The children of our friends are given Christian names. Some opt for very traditional über-Catholic or Orthodox names while others make relatively vanilla choices. None of them has (yet?) chosen to do their child the disservice of naming him something secular or bizarre.
It is always a shock (or has been so when I have seen it) to families when they realize they can't have their child Parker, Becket, Katlyn, or some other shoe-brand sounding appellation baptized using that name. Sometimes they fall back on the middle-name or if converts they will often (in our church at least) pick something like Athanasius, Dionysius, or Maximos. When did this all start? Is it a result of the Moonbeams, Stars, and Sunnys of the flower power people? Is it a result of the fashionable surname repurposing I see so much of? I don't know. I'd love to read a study or magazine article on it.
As we await our newest addition, we circle possible girl names (the boy name has been chosen) as we find them in a baby name book and read past others (while occasionally rolling our eyes). There is a certain joy mixed with anxiety about what our family will say if we choose something too outlandish, but the greater part is the happiness that we receive in all the rituals associated with a child's name. The silver cup from my uncle with the name engraved. The announcements sent to family and friends. His churching, baptizing, and chrismation with our parish family. The icon of his saint placed next to that of his brothers and sisters. I could go on... but the excitement grows for me just as the sadness remains at the thought of what some parents deprive their child of in their choice of name.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
What happened to the Christian name?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Completely with you on this. I noticed the other day that "Madison" is the most popular name for a girl in pretty much the entire South. Huh.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I have a four month old daughter now, we named her Lucy Clare. A good name, I think - moderate but rooted in some solid saints. Of course, if you want Eastern saints, it becomes a bit trickier...but I think a moderate approach is best.
I will add a question: do you think that, for some people, Athanasius and Maximos are the Orthodox (or Eastern Catholic) Parker and Madison?
Madison is extremely popular. Of the people I work with, two of them named their daughters Madison in the last 3 years and that group is rather small.
ReplyDeleteOn the matter of the Eastern Christian naming... not really. While for some they may simply sound good, I think for a lot of parents there is some liturgical material(a fondness for a troparion of a saint for example), Biblical, or religious text. So even if the reasoning behind the name is not all that profound, there is at least some measure of religious fervor involved.