Why are some Biblical names widely popular whilst others are rarely used?

[DreamBeloe]

DH and I are leaning toward the name Abel for our baby, and some family members have been surprised by our choice. This made me start thinking about how certain Biblical names are disproportionately used more than others (in the UK). Some names also seem to generally be limited to Jewish communities or very insular Christian sects because the broader public does not use them. For example, John, Joseph, Ezra, and Noah are infinitely more popular than Moses, Ezekiel, Abel, and Micah. For the girls, Hadassah, Keziah, and Miriam are rarely used in comparison to Naomi, Eve, and Lydia. (It was harder to think of examples for girls, but they are there!) I understand that certain Biblical names are just too unusual to be used or have a negative association, but I'm referring to names that aren't too bizarre and have at least a somewhat positive or neutral association. I think a lot of these names (Moses, Abel, Micah, Keziah, etc.) have the potential to be popular but just aren't for some reason. Why is this?

I loved Tamar too but her story is a bit depressing. plus we live close to the River Tamar and my husband thought it was a bit twee.

Abel - makes me think of Abel Magwitch... And I was terrified of him ss a child.

Kesiah is a girls name. It was briefly popularised by the BBC dramatisation Kizzy in the 70s/80s and is often spelled 'Kasia' pronounced Kay see ah

My little Lucifer gets shortened to Lucie. I love it but my in laws were really odd about it. :(

I like Moses and Abel. Love Miriam, my Mum said it was too Jewish when i told her. She said the same about Saul. I hate Keziah. Its hard to say why some names have stood the test of time and some haven't. Maybe they will come back around like some names do. The baby in Son's of Anarchy was called Abel so that maybe due a comeback.

I am surprised that a lot of the names listed are considered very rare. I have known and know a few Moses, a couple of Keziahs, Micah’s and a few Miriam’s as well as Ezra’s and an Ezekiel

Slight tangent, but my mother-in-law had a lovely story about visiting a family as a health visitor and finding that they had four boys called Matthew, Mark, Luke and William. They were genuinely confused as to why she was surprised 🤣

The name was Keziah. Kasia is 'Kasha'.

I knew a Spanish boy called Moises and thought it was brilliant.
I also have a Jesus in my phone contacts. Love telling my vicar that. Hey Rev - do you have Jesus on speed dial? I do 🤣

Lots of Jesuses in Spanish-speaking countries.

I agree it’s mostly fashion switching about between the New and Old Testaments, and certainly some names not having particularly Biblical connotations. I know a Phineas, an Ezekiel known as Zeke, a Thaddeus, two Moses, several Ezras, several Tabithas , several Judiths, Marthas . And when I was at school (70s and 80s), the place was stuffed with kids called Mary, Maria, Miriam, Ruth, Elizabeth, John, Peter, Luke, Mark, James, etc.

She didn't say it was harder to find girls' names in the Bible.
She said it was harder to find examples of the rarer ones for girls than it was for boys.

I know a young Abel, but it's not that popular.

The Bible contains a total of 1,941 distinct personal names, of which 1,838 (about 95%) are male and 103 (about 5%) are female

Really

In Poland

I love Abel

I have known a few Miriams. In face my daughter's bestie is Miriam (age 12).

She also has a friend at nursery called Tziporah which I think is a fabulous name. Tziporah was the wife of Moses. I've never met another one though.

Love Abel.

I think the sound of the name is a factor. Isaac is far more prevalent in our society than Isaiah, even though from a Biblical POV Isaac has a darker association. The 'iah' at the end of some names tends to give it an instant Biblical, Old Testement feel - Jeremiah, Zechariah etc

Names like Caleb, Jacob, Luke, Samuel, Nathaniel fit into our language conventions with more ease than Ishmael, Naphtali and Shadrach. I think lots of people using a Biblical name like the name, rather than referencing the Bible (which is still lovely).

We are in a large Christian community and there are: Jacob, Lydia, Samuel, Joshua, Reuben, Titus, Josiah, Levi, Daniel, Rebecca, Abel, Miriam, Elijah, Esther, Joseph and lots of Calebs.

I have taught many of the more unusual names on here. I particularly loved the names Boaz, Adah and Hezekiah (but that may be because of a soft spot for the kids themselves!)

Abel is lovely. I think in part it is the cycle of name trends, Ezra and Noah would have been very "out there" when I was a child. Mathew, Mark, John, Stephen, Michael, Timothy were your standard 1970s boys names all of which now sound a bit dated.

My husband wanted to name our dd Dorcas ( a Bible name) Of course I vetoed the name.
I feared that she would be called dork at school

I hope you’re watching The Pitt now. I’m enjoying Noah Wyle for a second time.

i know a few Noah’s in their early 20s so it must’ve come in to fashion in the early 2000s.

My DS has a common biblical name which is timeless!

Tzipora is fairly common in religious Jewish circles!

Two of my nephews are named Abel. I'd say it's very popular, but I see your point for Moses and Ezekiel. Though they too will come back into fashion soon as well. It's cyclical. We also have a little Gideon, a Tobias and a baby Silas in the family.

People often like to choose names that are already known wihin their family so it takes a while for new names to become favourites.

OP are you including the Islamic versions?

Yusef rather than Joseph and Isa rather than Jesus?

There's a thing, we don't use Jesus as given name in the UK but it is used in South America.