Posted on 01/08/2014 3:26:57 PM PST by NYer
“Biblical names surging back into our culture is a great turn for the better. After many years, it shows that people are feeling stronger about their faith, and that they have hope once again,” Lucie Wisco, editor of social baby naming website Belly Ballot, told CNA.
The site is set up so that anyone with internet access can share the choices for their soon-to-be-born baby with friends and family via social media. Friends and family then vote on their favorites and when the voting is done the parents have a “winner,” which can help them make a final decision.
Based on the data gathered from some 3,500 parents, along with 25,000 votes of their families and friends who use the website, Belly Ballot is predicting that Biblical names will be more popular in 2014 than they have been in recent years.
Wisco said the reason this is happening “is actually quite simple.”
Over the past few years, she said, parents have been “experimenting” with baby names by “inventing names” and using “bizarre spellings.”
The return to Biblical names shows a desire to “go back to original values and traditions to find the comfort and peace once again.”
While names such as Noah, Ethan, Michael and Abigail continue to appear on the Social Security Administration's top 10 most popular names, parents are now being drawn to less frequently used names from the Bible such as Naomi, Caleb, Judith or Levi.
Wisco even attributed this new trend to Pope Francis' election last March, saying that naming children after Biblical characters is a way for parents to “honor” the new Holy Father.
“Pope Francis is focusing more on the need for humility, mercy and compassion, and thus bringing ordinary people much closer to the Church again,” she said.
Data from the site also shows that names ending in –den, such as Brayden or Jayden, are fading in popularity, as are names featuring the letter “x,” such as Axl or Xander.
Better to rename her Balaam and that would make Obozo....
Right up there with Onan.
It’s a “T”.
Grandchildren
Hillary (prior to Clinton)
Savannah
Katelynn
Kyle
Evan
Felicity
I will confess to having named my 52 yo daughter Kenya. Who was to know all those years ago?
Thank you! I just can’t wait for her to get here!
Saw a black girl with a fast food nametag...Toi`let. She was on cellphone pronouncing it Twa Lay!
Congrats! We wanted a girl. My daughter is the sweetest and she is going to be a fantastic mom. Daddy is already planning for college :).
How someone could saddle their child with a name like that...wow.
Two of my friends from school were Gabriel and Paul. And ironically, my own first and middle names are saints’ names, even though my parents aren’t Christians.
I've found that people named "Christian" seem to be anything but --same with girls named "Chastity".
I see no reason to insult Ahab and Jezebel, by bringing them down to the level of the Obungler. (smile)
No doubt named for where she was conceived.
How about Philemon?
My kids names are John and Joseph. John was going to be Mary had he been a girl. My last 3 grandchildren, born in the last 6 months, are Jaxon, Aria, and Adelynn. It will be hard to find pencils at the Family Dollar with their names already printed on them for stocking stuffers for Christmas.
I have a friend who she and her daughters named their dogs with car names: Mercedes, Benz, Bentley.
Debbie was another name popular in the 50s, because of Debbie Reynolds I guess.
I don't believe you...No one would name a dog PowderMonkey...
My poor sister, born in 1949, was named Gay. How was my mother to know how the meaning of that word would so drastically change? She can’t even wear a T-Shirt with her name on it.
Another name that became popular because of a song is Brandy, (sometimes spelled Brandi). That name didn’t exist as a name before the song Brandy came out in the early 70s.
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