Christian Names
"Christian names", says the Elizabethan antiquary, Camden, "were
imposed for the distinction of persons, surnames for the
difference of families." It would seem from this that, even in the
sixteenth century, the etymological and historical significance of
the phrase "Christian name" was growing dim, and it is commonly
quite forgotten in our own time. But, strictly speaking, the
"Christian name" is not merely the forename distinctive of the
individual member of a family, but the name given to him at his
"christening", i.e., his baptism. It should be remembered that, in
pre-Reformation England the laity were taught to administer
baptism in case of necessity with the words: "I christen thee in
the name of the Father" etc. To "christen" is therefore to
"baptize", and "Christian name" means baptismal name.
Origins
Some vague idea that nomina sunt omina (names are omens) seems to
be a sort of primitive human instinct. Thus throughout Old
Testament times the significance of names passed as an accepted
principle. They were usually given in reference either to some
trait in the child, actual or prophetic or to some feeling or hope
in the parent at the time of its birth. It was only a very slight
development of this idea to suppose that a change of condition
appropriately demanded a change of name. Thus the conversion of
Abram into Abraham (the "father of many nations" Gen., xvii, 5)
was imposed upon the occasion of the covenant of circumcision and
ratified a claim to God's special benediction. In view, then, of
this recognized congruity and of the Hebrew practice of giving a
name to the male child at the time of its circumcision on the
eighth day after birth (Luke, i, 59), it has been maintained that
the custom of conferring a name upon the newly baptised was of
Apostolic origin. An instance in point is declared to be found in
the case of the apostle of the Gentiles who before his conversion
was called Saul and afterwards Paul. But modern scholarship, and
with reason, has altogether rejected this contention. The baptism
of St. Paul is recorded in Acts, ix, I8, but the name Paul does
not occur before Acts, xiii, 9 while Saul is found several times
in the interval. We have no more reason to connect the name Paul
with the Apostle's baptism than we have to account in the same way
for the giving of the name Cephas or Peter, which we know to be
due to another cause. Moreover, it is certain, both from the
inscriptions of the catacombs and from early Christian literature,
that the names of Christians in the first three centuries did not
distinctively differ from the names of the pagans around them. A
reference to the Epistles of St. Paul makes it plain that even the
names of heathen gods and goddesses were borne by his converts
after their conversion as before. Hermes occurs in Rom., xvi, 14,
with a number of other purely pagan names, Epaphroditus in Phil.,
iv, l8, Phoebe, the deaconess, in Rom., xvi, 1. Not less
conclusive are the names which we find in the Christian
inscriptions of the earlier period or in the signatories appended
to such councils as Nicaea or Ancyra (see Turner, "Eccl. Occident.
Mon. Juris", I, 36-90; II, 50-53), or again in the lists of
martyrs. Even at a later date the names are of a most
miscellaneous character. The following classification is one that
has been worked out by J. Bass Mullinger founded on Martigny.
A. Names without Christian significance and probably derived from
pagan ancestors
This category may be divided as follows:
� Names derived unchanged or but slightly modified from pagan
mythology, e.g., Mercurius, Bacchus, Apollos (I Cor. xvi, 12),
Hermogenes (Rom., xvi, 4), etc.;
� from religious rites or omens, e.g., Augustus, Auspicius,
Augurius, Optatus;
� from numbers, e.g., Primus, Primigenius, Secundinus, Quartus,
Octavia, etc.;
� from colours, e.g., Albanus, Candidus, Rufus, etc.;
� from animals and birds, e.g., Agnes, Asellus, Columbia, Leo,
Taurus, Ursula, etc.;
� from agriculture, e.g., Agricia, Armentarius, Palmatinus,
Stereorius, etc.;
� from flowers, e.g., Balsamia, Flosculus, Narcissus, Rosula;
� from jewels, e.g., Chrysanthus, Margarites, Smaragdus;
� from military life or the sea, e.g., Emerentiana, Navigia,
Pelagia, Seutarius, Thalassus;
� from countries, cities, rivers etc.; Afra, Cydnus, Galla,
Jordanis, Macedonius, Maurus, Sabina, Sebastianus, etc.;
� from the months e.g., Aprilis, Januaria, Junia, etc.;
� from personal qualities, etc., e.g., Aristo, Hilarius,
Modestus, Pudens etc.;
� from servile condition, e.g., Servus, Servilianus, Vernacla;
� names of historical celebrity, e.g., Caesarius, Cornelia,
Pompeius, Ptolemaeus, Vergilius.
B. Names of Christian origin and significance
These include the following:
� Names apparently suggested by Christian dogmas e.g., Anastasia,
Athanasia, Christophorus, Redemptus, Restitutus, etc.;
� from festivals or rites, e.g., Epiphanius, Eulogia, Natalis,
Pascasia, Sabbatius and the frequently recurring Martyrius;
� from Christian virtues, e.g., Agape, Elpis, Fides, Irene, with
such derivatives as Adelphius, Agapetus, Caritosa, etc.;
� pious sentiment, e.g., Adeodata, Ambrosius, Benedictus,
Deogratias, etc., and possibly such names as Gaudentianus,
Hilarius, Sozomen, Victorianus, Vincentius, but it is very hard to
be sure that any distinctively Christian feeling is here latent.
