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February 25[edit]

First names that are in the Bible[edit]

Why are some Bible names rarer as Gentile Anglophone first names than it seems like they should be? Lots of (Davids, Daves, Davies), much fewer Solomons; lots of (Daniels, Dans, Dannies), fewer (Zekes, Ezekiels); lots of Jonahs, much fewer of the rarest minor prophet; lots of (Tims, Timmies, Timothies), much fewer Tituses. Then there's some that were way less old-fashioned in the 19th century like Jebediah or Ichabod. Why are they old-timey but not John or Andrew? (Some of these aren't even well-known Bible characters. Maybe Ichabod was popularized by that NYC suburb headless ghost though?) Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 01:40, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Some are kind of disguised (James from Jacob etc). From the seventeenth century through the 19th century, some versions of English-speaking Protestantism promoted intensive Bible-reading, just as much of the Old Testament as of the New Testament. That was the context in which the title character in Silas Marner named the little girl "Hephzibah" (after his sister). Since the 1920s, while many Christians are still certainly devout, I don't think that people who are highly-familiar with the text of the Bible from long reading of all parts of it are as culturally influential as they were during the 19th century... AnonMoos (talk) 02:59, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Names of Christian saints (several Saint Johns, Saint Andrew, Saint Timothy, Saint Peter, Saint Paul, ...) named in the New Testament get a leg up, being popular also among Catholics, unlike many Old Testament names that were familiar to Bible-reading Protestants but not so much to Catholics. David is very prominent in the Bible, not only as the legendary king of Israel and the spunky hero kid who slew Goliath, but also by Jesus being said to be of the House of David. During the period when it was a tradition to name children after grandparents or other family members of older generations, the relative frequencies of these names were subject to random drift, so it is hard to attach significance to the ranking of the less common ones. --Lambiam 05:19, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

There are cycles in popularity as well. Seth and Caleb became popular again in the U.S. in the last three decades, after almost disappearing for most of the 20th century. Abraham used to be quite common but is now rare. And as mentioned above, there is a big difference between Catholics and others, as Catholics tended to prefer naming their children after saints, which excludes a lot of Old Testament names, which were in turn associated with either protestants or Jews. Xuxl (talk) 14:17, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

One fun one is the popularity of "Joshua". Until the late 1960s it was uncommon. 138 per million; rank 763. Then in the 70s and 80s it takes off; over 10,000 per million, rank 7. I found it personally annoying that my unusual name became commonplace. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 14:55, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I noticed that, Abraham is possibly my country's best and most popular leader (born 1809 elected 1860) but sounds old-timey or Jewish now. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 15:31, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

On the other hand, Abraham appears to be more common now than ever before, according to tools such as this which use Social Security data. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆𝄐𝄇} 15:39, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I guess the parents who want few schoolmates to share the name just jump on ones that get too rare (or invent a new one or spelling like Boston or Flyrence). If the other parent wants a traditional name or major Bible or Quran character then Abraham still works. And sometimes a name becomes super-popular for awhile like Michael/Mike. Maybe cause Jordan, Tyson and Michael Jackson? But not Elvis or Ringo. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 16:10, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

It appears that Michael was already near peak in 1970 when the Jackson 5 just started getting popular when Jordan was six and Tyson was three. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 16:27, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I know a 13 year-old called Micah, and there are a fair number of kids called Eli and Isaac now in England, that would have been unheard of a couple of decades ago (I suspect some US influence here). Meanwhile, some New Testament names like John, Mark and Paul have gone out of fashion. John used to be the most common boys' name in England, but allegedly fell out of favour after John Major's premiership. Alansplodge (talk) 18:51, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The 2004-19 New York football thrower was Eli & the 2006-8 NY basketball coach was Isaiah. The biggest star of NYC baseball and football right now are both Aarons. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 19:31, 25 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

However, I don't see Jehoshaphat making a comeback anytime soon, no matter how hard he jumps. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:43, 26 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Lots of cool unwieldy names in there that'll probably never get big. Like Mahershalalhashbaz and Nebuchadnezzar. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 15:02, 27 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You just need to be patient, like Job. Martinevans123 (talk) 15:12, 27 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]