Joseph - religious or not?

[Hobbes39]

I like the name Joseph for a wee boy, but my DH and I are not religious and DH thinks it's a nice name but too religious... do you immediately think of Joseph and Mary? Or technicolour dream coat?! Thanks x

Yes, I think of religion. In my family the eldest boy was always called Joseph and the girl Mary then lots of other biblical names like Samson, delilah, moses, etc.

I wouldn’t expect Joseph to be from a religious family, it’s a very normal name

No, I think it’s a name in its own right now

Well it is religious, in both the Mary and the dream cost sense, but so are lots of other names. It doesn't stop non religious people using them.
(Eg James, Adam, John, Abigail, Rachel....)

@RomanyQueen1 - oh wow! I take it your family were def religious!
I guess I know that Christian families will likely use names like Joseph, but what I wasn't sure is if people who aren't religious would automatically think we were if we called our wee boy that, or would religious people feel we were not 'allowed'...? (Hope that doesn't offend anyone)

No not at all - it's just a normal name!

Being religious is also normal. Joseph has always been popular with Catholics, but I really don't think people make that association any more than Benjamin would have to be Jewish.

To me it is Biblical, but not specifically religious.
By which I mean a nice old traditional name, old enough to have been used 2000 years ago. But not particularly full of religious connotations.
See also Mary, Rachael, Rebecca, Samuel, David, Daniel.

Lovely classic name, and like many classic names it has biblical origins. I would never assume you were religious though, any more than if you used Thomas, James, John, Paul, Peter, David, Jacob, Aaron, Matthew, Luke, Mark, Joshua, Daniel, Samuel etc etc etc

It would never occur to me that a child named Joseph was any particular religion. My husband’s an atheist and we called our son Jonah. No one has ever asked about his religion though he did get a bit of ribbing when they did Jonah and the Whale story in RE.

Agree it’s not religious, any more than Rebecca, Joel, John, Aaron, Chloe, etc.

It’s true that it’s a bible name, but it’s also a name that’s been so widely used in England for centuries that I wouldn’t assume that the parents of a Joseph were religious at all.

No. Not at all.

@JumpingFrogs - that's how I feel - that it's not really any different to any of those other originally biblical names, but my DH is worried that more people will think more like @GoldenEvilHoor.
It's not that I mind if people think we are religious I guess I have always found it odd when people with no connection to another country choose a name associated with it (ie like someone with no connection to Germany calling their child Otto) so I worry i would be hypocritical in choosing a name that I have no connection to the origin of..?

@GoldenEvilHoor - why the others but not John? (Matthew Mark Luke and John...)

I think of joseph as being religious

I know several Josephs. All known as Joe, not religious at all.

It wouldn't even cross my mind that a family may be religious because they used the name Joseph. I would just assume they like the name joseph

Wouldn’t assume religious. It’s just a name

To me it's just a normal name the same a David, Daniel, Benjamin etc. Names such as Moses and Abraham seem religious to me but not Joseph.

It is religious but plenty of Joseph's aren't

I have known Josephs/ Joe's who are not from churchgoing families.

In the public eye I can think of Joe Sugg the YouTuber, footballer Joe Cole, actor Joseph Fiennes.

Up until recently Noah and Elijah seemed far more " biblical" to me.

Joseph is just traditional to my ear.