The name “Christian” is not particularly uncommon in English, even if the parents bestowing the name aren’t particularly devout. I assume that the same is true in other culturally-Christian nations that don’t use English.
Do children get named for their religion outside of Christianity? Are there little Buddhist children named [the local equivalent of] “Buddhist”? Are there little Muslim kids named [the local equivalent of] “Muslim”?
“Islam” is both given name and surname. People with Islam as a given name:
Islam Slimani (born 1988), Algerian football player
Islam Karimov (1938–2016), president of Uzbekistan
Islam El-Shater (born 1976), Egyptian football player
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi (born 1972), Libyan political figure and son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi
In the way that “Christian” comes from “Christ” (i.e. both the word and the name is from the founder of their religion), there are tons of Muslims named “Muhammed”.
I don’t think it’s even comparable - Muhammed and its variants is* by far* the most popular male first name in the world. I’d happily wager there’s more than one order of magnitude difference in the popularity of the one vs the other in their respective cultures, too - I only personally know one Christian, for instance (although I know several people with that as a surname. Ironically, they’re Muslim. Slave naming is weird.) but I think ~50% of the Muslims I know have Mohammed as a first name (and 25 % have Abdullah or some variant)- so much so, most Muslims I know actually go by their second name.
The Hebrew first name “Yehudah” seems very close to the Hebrew word for “Jew” (Yehudi?). The English version of “Yehudah” is “Judah” or “Jude”, with “Judith” being a feminine form.
“Yehuda” was, apocryphally, one of Jacob’s sons and later the name of one of the twelve tribes.
What I don’t know is whether or not it’s common for non-devout folks of Jewish ancestry to use these given names.
I agree that Mohammed is much more common than Christian, however, Jesus is a fairly common name in some parts of the world. Oddly enough, I personally know 1 Christian but zero Muhammeds or Jesuses, of course the former is probably influenced by knowing fewer than a dozen muslims that I know of in my lifetime.
Or Hispanics… “Jesus” (Hay-ZOOS) is an extremely common name in NYC. Or Major League Baseball :).
I’m not sure I’ve met a guy named Christian, but any number of "Chris"es may have been “Christian” in full. I have met many a Christina / Cristina / Christine, but again, “Cristina” is an extrely common Hispanic name (it’s also the name of a Spanish language talk show I used to see advertised all the time, obviously named for the host).
Growing up in an Italian neighborhood, I knew a couple of kids named “Sal” that I learned much later was short for “Salvatore”, meaning “Savior”. I have never met a Hispanic person with the Spanish equivalent, “Salvador”, but I remember one of the main characters in the Netflix import “Money Heist” (originally produced in Spain under the title of “Casa de Papel”) takes the name “Salvador”, and he gets called by nicknamed “Salva” - so it’s a common enough name (in Spain, at least) to have a standard short version.
I always wonder how “religious sounding” such names are to their ear, as to me, “hay-ZOOS” is just a typical Hispanic name, it does not connote “Jesus Christ” to me in the way that it probably does to a native Spanish speaker who grew up religious.
My guess is that once a name is that common, it probably loses its religious overtones except when specifically used in prayers and similarly overtly religious contexts. Unless a guy named Jose married a Maria and named their first child Jesus, that might draw some comments.
I’ve been acquainted w/ two men at different times who are named Gotama, and they are Buddhist.
I know a couple of Chris(tian)s, a Judith, a couple of Judys (not Jewish), but no one named Islam.
I know a couple of Mohammeds, but no Jesus’s
None of those names feels very religious to me.
I’ve known several people named Tao.
I have an ancestor named Christian. Taiwan’s religion is sort of a mix of various influences and I have yet to meet anyone name “A mix of various influences.” I will post an update if I ever meet anyone named that.
A coworker is named Gopal Krishna. He tells me these are both common names in India.
Krishna is a major deity in Hinduism.
Gopal is the infant/child form of Krishna.
Probably a majority of popular names among Hindu Indians are the names or epithets of Hindu deities: Ram, Ganesh, Parvati, Mahesh, Indrani, Narayan, etc. etc. etc.
I’m not sure if this counts as being named for one’s religious denomination, though, as in the given name “Christian”.
Looking at our phone directory, I see several people with either middle or surnames of Gopalakrishna, Gopalakrishnan, and minor other variations.
If a boy or man has a name like Hyrum or Brigham, you can almost certainly guarantee that they’re Mormon, or at the very least, their parents were when they were born.
And don’t forget the feminine version, Emma, popular in multiple cultures which view naming their sons Jesus as “taking God’s name in vain”.
Just as a curiosity: if you meet a Spaniard called Salva(dor), you can safely ask if he’s from Valencia. There’s about a 99% probability he’ll be; the few who aren’t are named after their grandfather who was from Valencia.
(and it’s La casa de papel)
I know of at least one Spanish Judah who was Jewish, the poet Judah Halevi; it’s the name used to indicate that a male character is Jewish in Spanish legends, stories and plays (the female name used is Rebecca, there is a whole genre of legends called la bella Rebeca, “beautiful Rebecca”).
If someone’s named Emma, it’s much more likely their name stems from the various Germanic roots than … whatever path gets you *Emma *from Jesus.
Not an origin I’d ever encountered before today, and one of my daughters is named Emma. Is it short for Emmanuella or something?
Bingo, although both in English and French it would normally be spelled Emmanuelle.
Israel is also a fairly common Jewish name (or at least it was - it’s considered old fashioned now). This does not necessarily refer to the country; “Israel” is also a euphemism for the Jewish people, AKA the “Children of Israel” or “Israelites”.