What's a "church name"?

[jas3]

When meeting people at my church, many of them have given me two names, saying one of them is their "church name." But when I ask for clarification or which one to call them, they've all just said either is fine and not to worry about the distinction.
I've also asked my priest if I need to have one picked out at this point (I officially become a catechumen next Sunday), and he said I didn't need to.

I'd still like to understand more about this in advance though. From what I gather, this is the same as a "Christian name," which is given at baptism (converts at this church are received by baptism). But I'm not clear on some things:

• What is the rationale for choosing a name? For example, if you chose the name Nektarios, would there be any significance to that other than expressing admiration for St. Nektarios?
• Are children born into Orthodoxy given different secular and Christian names?
• One of historical curiosity: if Christian names are saints' names, then where did the saints' names come from? There had to be a first Spyridon, a first Quodvultdeus, etc.

 

[ArmyMatt]

What is the rationale for choosing a name? For example, if you chose the name Nektarios, would there be any significance to that other than expressing admiration for St. Nektarios?

it could be that. sometimes it’s because you already have a Christian name (like you were born John or Paul). sometimes it’s because a saints day falls on a significant day for you (like your birthday or the day you’re received into the Church). there’s all sorts of reasons,

Are children born into Orthodoxy given different secular and Christian names?

sometimes. I know folks whose saint’s name is their middle name.

One of historical curiosity: if Christian names are saints' names, then where did the saints' names come from? There had to be a first Spyridon, a first Quodvultdeus, etc.

they were originally just their normal name, and then since those saints were holy, parents started naming their children after them or converts would accept those names at their conversion.

 

[jas3]

Thanks for the response, father.

sometimes it’s because you already have a Christian name (like you were born John or Paul)

Would this also be the case for Hebrew names from the Old Testament, e.g. Samuel, Elijah, or Moses?

sometimes. I know folks whose saint’s name is their middle name.

So is it the normal practice to include the saint's name as some part of the child's name, whether the first or middle name?

 

[ArmyMatt]

Would this also be the case for Hebrew names from the Old Testament, e.g. Samuel, Elijah, or Moses?

yes.

So is it the normal practice to include the saint's name as some part of the child's name, whether the first or middle name?

as far as I know, usually the first name.

 

[prodromos]

yes.

as far as I know, usually the first name.

In Greece, you are typically given just one name. Two or more names is generally frowned upon, although no one raised any issues when our three children were baptised, each having two names.

 

[ArmyMatt]

In Greece, you are typically given just one name. Two or more names is generally frowned upon, although no one raised any issues when our three children were baptised, each having two names.

interesting

 

[ArmyMatt]

I should add, I do know some who are Orthodox and don’t have a saint’s name

 

[prodromos]

I should add, I do know some who are Orthodox and don’t have a saint’s name

St Joseph the Hesychast had been baptised Francis as a child, due to the strong Venetian influence on many Greek islands

 

[ArmyMatt]

St Joseph the Hesychast had been baptised Francis as a child, due to the strong Venetian influence on many Greek islands

I know a current priest whose birth name isn’t a saint, and he has no saint’s name

 

[The Liturgist]

I know a current priest whose birth name isn’t a saint, and he has no saint’s name

If I recall the custom is in those cases to have their name day be All Saints Day.

In the Greek Orthodox Church I have read that women named for a flower have their saints day on Pentecost.

The Serbians have the system of Slava, and I have to confess after a decade of tryimg to understand it I still can’t figure out exactly how it works, only that it sounds loke great fun, and if the nearest Serbian Orthodox parish wasn’t impossibly far away I would go there, both because of that and because one of my first experiences of Orthodoxy was the work of my father as a professor of political philosophy who objected to the persecution of Serbs in Kosovo.

 

[ArmyMatt]

If I recall the custom is in those cases to have their name day be All Saints Day.

In the Greek Orthodox Church I have read that women named for a flower have their saints day on Pentecost.

The Serbians have the system of Slava, and I have to confess after a decade of tryimg to understand it I still can’t figure out exactly how it works, only that it sounds loke great fun, and if the nearest Serbian Orthodox parish wasn’t impossibly far away I would go there, both because of that and because one of my first experiences of Orthodoxy was the work of my father as a professor of political philosophy who objected to the persecution of Serbs in Kosovo.

I went to Seminary with a Serb, and they have familial patron saints. the slava is a great service.

 

[notRusskiyMir]

The tradition of the Greeks is that the first grandchildren are named after their grandparents, with their "middle name", being their father's name in the possessive tense - a patronymic. That accounts for 4 children, assuming there is a gender equivalent name. The baptismal sponsor is often allowed to pick the child's name, presumably as an inducement to serve as such. In large families, the child's name might be that of another relative or any other, including the saint's day of the child's birth or baptism. The grandparents are usually accounted for first, but not always.

As for American Greeks, some families preserve this tradition but often in the 3rd and 4th generation it is not followed. It is one of the first casualties of a mixed marriage. In the 2nd generation of US immigrants, with a strong sense of blending in, it was not uncommon for children to be given an "anglo" legal name that started with the same letter of the alphabet as the Greek name. At communion, the child would give her Greek Christian name. So, perhaps, Maxine for Magdalene. That didn't last long as mixed marriages began to predominate.

I think the Greek method of honoring the grandparents is a very good one. Better than the soap opera names. Of course soon, and likely now, the grandparents have soap opera names.

Yeah, this grinds my gears.