I was actually trying to steer the discussion AWAY from making fun of people’s names.
Seriously, I don’t like my own first name, and it is NOT a Biblical, “Christian” name, and I actually would change it, if it made practical sense.
But the Pope is wrong. The Bible does not have a record of people changing their names from a pagan first name to a “Christian” first name.
The great evangelist “Apollo” comes to mind....
.... Not as in “Apollo Creed”, but I must say, but Apollo Creed is a very cool name, even from a Bible point of view.
Of course not. The vast majority of the Bible isn't specifically Christian (it's Jewish), and the specifically Christian part doesn't address the origin of folks' names. The specifically Jewish part does frequently address the origin of personal names. Names are significant, names are frequently of specifically Godly meaning, and on a few occasions God Himself changes someone's name, to indicate a changed status of that person.
The sort of names parents choose to give their children tells something about those parents' priorities.
How about Chrysogonus? Or Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Cyrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damien? How about Melchizedek? How about Scholastica for girls? There are so many good names.
No record?
4 times God has renamed someone in the bible.
Abram -> Abraham
Simon -> Peter
Sarai -> Sarah
Jacob -> Israel
It’s not about making fun of other people’s name, but emphasizing what their name is for. Names are important. Some parents understand this, others do not.