My brother in law has a nickname. That nickname is “Thomas the doubter”. Why is this his nickname? All you have to do to find out is look to the Bible. There is a story about Saint Thomas in which he doubts the return of Jesus. Anyway, TJ was given a biblical name, which led to the nickname, and that’s what I want to talk about! Biblical names!
Biblical names are everywhere because there are so many names in the Bible. In the top 10 names, six boys names are biblical. They are classics and so many biblical names sound pleasant. A lot of parents choose a biblical name without even knowing its biblical. However, only one girls name is biblical, Abigail. Which brings me to ask why that might be.
One thought comes to mind. Because girls are less likely to be made fun of for a lacy, unique, or elaborate name, parents take that opportunity to find a name that is different. Many of those names have been created long since the biblical era. But with boys, choosing a standard name is more appealing because it seems ridiculous to give a male a name that won’t quite fit in with the rest of his peers. In a sea of Ethan’s, Andrew’s, and Jacob’s, you don’t quite think of a name like Blaise or Eden (yup, its on the top 1000 list of boys names) fitting in with that group.
Which leads me to see that parents default to biblical names for boys because they are widely recognized, many of them are masculine, and they aren’t fussy names. Another advantage to most of those names is that they are easy to grow up with. Andrew becomes Andy until he feels like its time to go back to using Andrew to feel a bit more mature. The same could be said for other names like Thomas, Nathaniel, and Joshua.
But I want to hear about some good female biblical names. Some of my favorites are Abigail, Beth, and Hannah. Only one of which is extraordinarily popular. So, what are some of your favorite biblical girls names. Anything that’s unique or rare? Or do you like a lot of the classics that have become mainstays in our society?
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We have a strict no bible names policy! We think it'd be like naming a kid who wasn't islamic "Muhamad". However, I like Ruth a lot. I think with boys names it's actually almost difficult to find names that are not bible names!
ReplyDeleteI personally like Leah. :)
ReplyDeleteSarah is also a favorite of mine (and currently pretty popular!).
I'm not a big fan of going straight biblical either. I like to find names that people haen't heard a lot of, and living in a conservative, religious area, most everyone has heard the gambit of biblical names. I prefer to look to brit lit for a lot of names. Besides, we're Catholic so the kids will get to pick a saints name to associate themselves with should they choose to be confirmed.
ReplyDeleteI got confirmed to get married and so I had to pick one too. I went rare. as usual, and picked Magdelena. Super awesome name!
Magdelena is one of my favorite names too! I think part of the problem with girl biblical names is that there aren't as many to begin with as boys. I personally default to literature names as well! I particularly like last names as first names at the moment.
ReplyDeleteLeah is a pretty name.
ReplyDeleteAnd last names as first are really cool. That's where we got Mackenzie, Carter, Bailey, and Quinn to name a few!