepticism” and you perfectly summarized my feelings. 
I loved this answer. We are all called to live saintly lives, so it shouldn’t matter what you name your child.