![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
morningapproach.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
babynamesI expressed to my BFF the other day that I love the name Elijah. She was absolutely aghast that I would consider naming my child - as yet unconceived - a name that was equivalent to Jesus when I am agnostic. She compared it to naming my child Mohammed. Personally I see no difference between the name Elijah and John or Jacob or Ezra or any other biblical name.
What do you think, is it appropriate use a historically religious name is you are not a member of said religion?
What do you think, is it appropriate use a historically religious name is you are not a member of said religion?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 02:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:00 am (UTC)I think she needs to take a chill pill.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:01 am (UTC)I think essentially what it comes down to are the connotations. When you think of Jesus or Mohammed or Abraham, I think most people's first thoughts are of those particular religious figures. John or Jacob or even Elijah could make a person think of any number of individuals.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:20 am (UTC)So.
If the name is commonly seen ONLY in that culture -- for example, Mohammed is not a name used outside of the Muslim faith; no one names their kid Jesus, no matter how religious they are (unless the name is Jesús [different] and they are Spanish-speaking) -- then don't use it unless you are from that culture. But when a name becomes common even outside of it -- John, Jacob, Ezra, Elijah, Noah, etc. -- there is absolutely no reason you shouldn't use it.
That said, if you use all Biblical names (ie, if you named all of your kids Elijah, Ezra, Noah, and Abraham), people might assume you are religious. But there's nothing wrong with using those names and others like them, if you like them, regardless of your religious beliefs.
(Honestly, you'd be hard pressed to find a boys name that is common in English-speaking countries that DOESN'T have religious connotations. Especially for boys. I just counted: in the top 10, there are only two names that don't show up in the Bible -- Anthony and Jayden. And Anthony still has religious connotations because he was a Saint. That leaves you with Jayden.)
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:27 am (UTC)Also, in the case of Elijah, it has deviated from being strictly religious anyhow (for example, when I hear that name, I first think of Elijah Wood).
And going off that, I once knew a kid named Jesus (pronounced Hey-Zeus).
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:40 am (UTC)So, unless you want to name your kid Wyatt, Chase, Hunter, or Brody, you really don't have a ton of options unless you go with a name that is somehow connected to Christianity. Which means Atheists either need to use them or else name their kids really dumb names.
(That said, I know there are a lot of quality names that aren't in the Bible that are just further down on the top 1000 list, but you get the idea.)
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 03:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 05:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 05:32 am (UTC)If you read down I think you'll see where your friend got her (incorrect) idea that Elijah is equivalent to Jesus. Actually he's equivalent to John the Baptist, and I can't imagine very many people would reject the name John for being too Christian. While I'm not religious myself a lot of my family are, but I still had to google to try and figure out what she might have meant. The only thing I remembered was he was a prophet and that he ascended to Heaven in the fire whirlpool (technically he's the oldest man in the Bible according to some people, since unlike Methusalah he never actually dies but is rather taken bodily into Heaven).
Your friend is having a serious overreaction (although I agree with one of the earlier commenters that that implies there's anything to react to in the first place, and there isn't). And anyway at the end of the day, it's none of her business what you name your child.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 06:31 am (UTC)There's nothing offensive about using a 'biblical' name when you're not Christian
Date: 2010-07-21 07:31 am (UTC)Also, 'Elijah' is not equivalent to 'Jesus'. Elijah was just a character, a prophet, in the Old Testament and your friend is projecting the Christian notion of Elijah onto the name, which I think is wrong of your friend to do. It's very Christian-centric of her to insist that Elijah has only a Christian meaning and to insist that anyone wanting to use it is forced to conform to some Christian vision of what the name means. Elijah has a different meaning to different people, Jewish people for instance, who would probably be more offended at your friend's insistence that it means 'Jesus' than by your agnostic use of the name. We have a friend from a Bosnian Muslim family who goes Alijah (Ollie-yuh), which is a form of Elijah. :P
There are plenty of other names that are just as rooted in the bible as Elijah, names a lot of people don't even stop to think of as biblical.
So, basically tell her to STFD and STFU. :P
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 07:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 09:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 09:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 01:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 01:49 pm (UTC)They can be hard to avoid, so if I have to, I'll use one and make it a point to mention that babby is named after so-and-so scientist or what have you. But I haven't had trouble finding names I like that aren't biblical. They may not be in the top 100, but most of those don't turn me on anyways.
I make exceptions for Judas and Thomas, for obvious reasons.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 01:51 pm (UTC)Biblical names entered general European language and culture hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Elijah is a very popular name. I'm sure plenty of people who use it are not Christians. Don't worry about it.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 01:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 02:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 02:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 06:47 pm (UTC)I like lots of names that are in the Bible, like Joseph, Michael... even Gabriel and Elijah, and I am agnostic.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-21 07:15 pm (UTC)