Biblical Names for Children.

[felinity]

Notably, JoHannah Jubilee is a Biblicized version of DW's first & middle names and Aaron is a Biblicized version version of my middle name.

My middle name is Johanna, but I was named after a Bob Dylan song. My first name is biblical, though.

 

[Assisi]

Yes, this is important to me. I want our children to be named for saints, and I want at least one of their names to be a Biblical name. I want my children to have a saint to look up to as they grow in their relationship with God. The names we have chosen for our children also have a special meaning for us as parents.

 

[llghoney]

It was important to me to have a name with some kind of meaning hence her name being Grace.

 

[GolfingMom]

We did use biblical names, because 1. we loved them 2. We loved the meaning 3. They also had special personal meaning to us in our Christian walk 4. We wanted to honour God in a very outward way because we prayed long and hard for our children...
We have a Ruth and an Ezekiel.

I was quite surprised how uncommon it is to use biblical names in Christian communities, not that I think it's greatly important, just surprised!

 

[-~Truth_N_Trust~-]

 

[felinity]

I've been kind of surprised at how uncommon Biblical names are in Christian communities, as well. My husband comes from a very devout extended family, but virtually none of them have Biblical names. Again, it's not that I think that Christians "should" use Biblical names, but I'm sometimes surprised at how few of the ones I know actually do. It seems to be my non-Christian friends who give their children "good solid" names like Elijah.

 

[Leanna]

I don't know that we were going for a theme really, but I do prefer Biblical boy names but don't really love the female Bible names though one has been considered. Now that I have two Biblical boy names though I'll probably stick with that... no "rule" on the girl names here though...

 

[angelsgirl]

I don't really like any biblical girls names. So Maddie doesn't have a biblical name! But her middle name is after a saint.
I like alot of biblical boys names, so if we ever have a boy he will have a biblical name.

 

[TCat]

We named DS Joshua because we loved the name, then we gave him the verse Joshua 1:9 and he used it in his confimation. I was not a Christian when he was born but I am glad he has a Biblical name.

DH named DD, he refused to tell me her name till she was born. Kelsie is nice, kind of Celtic sounding. DH was not a Christian till shortly before her birth, and in fact prayed for the first time as we were undergoing an emergency C-section, touch and go, may or may not live kind of thing. As I woke up in recovery he told me her name was Kelsie Faith.

I love that story, and it is certainly Biblical in my heart.

 

[heart of peace]

Yes, this is important to me. I want our children to be named for saints, and I want at least one of their names to be a Biblical name. I want my children to have a saint to look up to as they grow in their relationship with God. The names we have chosen for our children also have a special meaning for us as parents.

For me, it is more than just liking it, it is part of my faith as an Orthodox Christian. Oh and I am more inclined to Orthodox saint names, not all are in the Bible.

I know I don't belong here but I love talking names. I believe a name is so important because in some ways it defines a person.

Well, you do have parents so I'd say that you belong here Besides, you can have an input in parenting and not be a parent yourself in general. Welcome, LoisGriffin.

 

[Neenie1]

I don't know that we were going for a theme really, but I do prefer Biblical boy names but don't really love the female Bible names though one has been considered. Now that I have two Biblical boy names though I'll probably stick with that... no "rule" on the girl names here though...

I'm the same way.

I love most of the boy's Bile names, Daniel (I have a Daniel), Matthew, Mark, James, David. I love all of those names and would consider all of them for any future sons (God willing)

The only girls Bible names I like are Hannah and Ruth, and neither of those really go with our surname. Hannah would probably be alright - but I don't know.

I do like classical names and our daughter is Emily, I don't think you can go much more classic than that.


Also the name has to mean something acceptable.

 

[HeatherJay]

Since my daughter's name is Maya, I suppose I am not wanted on this thread.

We are giving our son's Bible names but I doubt any of our daughters, unless we decide to go with Hannah...

For the record, many baby naming lists consider Mya to be derived from Mary. So, lol, if you wanted to argue in favor of your little angel having a name of Biblical origin, you probably could get away with it, lol.

