Christian name: Difference between revisions

A '''Christian name''', sometimes referred to as a '''baptismal name''', is a [[religious name|religious]] personal [[personal name|name]] historically given on the occasion of a Christian [[baptism]], though now most often assignedgiven by parents at birth.<ref>{{cite web | title=christian name | website=Dictionary.com Unabridged | accessdateaccess-date=August 7, 2017 | url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/christian-name}}</ref> In [[Anglosphere|English-speaking cultures]], a person's Christian name is commonly his or hertheir first name and is typically the name by which the person is primarily known.

Traditionally, a Christian name was given on the occasion of Christian [[baptism]], with the ubiquity of [[infant baptism]] in modern and medieval [[Christendom]]. In [[Elizabethan England]], as suggested by [[William Camden]], the term ''Christian name'' was not necessarily related to baptism, used merely in the sense of "given name": Christian names were imposed for the distinction of persons, surnames for the difference of families.<ref name="Thurston1913">{{Catholic Encyclopedia|last=Thurston|first=Herbert|inline=1|wstitle=Christian Names}}</ref> In more modern times, the terms have been used interchangeably with ''given name'', ''first name'' and ''forename'' in traditionally Christian countries, and are still common in day-to-day use.

In view of the [[Hebrew name|Hebrew practice]] of giving a name to the male child at the time of his [[circumcision]] on the eighth day after birth ([[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 1:59), it has been maintained that the custom of conferring a name upon the newly baptised was of [[ApostleApostles (Christian)in the New Testament|Apostolic]] origin. For instance, the apostle of the [[Gentile]]s was called Saul before his conversion and [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] afterwards. But modern scholars{{who|date=October 2015}} have rejected this contention, since the baptism of St. Paul is recorded in [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] 9:18, but the name Paul does not occur before Acts 13:9 while Saul is found several times in the interval. There is no more reason to connect the name Paul with the Apostle's baptism than there is to account in the same way for the giving of the name [[Saint Peter|Cephas]] or [[Saint Peter|Peter]], which is due to another cause{{which|date=October 2015}}. In the inscriptions of the [[Catacombs of Rome]] and in early Christian literature, the names of Christians in the first three centuries did not distinctively differ from the names of the pagans around them. A reference to the [[Pauline epistles|Epistles of St. Paul]] indicates that the names of pre-Christian gods and goddesses were used by his converts after their conversion as before. Hermes occurs in [[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]] 16:14, with a number of other purely pagan names, [[Epaphroditus]] in [[Epistle to the Philippians|Phil.]] 4:18, [[Phoebe (biblical figure)|Phoebe]], the deaconess, in Romans 16:1.<ref name="Thurston1913"/>

Though the recurrence of such names as Agnes, Balbina, Cornelius, Felicitas, Irenaeus, Justinus, etc. may be due to veneration for the martyrs who first used these names, the names of the [[New Testament]] are rarely found while those of the [[OldHebrew TestamentBible]] are more common. Susanna, Daniel, MoysesMoses, Tobias, occur frequently, but towards the end of the 4th century the name of the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Blessed Lady]] becomes as familiar as those of the Apostles. Paulus may be an intentional reference to St. Paul, and Johannes, Andreas, and Petrus with derivatives such as Petronia, Petrius, Petronilla, etc. may also refer to the Apostles. The name of Mary occurs occasionally in the catacomb inscriptions towards the end of the 4th century, for example, in the form ''LIVIA MARIA IN PACE'',<ref name="Thurston1913"/><ref>De Rossi, "Rom. Sot.", I, 143</ref> and there is a martyr Maria assigned to the date AD 256.<ref name="Thurston1913"/><ref>De Rossi, "Rom. Sot." III, 200 sqq. and compare other instances of the name, De Rossi, "Insc. Christ. I, 331; II, 160 and 173</ref>

In the Acts of St. Balsamus, who died AD 331, there is an early example of the connection between baptism and the giving of a name. "By my paternal name", this martyr is said to have declared, "I am called Balsamus, but by the spiritual name which I received in baptism, I am known as Peter." The assumption of a new name was fairly common amongst Christians. [[Eusebius]] the historian took the name Pamphili from [[Pamphilus of Caesarea|Pamphilus]], the martyr whom he especially venerated. Earlier still [[Cyprian|St. Cyprian]] chose to be called Cyprianus Caecilius out of gratitude to the Caecilius to whom he owed his conversion. [[Pope Dionysius of Alexandria|St. Dionysius of Alexandria]] (c. 260) declared, "I am of opinion that there were many of the same name as the [[John the Apostle|Apostle John]], who on account of their love for him, and because they admired and emulated him, and desired to be loved by the Lord as he was, took to themselves the same name, just as many of the children of the faithful are called Paul or Peter."<ref>Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl.", VII, xxv</ref><ref name="Thurston1913"/>

They were not observed during the early or the later [[Middle Ages]]. In extensive lists of medieval names, such as those found in the indexes of legal proceedings which have been edited in modern times, while ordinary names without religious associations, such as William, Robert, Roger, Geoffrey, Hugh, etc. are common (William aboutaround the year 1200, William was by far the most common Christian name in England), there are also a number of exceptional names which have apparently no religious associations at all. These include Ademar, Ailma, Ailward, Albreza, Alditha, Almaury, Ascelina, Avice, Aystorius (these come from the lists of those cured at the shrine of [[Thomas Becket|St. Thomas of Canterbury]]). A rubric in the official "[[Rituale Romanum]]" mandates that the priest ought to see that names of deities or of godless pagans are not given in baptism (''curet ne obscoena, fabulosa aut ridicula vel inanium deorum vel impiorum ethnicorum hominum nomina imponantur'').<ref name="Thurston1913"/>

In the registers of [[Oxford University]] from 1560 to 1621, the more common names used by the students in order of popularity were: John, 3826; Thomas, 2777; William, 2546; Richard, 1691; Robert, 1222; Edward, 957; Henry, 908; George, 647; Francis, 447; James, 424; Nicholas, 326; Edmund, 298.<ref name="Thurston1913"/><ref>see Oxford Hist. Soc. Transactions, XIV</ref> In Italy and Spain it has always been common practice to call a child after the saint upon whose feast hethey isare born.<ref name="Thurston1913"/>

At [[confirmation]], in which the interposition of a [[godparent|godfather]] emphasizes the resemblance with baptism, it has been customary to take a new name, but usually, use is made of it is infrequent. In the case of [[Henry III of France|Henry III]], King of France, godson of the English [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] had been christened Edouard Alexandre in 1551, the same French prince at confirmation received the name of Henri, and subsequently reigned under this name.<ref name="Thurston1913"/>

* [[PapalNaming nameceremony]]

* [[ReligiousPapal name]]

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