# Some Christians Name Their Kid 'Christian' (or the local equivalent); Do Other Religions Do This? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307 "2019-06-10T16:10:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/21 "2019-06-11T11:36:56Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > 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”. Oddly, I’ve never met a single Jewish “Israel” but I must know at least six Latin American ones. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/22 "2019-06-11T11:52:36Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Oddly, I’ve never met a single Jewish “Israel” but I must know at least six Latin American ones. It’s often Americanized as “Irving”. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/23 "2019-06-11T12:17:56Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > . . . > I’m not sure if this counts as being named for one’s religious **denomination** , though, as in the given name “Christian”. If we stuck to names of religious denominations, this would be a short thread. According to [this site,](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/06/the_odd_body_religion/) there are 4300 religions in the world, but few of us know the names of more than a few. Link contains a list of the top 20. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/24 "2019-06-11T13:10:47Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Oddly, I’ve never met a single Jewish “Israel” but I must know at least six Latin American ones. My Hebrew name is Israel. I rarely have cause to use my Hebrew names except for being called for Aliyah. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/25 "2019-06-11T13:26:33Z")
So far as I know, historically there was no endonym for “Hindu,” so I don’t think “Hindu,” meaning an adherent of the Hindu religion, is a very common name for a Hindu. Hindus have no problems using names of deities as personal names though. Many Hindus have names that are the main name or an alternate name for a deity. Some common god names—Dev (“god”), Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Parvati, Durga, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Ishwar (“god”), Saraswati, Lakshmi, Varuna, Indra, Rudra, Bhagavan (“god”), Brahma Very commonly these names appear in compounds — Indranil, Buddhadev, Debabrata, etc. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/26 "2019-06-11T13:42:51Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Bingo, although both in English and French it would normally be spelled Emmanuelle. I’ve never met an Emmanuelle (I would think the association with softcore porn would limit it somewhat nowadays anyway) and I know lots of Emmas, both adults and kids (it seems to be in vogue again - My daughter was one of 5 in a class, at one stage) - for _all_ of them, it’s their full name. Ditto all the famous Emmas I can think of - Watson, Thompson, Bunton, Roberts… All the Emmanuelles I can think of are French actresses. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/27 "2019-06-11T21:34:58Z")
My step-father-in-law was named Israel, but that is not comparable to Christian, although Judah is. And neither is Mohammed, although Islam is. My niece whose mother (my sister) is Jewish and father Catholic (both non-practicing) shocked the family by naming her first-born Christian. And they don’t shorten it to Chris. I still have a problem getting my mind around that. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/28 "2019-06-11T22:19:32Z")
Tangentially related, I see that Kim Cardasian and Kanye West have named their latest child “Psalm.” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/29 "2019-06-11T22:50:15Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Bingo, although both in English and French it would normally be spelled Emmanuelle. “On this farm there lived a dog, and Bingo was his name-o, E-M-M-A-N…” Nah, I don’t think it’ll catch on. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/30 "2019-06-12T06:32:01Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > My step-father-in-law was named Israel, but that is not comparable to Christian, although Judah is. I disagree. Open any _siddur_, and you’ll find countless examples of prayers and passages featuring the word “Israel” as referring to the people, not the place, including the most important prayer of all, the \*Shema \*- “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” The name “Judah”, on the other hand, is not associated as closely to the Jewish people or faith. Mostly, it’s just a name. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/31 "2019-06-12T13:46:51Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > “On this farm there lived a dog, and Bingo was his name-o, E-M-M-A-N…” > > Nah, I don’t think it’ll catch on. Bingo Baggins was Bilbo’s uncle, though. Also, in the earliest drafts of LOTR, Bingo was the son of Bilbo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck. Later, he morphed into being Frodo, cousin of Bilbo instead. Of course this would be actually on topic in this thread only if there was a Vala named Bingo. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307/32 "2019-06-12T21:49:30Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > 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”. Christian isn’t a denomination. Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, those are denominations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-christians-name-their-kid-christian-or-the-local-equivalent-do-other-religions-do-this/835307.md?page=1)