 

[CrystalBrooke]

I don't think it's important at all to give your children biblical names. The only biblical names I like are Daniel and Isaac, but if Charlie and I have a boy it'll be named after him and I'm pretty sure there isn't a Charles Ray in the Bible. I like names that are timeless..names that sound good on an infant, a teenager, and someone in their 70's. My daughter's name is Emily...I think it's very timeless.

 

[EbonNelumbo]

We named our son Lucas Gabriel, so it has biblical foundation, which we thought was great, but wasn't the deciding factor for us. My dad is a pastor and none of his kids have biblical names.

 

[jgonz]

I think the Meaning of the name is more important than it being a Biblical name or not. We picked names for their meaning, how they sounded with our last name, and they all had to be A first names and M middle names. lol

 

[Rebekka]

There are a lot of secular names that I like a lot. (I love the names Dorothy, Pearl, and Henry. Especially Henry!)

Dorothy (Dorothea) is a christian name, it means Gift from God. Henry is the name of a saint. Pearl is the translation of Margarita/Margareta/Margaret, also a saint. So all these 'secular' names are in fact christian.

I think biblical names are often very pretty, and there are a lot of saints names I like too. If we ever have children we'll give them christian names, either biblical or saints' names, or both. But frankly, it's pretty hard to give a child a name that is both not biblical AND not a saint's name or a derivation of a saint's name - at least in Dutch (it's illegal here to give your child a name that doesn't exist already). There are a lot of saints.

 

[Sabertooth]

...it's illegal here to give your child a name that doesn't exist already...

Is that from a Dutch pool of names or from anywhere in the world?

 

[Rebekka]

Is that from a Dutch pool of names or from anywhere in the world?

A Dutch pool of names, but through immigration there are a lot of non-Dutch names in the pool. All of your children's names would be allowed here, because the Bible is one of the main name sources.

Examples:
- we have a lot of children called Mohammed in the Netherlands, as we have a lot of muslims, and Mohammed is an existing, traditional name in islamic culture. Naming your child Mohammed is perfectly legal.
- after WWII, but also before (and during), Anglosaxon names became popular over here - so Betsy, John, Tim are legal here too.
- made-up names like Microsoft105 or HSDWHMCE-90 or Typemachine - "words" that are not known as personal names - are not allowed.
- last names as first or middle names are not allowed. You can't name your child Jansen or De Vries, which are last names. This is to prevent fake nobility: traditionally, the nobility has a double (or triple, or even quadruple) last name, and this is a status symbol. If last names as first or middle names were allowed, this would look like a noble name. It's interesting that in the US and perhaps other English-speaking countries it is common for women to replace their middle name with their maiden name when they marry. That is not allowed over here.
(Some last names are at the same time first names but this is different, as they were first names first: last names have a much shorter history. Over here the first name Thomas is also an existing last name.)

 

[RedTulipMom]

the meaning of a name is what is extremely important to me when naming my children

my 3 children
Joseph ---- God will increase
Luke ---- Light bearer
Anna ---- Gracious, Merciful

 

[Athaliamum]

What exactly is a "christian" name? People who live by this rule and are really particular about it as being important, may have a rude shock if they were to actually do some history study on the origin of names.

Names do have meanings, yes, and they are important. I do believe that people are generally the meaning of their name. I also think it's important to actually let God name your kid, rather then worry about what we want to name it.

For instance, I didn't name my kid, He did, He called her Athalia and before a pregnancy test would even show I knew I was pregnant and that was her name. I have had comment on the name. People who live by the "biblical" or "christian" rule think I'm crazy. The name appears twice in the bible. One is a man of not much mention that not many people know about. The other was the murderous queen daughter of Jezabel. But God said he would make her mean all four meanings of the name Athalia, that was good enough for me. One of the meanings and the scariest has come to pass but now I could look forward to the other three because hold great promises.

That worry about "christian" or "biblical" names. Let God name your kids, they're his anyway and he knows them better then you ever will.