Question about the name Christian...
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| Fri, 09-22-2006 - 1:13pm |
I am a lurker/poster on this board. My kids are already born and named, and I just like to hang out and see what names people are choosing and why, and give opinions when asked. I think naming trends are really interesting, but I would fall into the camp of name traditionalist.
Anyway, I was wondering about the name Christian, which in addition to being a boy's name, is also a word used to describe a religion. An acquaintance who is and atheist just named her son Christian. I like the name, but am wondering if parents naming their kids this name think of its meaning. It just struck me as odd, that someone who doesn't believe in Christ would name their child something that means "believing in Christ" or "pertaining to Christ".
Am I being too analytical here, or is it really just "a name" with no underlying significance?

My dh and I are considering the name Christian for a son. For me, it's the ties to our faith and the very open expression of that faith which I like about the name. I do find it quite ironic that someone who doesn't believe in God or is not a Christian would use a name that has such strong ties to the Christian faith and inherently means "follower of Christ."
I'd be interested to hear other's thoughts of this subject...
Well, I like the name Christian as a name. However, as an atheist there is no way I would ever use the name on my own child. There are a lot of religious/biblical names that I avoid too.
Al
Funny that you mention this.
The two Christians I know do not have particularly religious parents. When I related the word Christian to either of them, they looked at me like the thought had never crossed their minds. In fact, one of the moms said to me she basically thinks of it as the new "Christopher," a name she loved since childhood and DH knew too many of. I truly believe it was simply a name either set of parents just liked...
Perhaps the church/Christian link is mostly applicable/related to by those who DO believe? While the sound of the name is strong and appealing and I like it when I hear it,
Ginger
I guess she loved the sound of the name enough to disregard the meaning. Still, it's a surprising choice, imo. Although I don't expect every Christian I meet to come from a religious family, it would be the last name I would predict an atheist would use, followed by Faith, Noel, and Jordan.
On the other hand, it doesn't surprise me at all to meet atheist parents with kids named Elizabeth (pledged to God), Malachi (angel/messenger), John (God is gracious), or any common biblical name like Aaron, Noah, or Naomi. To me, the difference is that in word names, the meaning is so weighty, so inescapable. The meaning of "regular" names is (to me) insignificant.
You're not wrong. It's a weird choice.
Allie
I totally agree. I always find it odd when people who aren't Christian use this name for their child. It'd be like a Methodist naming their child Muslim, KWIM? ;) Actually, I find it odd when non-religious people use any obviously-religious name -- Christian, Deacon, Evangeline, Faith, Messiah, Trinity, Heaven/Nevaeh (hehe), Zion, etc.
I don't think every name has to have an incredible meaning, but one that was negative could definitely steer me away (even if it was just negative to me, such as "Christian" for a proclaimed atheist LOL). Exactly why people need to at least think about a name before just slapping it on a child. ;)
~Kelli
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ITA. All the names you listed are on my "absolutely not" list, for just that reason. (Though some of them *cough*Nevaeh*cough* would be on that list even without the meaning. )
I definitely think the big difference here is the fact that most of these names (Christian, Trinity, Heaven, etc) are words, not just names. And the words have definitions. So that's totally different to me than names like Elizabeth or Michael which have meanings that are religious in nature and are names of people associated with certain religions.
Personally, I would avoid non-word names that are very connected to religion -- Abraham, Mohammad, Jesus, etc -- as well, because the association is too strong. But names that have been widely used by those outside the religion -- John, Mary, Elizabeth, Michael, Margaret, Adam -- don't phase me at all. The names that fall in the middle, the ones that are religious, but not as widely used throughout history -- Naomi, Ruth, Esther, Micah, Eve, Cain, Delilah, etc -- I waver on those. I don't necessarily assume that people who use them are Jewish or Christian. But I probably wouldn't use them myself.