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What's in a name? (If you are atheist BUT your given name has religious meaning)

I am one of those free-thinking individuals christened as "Dominique" -- ah, how godly indeed.

I was baptized and confirmed at the age when I could not protest, hence am stuck with the name (for now).

I wonder if anyone of you share the same experience about having a "religious" name and if so, what do you think about it? Are you considering having it changed?

Come to think of it, there aren't many atheist names apart from the obvious (viz. Darwin)

Tags: name, naming

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Terence Meaden on November 28, 2008 at 3:16pm

My given name is Terence, thank goodness.

Terence (or rather Terentius) was a Roman poet.

My other name is George---again, nothing biblical about that.

I thank again my parents for sparing me thus, and, still more, for sparing me from the time-wasting world of religion in the years when I was a happy non-religious boy.

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Permalink Reply by Dominiq on November 28, 2008 at 3:39pm

Hello Terence. :-)

I agree that religion is indeed a huge waste of time, but some kids (poor them! poor me!) never had a choice.

I grew up in a R. Catholic family and got brain-washed at a very young age. Hence, I have a whole lifetime ahead of me to un-learn everything. It's a lot like going to a detox center. :-(

I just keep hoping that I don't slide back.

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Permalink Reply by River Otter on December 27, 2008 at 12:21pm

Don't keep hoping, keep "Critically Thinking."

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Permalink Reply by markystar on November 28, 2008 at 10:22pm

@dr. terence meaden,

the name terrence is interesting, because it is actually a roman clan name (similar to a family name). the family was of senatorial stock (as common citizens couldn't have a family names). but because publius terentius was the most famous of his family in the annals of history that he was just called "terentius." and thus the name because a first name in many western countries. your other name "george" is from greek Γεώργιος and means "farmer." there is a famous piece of classical latin poetry called "the georgics" about country life.

nice to put some of my classical education to use finally. lol.

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Permalink Reply by Dr. Terence Meaden on November 29, 2008 at 9:11am

.
Thanks Markystar. I appreciate the information you have provided.
Yes do put your classical education to use at all times. We can all benefit.

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Permalink Reply by Dominiq on November 29, 2008 at 9:49am

Yes thank you for the background information, classical education rocks! :-) It certainly sounds interesting, and am curious about how the female form of the name is derived. And while George = Georgia, is there a female equivalent for Terrence ( = Terentia?) ?

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Permalink Reply by markystar on November 30, 2008 at 2:33am

terentia would be the grammatically feminine form in latin, but it's a given name, not a clan name. (i just wikied that one tho... lol)

i'm just guessing but the italian female version would be probably be terenzia. i don't know if it's used.

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Permalink Reply by Dominiq on November 30, 2008 at 3:02am

Terenzia has a nice ring to it. I like it. Thanks for the info. :-)

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Permalink Reply by Orson_Zedd on November 28, 2008 at 4:26pm

I am not named Orson Zedd. This is the moniker I chose, for my own protection, and because I like it. Long answer short: Get a Psuedonym.

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Permalink Reply by Tedster on November 29, 2008 at 12:41am

My name, on my birth certificate is Theodore which ironically means gift of god. But my parents were never all that religious, they just liked the name. The name I believe is actually pre-christian.

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Permalink Reply by Chrys Stevenson on November 29, 2008 at 5:30am

My real name, which is not so different from my screen name, is religious, but I shortened it and change the spelling when I was a teenager, so it has less religious connotations now.

As for inappropriate names, I think you have to go a long way before you get a better one than the late Filipino Catholic clergyman, Cardinal Sin - born Jaime Lachica Sin.

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Permalink Reply by Dominiq on November 29, 2008 at 9:38am

Re: Cardinal Sin, would you believe he gave me my first communion? Ha ha ha. I shall find the photo and post that here, should be good for a few laughs. :-P

But really I think even though most people do not care about names, I am convinced that naming is powerful. As adults we now have the choice to rename ourselves, either legally or more conveniently to adopt pseudonyms online as Mr Zedd suggested (although that depends where you are, I suppose. In countries like mine I have yet to hear about petitioning for a given name-change to shed it's religious meaning, besides that legal course requires time, effort and money), but then in places where it matters, we sometimes get asked to explain about the meaning of our name.

A friend of mine went on a trip to Israel and got interrogated by the immigration staff about the meaning of his name. He didn't know what "Ruel" means. So he just shrugged it off and said "Ruel, it's just Ruel, I don't know what my parents were thinking" -- apparently the meaning of one's name is important in that place.