(no subject)

[lustdumpster.livejournal.com]

Is it weird to use names like Christian and Grace if the parents are atheists? Like, is that contradictory or is it not a big deal?

Comments

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Well, Grace has an alternate meaning which is probably more common than its religious meaning... but I do think Christian would be a little bit odd. I guess technically it'd be no more strange than an atheist naming their child Christopher or Christina, but it still would seem strange.

[kort-ni.livejournal.com]

As a Pagan, I probably wouldn't use Christian, Christine, and Christopher, but I wouldn't really shy away from Grace as I think of it as a virtue and in terms of being graceful rather than grace bestowed by a Christian God.

In that same vein I would use biblical names and even plan to nickname my (future) daughter EVe.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's a big deal. The only way it would be is if there was 5 of them all piled together in a seriously theme-y sibset, but even then, the fact that there's a theme at all would be what bothered me. When I see Christian the name, I never tie it to Christian the belief. It's all about context.

[snowowl.livejournal.com]

My (Christian) parents named me Kristen, and since I've grown up to be an atheist, I dislike it. I'll be dropping it when I get married.

[pap3r-heart.livejournal.com]

What are you going to change your name to?

[snowowl.livejournal.com]

Since I have an aunt named Christine, the two were similar enough that as a child my extended family decided to call me by my middle name, Hope. It caught on, and ever since I've never been called by my first name (Kristen). Unfortunately, as an adult, there are all sorts of circumstances that cause confusion about my name (going to the bank, filling out any formal paperwork like job applications, etc.). When I marry this October, I'm going to make my middle name my first name, replace my old last name with my fiance's, and I haven't decided if I'll choose a new middle name (I don't want to make my maiden name my middle name) or just not have one at all.

[a-tergo-lupi.livejournal.com]

For me, yes. It's part of why we've banned all religious and saint names from consideration. There are plenty of super-awesome names available based on scientists, mathematicians, and historical figures to fill in the gaps. I'm a fan of virtue names, though, and there are some nice secular values represented there.

But, there are much worse things than having an religious name. :)

[gaspardgroupie.livejournal.com]

I'm not trying to be mean, but how will you use historical etc names if you're disallowing any saint names? I would have thought that would be quite tricky!

[a-tergo-lupi.livejournal.com]

There are lots of people in history :)

[gaspardgroupie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, and quite a few of them would have been religious (or their parents, who would of course have named them). I don't know. The only scientist my brain can think of is Marie Curie, lol. It's mean to me sometimes haha

[a-tergo-lupi.livejournal.com]

And there's a difference between people who made significant contributions to humanity who may have been religious and people who are well-known for their religious contributions alone.

Some names we considered (some more seriously than others):
Darwin
Edison
Curie
Søren (Kierkegaard was a stiff proponent of the separation of church and state.)
Kazimierz (The king of Poland who welcomed the Jews from the European expulsions.)
Asimov
Euclid
Zénaïde
Ayaan (Hirsi Ali)
Ansel
Thomas (Jefferson is too hard to pass up, and besides, Thomas demanded evidence. That's got to speak for something.)
Dalton (But NEVER Galton)
Mendel (I'm aware it's Hebrew)
Barton
Carson
Brandt
Wollaston
Davy
Conrad
Russell
Newton
Huxley
Maxwell
Rutherford
Kelvin
Joule
Hypatia
Mill
Occam
Linus
Clarence
Faraday

of course, Judas and Magdalena are on the list for tongue-in-cheek reasons.

And Angstrom is a guilty pleasure of mine. How awesome would that be? lol Angstrom Wollstonecraft. lol

[gaspardgroupie.livejournal.com]

I guess surnames make sense! I can think of loads of people, now that my brain has caught up lol

Angstrom Wollstonecraft is pretty epic!

[beautifulmonstr.livejournal.com]

I'm an atheist and we have decided to not use any religious names. I don't have a problem with Grace however

[frost.livejournal.com]

I'm atheist. To me it's not a big deal/not really something I think about, since I tend to choose names based on sounds, not meanings.

[after-the-ashes.livejournal.com]

Christian would be a no for me, but others wouldn't matter to me, like Grace.

[doxerssoldout.livejournal.com]

my first name is christine and i am an atheist. i used to hate my name (for reasons other than the meaning), but i grew to find the difference more amusing than anything else.

(it probably also helps that my parents have told me they picked my name because they liked how it sounded.)

[thellamaqueen.livejournal.com]

I've been struggling with this lately.
I LOVE the name Eden, but feel like I can't use it because of the biblical reference to the garden of Eden and I really don't want to use names that scream Christianity... I'm still debating as to whether or not I can put it on my list of names I will consider using in the future... but sound-wise, it's one of my favorites.

[kort-ni.livejournal.com]

I know two Buddhists with a son named Eden.

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

I'm an atheist and I would use biblical names if I truly liked them. I don't care. I don't like Grace or Christian, however.

[jeweledvixen.livejournal.com]

If I were an atheist, I wouldn't use Christian, but Grace isn't exclusively a religious word, so I don't see a problem with that.

[b-gum.livejournal.com]

i identify as agnostic with strong atheist tendencies B-), and i go completely by sound with baby names :)

i would use Christian because i like it, but Grace because... i don't ;) hehe

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

The names I like are based more on sounds and how they look. I'm very interested in meaning, too, but when I find a name I like with a meaning I like, it's more like a bonus than anything. So although I'm an atheist, I wouldn't shy away from using Christian, Christine, Christa, or Biblical names.

[florallove.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't think about it. maybe with Christian, but I wouldn't really think it's weird. I'd just assume they liked the name.

[pegasus2o5.livejournal.com]

I would find it very strange for an atheist to name their child Christian. Almost anything else (Grace, for instead) has some alternate meaning or just isn't tied that tightly to religion, but Christian... well, it means CHRISTIAN. There's really no getting around it. So that one would strike me very oddly, but Grace would be okay.