religious names

[WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant]

Would you call a child God or jesus?

Lots of cultures do.

Jesus is common in spain/Portugal.

Lots of Indian cultures call boys Muhammad.

Never really seen it in England though.

[Footle]

Theo is common in the UK.

[squoosh]

I think most children get nicknamed 'Christ!' at some point. Usually when they've cut their own fringe or Sharpie-d their sibling's face.

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

No, but then I wouldn't personally choose an overtly religious name anyway. Although as an atheist they are just names in a book to me so I don't have any particular reason to choose or not choose them really. I've just tended to go for names that fit with our family background and culture.

I think Jesus is an okay name, God is maybe a bit on the short side and more of a nickname - Godfrey with God for short maybe?

[manicinsomniac]

I know Jesus is common in certain cultures but it's only ones who pronounce it Zhay-Zoos/Yay-Zoos I think. I don't why that makes a difference to me as they also call the son of God Zhay-zoo-Yay-zoos but it makes them seem like similar names in my head. I wouldn't use it.

I've never heard of a child called God.

Mohammed is different, I think. Mohammed was a human. It would be like a Christian calling their son Elijah. Muslims don't call their kids Allah (I don't think!)

[originalmavis]

I think naming your child after the Almighty is setting them up for failure really.

[EssentialHummus]

No - in (my bit of) Judaism you're not supposed to write or say God's proper name, so as a person's name it would be right out. I understand anecdotally that many Mohameds go by their second names given the popularity of "Mohamed".

[WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant]

Friend of a friend is jesus. Hay-zoose.

It seemed very strange to me. But very common to him and his family.

Jesus ito.
Hay-zoose eat-oh.
Little jesus.

One thing that confuses me a bit...
If Muhammad is such a common name, how can the whole class/playgroup/footie team all be 'god'

Now off to find out more about Muhammad I if he wasn't God.

Squoosh

[originalmavis]

He was a prophet, not god. Jesus was sin if God, not actually God. Never met a Budha.

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

Mohammad wasn't a god he was a very naughty boy a prophet. Apparently.

[BendydickCuminsnatch]

essential I have never heard of that! That's interesting. If no-ones allowed to read or say it, how does anyone know what God's real name is? (Genuine question)

[wigglesrock]

Well it's just like using Mary or Maria. I wish I had a penny for every girl I know with Mary somewhere in her name. My mum, me, two aunts, one of my daughters, lots of my cousins - we all possess the Mary moniker somewhere in our name.

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

essential I have never heard of that! That's interesting. If no-ones allowed to read or say it, how does anyone know what God's real name is?

He doesn't have a real name as he doesn't exist.

[Babettescat]

Allah is the Muslim God.
Mohammed is the Muslim Jesus

You're welcome op :)

[EssentialHummus]

If no-ones allowed to read or say it, how does anyone know what God's real name is?

The reform interpretation prohibits erasing or defacing a name of God (he/it has seven). Observant Jews avoid writing any name of God casually because of the risk that the written name might later be defaced or destroyed accidentally. Less religion folk will write G-d instead.

You can still write it in the Bible, sacred texts etc.

Speaking God's name (again, round my way) - would fall under blasphemy, so we don't do that either, but for a different reason.

[Babettescat]

God 's real name?

Whose God?

My Indian grandmas goddess is called Durga.

She got ten arms. Innit.

My British mum in laws God is called God.

He created us 6k years ago. Flick. Like that.

Tribesmen in Africa have a sun god.

He can kill.

What's god's real name? There isn't a real name. Cos there isn't a real God.

[Babettescat]

But I can't prove what I just said. So, I'm wrong :)

[Wabe]

I'm convinced, Babettescat.

Yes, Mohamed/Muhamad/other variants is like calling a child Moses/Elijah/other major prophet. He's not the Muslim equivalent of Jesus though, as Mohammed was human, and Jesus, for most (though not all) Christian denominations is the son of God and himself divine.

Buddha is more of a title - meaning something like 'Has Achieved Enlightenment'. The Buddha's name was Siddhartha Gautama.

I think other cultures' naming traditions can seem very odd from the outside. I think Jesus strikes many non-Spaniards/Latinos as a strange name because it's associated with swearing/blasphemy or with being in church. The only thing that strikes me as odd about the use of Mohammed as an ordinary boy's name is that when it's used of the prophet Mohammed by a lot of Muslims I know, they automatically follow it reverently with 'Peace Be Upon Him', so it's a bit of a clash for me to then hear five seconds later 'Mohammed! I told you to put your Lego away!'

But then I grew up around loads of girls called Dolores, and when you think about it, it's pretty odd to call a child after Our Lady of the Sorrows. (Or, to go back to Spanish naming traditions, Concepcion or Pilar, for that matter...)

[WordGetsAround]

Wabe Jesus was 100% human - that was the amazingness of it! He is also the Son of God and so is Divine too!

[MintCakeYum]

Jesus's name was actually Esau, which means hairy. Some say it's the original form of Joshua but that is up for debate.

The Christian God is called Jehovah, or so some believe.

[1horatio]

Many regularly used names are actually really religious. I'm thinking of names like Joseph, Hiram, Magdalena, Sarah, Elizabeth, Eve, Thomas, Matthew...

But I personally am not a fan of names with a very religious/pious meaning.

[SoThatHappened]

Muhammed is the name of the Muslim Prophet.

Jesus is the Christian Prophet.

You know they arent actually naming their child God if they use these names right?

[FrancisdeSales]

All my children's names are biblical or names of Catholic saints and that was a deliberate part of our naming process.

[UnmentionedElephantDildo]

"Mohammed is the Muslim Jesus"

No, Issa is the Muslim Jesus (he is also a major prophet in Islam).

[FrancisdeSales]

"So that happened" Christians believe Jesus is God, part of the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, not a prophet.

Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet and Muhammad was God's final prophet.