Names that appeared out of the Testaments

April 1st, 2011 |

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In all European linguas, the set of given names in everyday life is remarkably small. In states where there is an established Christian Church, the choice of names from which a name may be selected is generally ruled by the Church or by a religious authority working within a Christian cultural pathway. These are names with some Biblical relation (i.e., a name that was developed by a figure mentioned in the New Testament, first saint, or a saint with a local belief). Many of them have experienced translate German into English in the past. The main generator for such forenames are the following:

• The Bible (New Testament): Forenames such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, or Mary have cognates in every European language, with various changed and hypocoristic ways, which have given rise to enormous thousands of patronymics. Mention should also be made here of the Spanish tradition of Marian names, according to which an attribute of the Virgin Mary can produce a female given name, despite the noun investigated is masculine in grammatical gender. These names among others: Pilar, Remedios, and Dolores.
• The Bible (Old Testament): Old Testament names are, naturally, of Israeli origin, and majority of them are used traditionally as Jewish names. In their vernacular western forms, names such as Job, Ezekiel, Ebenezer, Zillah, or Mehitabel have been used by Christian fundamentalists (Puritans, Dissenters) since the 16th century. There were developed language services already that times. These names are not used by mainstream groups such as Roman Catholics or High-Church Anglicans, excluding cases where an Old Testament name had also been borne by an early Christian saint (e.g., David, Daniel). Several Old Testament names, specifically female names, such as Deborah and Rebecca, have appeared extremely popular among Protestants, partly because the stock of New Testament women names is very small indeed.
• Early Biblical saints: Some saints’ names are very widespread (e.g., Anthony, Francis, Martin, Bernard) and are borne by Roman Catholics, Protestants, and agnostics alike. Differently, like Teresa, Dominic, Ignatius, and Aloysius, are borne generally or only by Roman Catholics. After Roman Catholics in mainland Europe, a traditional given name is regularly chosen in respect of a saint who is the master of the locality in which the infant is born. in other words, the Napolitano name Gennaro is associated chiefly with Naples, Italy, and its saint, San Gennaro, a priest murdered at Pozzuoli at times of persecution of Christians in 304 A.D. Leocadia is connected with Toledo, Spain and its patron saint, who was a virgin martyr who met a similar fate in or about the same year and in whose honor the male form Leocadio is also emerged.