How were you named?
May 13, 2009 (Wednesday)
Many people name their children after people in the Bible. Some of the favorite Bible names seem to be Aaron, David, Jacob, Joshua and Nathan, and for the girls, people seem to prefer Rachel, Rebecca, Tabitha, Candace and Jada. There are, however, over 2000 names in the Bible. Some of them are never used today. You will probably not receive a birth announcement this year for Addrammelech Jones, Hassophereth Smith, Hadadezer Brown, or Potiphera Green.
Names seem to run in cycles. You can hear a name from American history, and can make a fairly accurate guess about the years that person lived.
Many German families gave all their sons the same first name (a spiritual name, the name of a saint), likewise naming their daughters the same way. The second name was the secular name, and the name used to address the person. The second name was chosen according to whatever custom that particular family was bound by family custom to use. One such naming pattern:
1st son after the father’s father
2nd son after the mother’s father
3rd son after the father
4th son after the father’s father’s father
5th son after the mother’s father’s father
6th son after the father’s mother’s father
7th son after the mother’s mother’s father
Other naming patterns were followed by different family lines.
Long ago, Shakespeare put the question, “What’s in a name?” into the mouth of one of his characters. Good question, I suppose.