I've told you before that Wikpedia is evil, right? It keeps making me think...

[conuly]

Current thought: With all the names that pop up in the Bible, why are so many of them not common in English?

Comments

[lithiana.livejournal.com]

hmm.. but quite a few of them are, aren't they? i'd imagine a lot have mutated over time, too, even if they were originally biblical.

[conuly]

How do you mean "mutated over time"? Generally, I think that a Biblical name doesn't mutate in common usage while the name in the Bible stays static - at least, not so it's unrecognizable. We may name our children Marie sometimes instead of Mary, but we not only recognize it as a French name, we recognize it as a form of Mary.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Is Mary like that in the bible?

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/The-Virgin-Mary

[pne.livejournal.com]

Fashion, perhaps?

I've got the impression that, say, 150 years ago, Biblical names were more common, or rather, the diversity of Biblical names was greater; there aren't a whole lot of people these days called Hephzibah, for example.

So part of it is changed naming conventions; another is undoubtedly decreased familiarity with the Bible among the general populace, which is kind of necessary to know about the more 'obscure' names.

[mintogrubb.livejournal.com]

I suppose its because Belialbethingibob does not roll off the tongue like Mark or Luke does. Ok, I made that one up, but from Bible readings I did at school, I recall coming across some real tiongue twisters.

The overtly biblical names may decline as Secular humanism takes over, but there are plenty of secular heroes that will inspire people to name thier kids Peter, Paul and Mary :)

[lithiana.livejournal.com]

hmm.. but quite a few of them are, aren't they? i'd imagine a lot have mutated over time, too, even if they were originally biblical.

[conuly]

How do you mean "mutated over time"? Generally, I think that a Biblical name doesn't mutate in common usage while the name in the Bible stays static - at least, not so it's unrecognizable. We may name our children Marie sometimes instead of Mary, but we not only recognize it as a French name, we recognize it as a form of Mary.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

Is Mary like that in the bible?

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/The-Virgin-Mary

[pne.livejournal.com]

Fashion, perhaps?

I've got the impression that, say, 150 years ago, Biblical names were more common, or rather, the diversity of Biblical names was greater; there aren't a whole lot of people these days called Hephzibah, for example.

So part of it is changed naming conventions; another is undoubtedly decreased familiarity with the Bible among the general populace, which is kind of necessary to know about the more 'obscure' names.

[mintogrubb.livejournal.com]

I suppose its because Belialbethingibob does not roll off the tongue like Mark or Luke does. Ok, I made that one up, but from Bible readings I did at school, I recall coming across some real tiongue twisters.

The overtly biblical names may decline as Secular humanism takes over, but there are plenty of secular heroes that will inspire people to name thier kids Peter, Paul and Mary :)