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

We have a Joseph and only go to church on Christmas Eve. I don't think it's any more religious than other biblical names - Benjamin, Luke etc. which are commonly used. It's not like you're calling him Jesus!

Well it's atheist central where I am and we're overrun with Sams Joes etc. The association has completely disappeared.

Well for what it's worth OP, we are complete atheists but gave our son this lovely name. To me it's not the same as picking a name from a completely different culture (not that I'm criticising other people who choose to do that) - we live in a country with a Christian history and that has influenced many aspects of our cultural heritage, so it kind of belongs to all of us, regardless of our personal beliefs

no, I wouldn't assume you are religious. just as I wouldn't think that a Daniel or a Matthew is from a religious background either.

In the end, many names pop up in the Bible somewhere. you are overthinking things!

I am not religious to the point to where I intentionally avoided any name that was mentioned in the bible.

However, Joseph is a very common name and not one that I would necessarily associate with the bible (even though it obviously is). It's not like Noah or Moses.

I dont think of it as being religious at all tbh, I just think it's such a plain name.

I went to school with about 10 of them so just seems like a common/boring name tbh.

Not religious here and we have a Joseph.

I love the name, good luck with your choice.

My three sons all have biblical names-one is Joseph- and we're atheists! They are just great, solid, lovely names.

All my four have Biblical names because I like classic, timeless names with list of nick name options. We do go to church but it didn’t influence our kids names.

I should also add that my boys are Jude and Ezra, and we aren’t religious

Thanks all that's helpful! MollyYouInDangerGirl - I didn't actually ask for opinions on whether anyone liked the name or not, and given a few people on here have said they have used it, your comment seems slightly harsh.
We aren't sure yet what name we will go for, but I think it will stay on the list for now!

I think of it as a classic, biblical name & wouldn't assume that someone who used it was religious.

It's one of my sons' middle name, and I chose it specifically for its meaning. We are not religious at all.

I’m not religious and my son has a Biblical name. I wouldn’t assume a Joseph came from a religious family.

I wouldn't assume that a family with a Joseph was religious. It's a classic name.

I have a Joseph and I'm not vaguely religious. He's Joe most of the time. One of his sisters also has a biblical name (not Mary!) and no one has ever commented.

It's a name heavily associated with Christianity but it's obviously not uncommon for people who aren't Christians to have this name. Would it really matter if someone wondered if your son's a Christian at some point in his life?

My family are quite religious so I've grown up with religion & was a regular church goer as a child. The name doesn't immediately spark religious to me! It's a great name & I've never met a twatty Joseph!

GoldenEvilHoor I remember your username from other threads and I think your context is likely to be very different to OP’s. In most parts of the U.K. Joseph doesn’t necessarily imply that the family are religious. Joseph was VERY popular from the mid 90s to mid 2000s and has only fairly recently dipped.

more unusual biblical names I would assume you were religious
if you had called your son Jonah Noah Elijah or Aaron 40 years ago it would have seemed you were religious as they were not popular back then but Joseph David Peter Paul would not have fallen into that category

really all names that have been used for 100's if not 1000's of years either have religious or mythical roots or are the names of Royalty ie William Henry Edward Richard

Lots of biblical names are getting popular at the moment (Elijah, Noah etc) from a lot of people who are atheists so I wouldn't worry op!

No I know two Josephs in families that I’m pretty sure are atheist.

It’s very much a standard name now. Names that for me would be more likely to indicate Christian parents are things like Jonah, Elijah, Joel, Noah... but even then it’s not a given. It would more be the case that I wouldn’t be surprised if I found out they were religious.

Personally I think GoldenEvilHoor has an extreme (not meaning this disrespectfully) opinion to assume all people with those very common names are religious.

I am a Christian; my DS has a ‘common’ Bible derived name, my DD doesn’t at all. My DH and his Dsis have ‘common’ Biblical names but his parents are not in the least religious. And like I said, even if people had called their children those slightly more obviously religious names I listed, I still wouldn’t assume they were.

My son is Joseph (nn Joe) and we are not religious. He was the only Joseph at his (small) school. It is a lovely, strong, traditional name.

I would think redid Joseph and Mary but I'm catholic and it's by far the most common name at my kids school there are 7 in my sons preschool class!!

Every Joseph I know goes by Joe. And Joe doesn't sound religious at all.