www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Non Christian Names

True, the Bible has little or nothing to do with Arabic. But there are lots of Saints in the Bible, mentioned by name, and the Bible in Arabic (which exists) will provide the Arabic form of the names of these Saints.

Fr. Serge

I was right! It seems that the Slavs and the Greeks think the same way in the U.S.!

I found it curious when I first realized that, for the English, (as in Anglo-Saxon English, because so many of them are not these days) the name 'Basil'-(pronounced BAAzil in British English rather than BAYsil as in American English!) was perfectly acceptable there and a popular name to boot.

Does anyone remember John Cleese's character in the British sitcom named Fawlty Towers ?!?

Alice

Dear Father,

True, and yet we miss the point. My identity as a person and a Christian is also influenced by my ethnic background. Naming my Children with names that have nothing to do with their cultural background is a statement by itself. Whether I like it or not, I am a Christian who is also an Arab whose family have lived in the Holy Land for centuries - and I would like to think (and it is most probable) that my people were amongst the first who accepted Christ and His Teaching.

Taking a foreign name and inserting it into my Child's identity is harmful. For me, to be proud of my Cross I need to be also proud of my roots. Christians of the Holy Land are leaving this land because they feel they don't belong here anymore - and it is much easier to accept a "Mike" in Sydney Australia than to accept it in Bethlehem Holy Land.

Another point is that I want to produce more Arab saints, isn't it weird that most saints are non-middle eastern while we were the ones who first carried out the Word?

Maybe my son will be considered in a few hundred years a saint, I want the church to know then that once the Holy Land was full of "them good old forgotten Christians" - and they even were "in the league of Saints" - no one will notice unless my son would go by a native name!

A'abd el Masih Badran (Servant of Christ - Badran is my family Name) sounds good, no?

So does "O'".

I just forget which prefix indicated legitimate, and which illegitimate . . .

hawk

Would a Baptismal name be like that a child takes upon confirmation in the west? I agree I don't like these non Christian/traditional names one bit, but thank the Lord my parents named me David.

"O" also indicates that the person so named is male. The female form is "Ni".

Fr. Serge

Altar Server

For most of us our Baptismal name is the name we were given at Birth and then it was used by the Priest when he baptised us .

The old, and no longer pc name , for this , was your Christian name

However at Baptism of a convert to Orthodoxy in adulthood he /she is often given a new name - a Baptismal name because that person's civil name may not be that of a Saint - or indeed may not even be Christian.

This Baptismal Name is that which is used by your Priest [ in the East ] when he gives you Communion .

Don't forget that in the East all the Sacraments of Initiation are given at Baptism - adult and child.

So an Orthodox person's patron saint would just be the saint after who they were named after, right? Unlike for Roman Catholics, whose patron saints are of their own choosing for their Confirmation name.

Alexis

Correct! Your baptismal name is given by your parents at your baptism (traditionally, the godparents gave it, though no one really does that today, and could give whatever name they chose--much like how monastics are given names by those who tonsure them--) and that is your Christian name, whether or not you use it. However, it is the name that one should use when receiving Holy communion.

In the Greek culture, one is traditionally named after one's grandparents--the paternal ones go first...Most names are saint's names, so there is no difference between birth name and baptismal name.

In this country, one can be given any name for their birth certificate, and a different or complimentary name for their baptism...such was the case with me..it also didn't hurt that my baptismal name was my paternal grandmother's name, according to Greek tradition...that way everyone was happy!

In Christ,
Alice

Dear Friends,

The old way is to have the Christian name, then the patronym and then the surname (as is the case in Celtic tradition).

One may be named after any saint within the period of forty days that fall after a boy's birth and 80 days that fall after a girl's birth - by tradition.

Another tradition was to cut a board the length of a baby after birth and then write/paint the icon of the patron saint on that board ("taking the full measure").

Pious Orthodox Christians I know take their Namesday off from work, attend the Divine Liturgy and spend the day in prayer - they have a party afterwards and the celebrant is placed on a chair in the centre of the icon corner during the singing of "Many Years."

Also, it is traditional in Eastern Orthodox monasticism for a new tonsured candidate to receive another name that begins with the same first letter of his or her baptismal name.

Alex

I think Eli means that there are not many saints' names in Arabic that are still used today. Using one of them, would then mark you as foreign, not belonging (as Eli explains), and also mark you for significant discrimination.

In Egypt, for example, it is next to impossible to find a job, if you have a Christian or foreign name.

However, only the other day (15 November), we celebrated the feast of a saint, whose name is genuinely Arabic in origin: Habib 'Beloved'. It is the title we give to St John the Evangelist.

ALEXIS:

I was taught that my patron saints were both of the saints whose names I bear. My confirmation name added a third. And the saints on the calendar added a couple more.

So I have St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Eugene of Carthage, St. Francis of Assisi, and add Sts. Cyril and Athanasius of Alexandria from the calendar. And as far as needing a Heavenly patron, I'll take all I can get.

BOB

My patron saint is Alexis the Man-of-God, although my given name is Samuel. I've never really considered the Prophet Samuel to be my patron saint, but I guess I could...?

Alexis

Dear Alex,
If I may add to what you said - the length of the child and his/her head circumference - this how I was taught and have done,in this way you get the measurements for a rectangular icon. I did it this method at least 4 times and after blessing the icon was hung over the child's bed with a light (lampada) in front of it.
The only thing about it is that the icons tend to be rather large and therefore the cost can be a little steep. But then that is one of the reasons we have Godparents, no? LOL!

In Christ,
Nino

Eli,

I found a source for Arabic names and these are the Arabic names that are common with our Saints' Names:

Adara (for the Theotokos?)
Amber (my wife's name!)
Fatima (again for Our Lady, not originally of course)
Iman
Maryam
Tahirah (for Our Lady, again?)
Wardah


Basil
Haroun
Ibrahim
Jibril
Malik (could be after King David if you want)
Najjar (after St. Joseph?)
Sulaiman
Ya'qub
Yusef
Yushua (like the Hispanic name Jesus)

http://www.ummah.net/family/masc.html

Butrus, Dawud, and the like might be a little more tricky to pull off.

I am wondering if a name like Mas'ud which is the cognate of Bonaventura could be considered a Saint's name.