To think that Americans have weird first name preferences!

[Lycidas]

Why do so of their popular first names sound like surnames?

Chace
Trace
Brock
Blake
Penn
Tucker
McKenna

Etc

Of course there are the usual standard names too, but it’s odd that you just don’t see the above kinds of names in the UK.

**Loveislandaddict

Brick is another American name us Brits probably wouldn’t used (and made famous as a name in Outnumbered),**

I'd forgotten about Brick in Outnumbered (my children's friends fondly call our family the Outnumbered family lol) we go with Brick from US The Middle... Very like Outnumbered if you have never seen it.. x

Um, neither David nor Adam is a Christian name. I mean, Christians use them, but neither David nor Adam was a Christian.

elp30 most of those names are Biblical or the names of Christian saints, or they reference God via Latin to Spanish.

Laura, Oscar, Yvette, Dante, Hortencia, Carmen, and Librado are the only ones outside of these categories.

Nancydrawn the Old Testament is considered part of the word of God so part of what many Christians (including RCs, Lutherans, Church of England and its offshoots) incorporate into their canon.

There may be Christian denominations that eschew the Old Testament and only use the NT.

But the category 'Christian names' includes OT names for millions of Christians.

The name Brick -
www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/boy/brick

It has never cracked the top 1000. I would venture to say it has never cracked the top 5000. I am baffled by all the references to it.

The name Scooter -
www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4939391

It can be used as a nn for Scott too

@ZoeWashburne
Well said - what gives people the right to criticize the names people choose for their children. They can think what they like, but keep it to themselves.

@Wholewheelofbrie why would I be on the wrong forum?

It doesn't surprise me the names are different, as America is a different country. Bill Bryson wrote a good chunk in one of his books about the divergence between English and American.

Nancy, there are many names that are shared across Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Laura, Oscar, Yvette, Dante, Hortencia, Carmen, and Librado are the only ones outside of these categories.

Oscar is now a Christian saint’s name, since Archbishop Oscar Romero, of El Salvador, who was assassinated at his altar in 1980, was canonised in October 2015 by Pope Francis.

Never trust anyone who has a surname as a first name.

What are Christian names, like from the New Testament?

The name of a biblical character or other saint.

Practising Christian here!

A Christian name is just a name you've been baptised with - your name in Christ (answer's in the question, as my old teacher used to say).

It need not be Biblical, nor a saint's name. A lot of people in the UK don't have Christian names these days because they aren't baptised - some aren't Christian, others have parents who chose not to baptise them, and never had it done themselves. That's why forms tend to have a space for "Forename" rather than "Christian name" these days.

At one time almost everyone in the country was baptised, but the proliferation of other religions and of agnosticism and atheism means that this is no longer the case. So in order to be inclusive, we are usually asked for forenames, because pretty much everybody has one of those. (Except The Artist Formerly Known As Prince)

if I was to have any more was Addison for either a boy or girl

Presumably (hopefully) your surname isn't Lee?!

The church has advocated throughout the ages for Christian names to be Saint and biblical names. It has never been entirely successful, but that is what it advocates.

I understand that in the US many people don’t belong to denominations that don’t baptise babies, but I still find it interesting that so many US Christians from very religious families have names that are not Christian.

There were too many don’ts in that last paragraph. I meant many Americans belong to churches that don’t baptise babies!

I know a Brock

@CoastalWave so do I, I don't know his family but his job is far from pretentious. Actually I like the name.

I know they're shared, and it's really not a hill I want to die on, though it did rather take me aback. I'm not sure most would call Baruch or Manashe or Shlumiel Christian names, though they're certainly OT--though it's not like many Jewish babies are called Shlumiel anymore, lest it be pronounced Schlemiel (perhaps a niche joke).

Perhaps we can all settle on Biblical names as a happy medium, particularly as Christian name (as in name of a Christian) and Christian name (as in baptized name) are confusable.

Also, this is a thread to make fun of dumb American names, and as a part-American myself, I can tell you that there are plenty of dumb American names, across every region, race, class, and ethnicity. Personally, I am particularly fond of making fun of dumb hipster names from the mid 2010s (e.g. Arrow, Gulliver, and Briseida).

But isn't it wonderful to be in a country where you can name your kids that and breathe easily rather than worrying terribly much about it? There is joy in not giving a shit about tradition, just as there is joy in tradition itself.

Taylor

urghgr

but I still find it interesting that so many US Christians from very religious families have names that are not Christian.

I'm an American Anglican. Neither of my kids was named for an apostle, saint or other biblical figure. DS was name after his paternal grandfather, who died young and who he never met. DD was given a traditional Irish name that I've always liked.

I guess we don't think about names as a branding tool to denote religious background.

but I still find it interesting that so many US Christians from very religious families have names that are not Christian.

Neither William nor Henry is a Christian name, and one of them is going to be the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

In other news, I have always been amused by the popularity of Madison post-Splash.

I still find it interesting that so many US Christians from very religious families have names that are not Christian

DH's father was a lay preacher. They named DH after one of their best friends. I guess they didn't feel like he needed a Christian name (whatever that actually is) to be a Christian - instead they took him to church every Sunday and sent him to a school that required him to go to chapel every day.

And BTW he is now a total non-believer.

Both Henry and William are Saint’s names.

‘There is joy in not giving a shit about tradition, just as there is joy in tradition itself.‘

That is a great sentiment!

You're absolutely right, and point retracted.

St Henry the Exuberant! What a fantastic name.

If we want to go full evangelical, I think we should take 17th c Puritan names as guides. If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned has a lovely ring to it. Fly-fornication also a favorite.

Fly-fornication Jones. Love it.