Biblical baby names set to make a comeback in 2014

cna ^ | January 8, 2014 | Hillary Senour

[NYer]

Baby by Amy Quinn (CC0 1.0).

Denver, Colo., Jan 8, 2014 / 04:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A baby name website has predicted that more parents will be choosing traditional Biblical names for their children this year, a trend that one expert says is a sign of people's renewed hope in their faith.

“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.

[NYer]

A reprieve from invented names, ping!

[cripplecreek]

I am John (Not Johnathan)

[oblomov]

Looking forward to seeing more children with names like Enos, Jehosaphat, Phineas, and Zipporah.

[LucianOfSamasota]

We were going to rename the President and first lady as ‘Ahab’ and ‘Jezebel’.

[Impala64ssa]

You mean Latifa, Shaneequa, Northwest, DeWan, DeotherWan are not in The Bible? Whoda thunk it?

[Salvation]

My grandchildren mostly have Biblical and other well known Catholic Names:

Marie
Hannah
Grace
David
Abigail Joy
Isaac David
Patrick
Stephanie (Stephen)

[cripplecreek]

My great grandmother was Zella.

[CatherineofAragon]

Lovely names.

[conservaterian]

I have demorat, commie neighbors with a son named Christian. They say it has nothing to do with religion but ancestors, since they are atheist.

[PowderMonkey]

As a kid, I hated my name. I never once, ever met any one else with my name. Playground taunts were constant. I would cringe whenever my mother stood on the porch, and screeched my name, telling me to come inside and wash up for supper. The neighborhood would suddenly erupt with every kid mimicking her call. To make it worse, I was a “junior.” My entire life, I only met one other that shared my name. It was a Basset hound. Perfect name for a Basset hound, come to think of it.

[Tennessee Nana]

among my ancestors I have several named John, Abraham, David, Peter, Sarah, Mary, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Anne (from Hannah), Martha, Madelaine,

I have at least one Timothy, Isaac, Simon, Jesse, James, Hannah,

Biblical names used to be used for most of the children in a family..

There was usually a Henry, Harold, William, too..

[oblomov]

Similarly, I had a great grandmother named Huldah.

[Klemper]

I knew a guy named PowderMonkey once, and I loved that guy! Now that I think about it, he had a son, named PowderMonkey Jr.!!!!! Small world.... small world.... =) My room-mate’s grandmother’s friend’s grocery bag boy, had a dog named PowderMonkey.... That was an awesome dog!

[Charles Henrickson]

When I was in seminary, and one of the guys was about to become a dad, we would joke that he should name the kid Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz ("Quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil"). Hey, it's a biblical name!

My daughter's name is Anna, a good biblical name.

[PowderMonkey]

LOL! Don’t tell me. Lemme’ guess... Was that dog a Basset?

[Impala64ssa]

I would tell my lovely daughter if she ever married a guy named Ford, Dodge, Benz, Bentley or Ferrari, please DON’T name her daughter Lisa. She will grow up to hate her for it ;)

[aubreys_mom]

My first grandchild (due in June) is Adah. We haven’t decided on a middle name yet. Any suggestions? We are so excited!

[Salvation]

Anne is the mother of Mary too.

[Cloverfarm]

Many moons ago when I was a news reporter, made-up kids names almost made me tear my hair out. The icing on the cake was a gal who ranted and raved that her daughter was named Mar`e (Muh-RAY) but it came out “mare” in our typeface. We didn’t have a French accent mark, sorry.

Anyway, when OUR kids came along we gave them traditionlly spelled Biblical names b/c if dyslexic DH got stumped filling out paper work, he could look them up.