On the other hand though the recurrence of such names as Agnes,
Balbina, Cornelius, Felicitas, Irenaeus, Justinus, etc. may very
probably be due to veneration for the martyrs who first bore these
names, it is rather curious that the names of the New Testament
are but rarely found while those of the Old Testament are hardly
less uncommon. Susanna, Daniel, Moyses, Tobias, occur pretty
frequently, but it is only towards the end of the fourth century
that we find the name of our Blessed Lady or become at all
familiar with those of the Apostles. Even then we cannot be sure
that in the case of Paulus in particular there is any intentional
reference to the Apostle of the Gentiles, but Johannes at least,
and Andreas, with Petrus and its derivatives like Petronia,
Petrius, Petronilla, etc. are less open to doubt. The name of Mary
occurs occasionally in the catacomb inscriptions towards the close
of the fourth century, for example, in the form LIVIA MARIA IN
PACE (De Rossi, "Rom. Sot.", I, 143) and there is a martyr Maria
assigned to the date A.D. 256 (De Rossi, "Rom. Sot." III, 200 sqq.
and compare other instances of the name, De Rossi, "Insc. Christ.
I, 331; II, 160 and 173).
Change of Name at Baptism
If we could trust the authentic and contemporary character of the
Acts of St. Balsamus, who died A.D. 331, we should have an early
example of the connection between baptism and the giving of a
name. "By my paternal name", this martyr is said to have declared,
"I am called Balsamus, but by the spiritual name which I received
in baptism, I am known as Peter." It would seem in any case that
the assumption of a new name for some devotional reason was fairly
common among Christians. Eusebius the historian took the name
Pamphili from Pamphilus the martyr whom he especially venerated.
Earlier still St. Cyprian chose to be called Cyprianus Caecilius
out of gratitude to the Caecilius to whom he owed his conversion.
Moreover St. Dionysius of Alexandria (c. 260) declared "I am of
opinion that there were many of the same name as the Apostle John,
who on account of their love for him, and because they admired and
emulated him, and desired to be loved by the Lord as he was, took
to themselves the same name, just as many of the children of the
faithful are called Paul or Peter" (Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl. ", VII,
xxv). It would be only natural that the assumption, of any such
new name should take place formally at baptism, in which the
catechuman, then probably as now, had to be addressed by some
distinctive appellation. On the other hand it seems likely that
the imposition of a new name at baptism had become general. Every
child had necessarily to receive some name or other, and when
baptism followed soon after birth, this must have offered a very
suitable opportunity for the public recognition of the choice
made.
No doubt the thirtieth of the supposed Arabian Canons of Nicaea:
"Of giving only names of Christians in baptism" is not authentic,
even though it is of early date; but the sermons of St. John
Chrysostom seem to assume in many different places that the
conferring of a name, presumably at baptism, ought to be regulated
by some idea of Christian edification, and he implies though this
does not seem to be borne out by the evidence now available, that
such had been the practice of earlier generations. For example he
says: "When it comes to giving the infant a name, caring not to
call it after the saints, as the ancients at first did, people
light lamps and give them names and so name the child after the
one which continues burning the longest, from thence conjecturing
that he will live a long time" (Hom. in Cor., xii, 13). Similarly
he commends the practice of the parents of Antioch in calling
their children after the martyr Meletius (P.G., L, 515) and again
he urges his hearers not to give their children the first name
that occurs, nor to seek to gratify fathers or grandfathers or
other family connections by giving their names, but rather to
choose the names of holy men conspicuous for virtue and for their
courage before God (P.G., LIII, 179). History preserves sundry
examples of such a change of name in adult converts. Socrates
(Hist. Eccl., VII, xxi) tells us of Athenais who married the
Emperor Theodosius the Younger, and who previously to marriage was
baptized (A.D. 421) receiving the name Eudoxia. Again Bede tells
us of the case of King Caedwalla who went to Rome and was baptized
by the Pope Sergius who gave him the name of Peter. Dying soon
afterwards he was buried in Rome and his epitaph beginning "Hic
depositus est Caedwalla qui est Petrus" was long pointed out
(Bede, "Hist. Eccl.", V, vii). Later we have the well-known
instance of Guthrum the Danish leader in England who after his
long contest with King Alfred was eventually defeated and
consenting to accept Christianity was baptized in 878 by the
�thelstan.
Practice regarding Names
But while various Fathers and spiritual writers, and here and
there a synodal decree, have exhorted the faithful to give no
names to their children in baptism but those of canonized saints
or of the angels of God, it must be confessed that there has never
been a time in the history of the Church when these injunctions
have been at all strictly attended to. They were certainly not
heeded during the early or the later Middle Ages. Any one who
glances even casually at an extensive list of medieval names, such
as are perhaps best found in the indexes to the volumes of legal
proceedings which have been edited in modern times, will at once
perceive that while ordinary names without any very pronounced
religious associations, such as William, Robert, Roger, Geoffrey,
Hugh, etc. enormously preponderate (William about the year 1200
was by far the most common Christian name in England), there are
also always a very considerable number of exceptional and out-of-
the-way names which have apparently no religious associations at
all. Such names, to take but a few specimens, as Ademar, Ailma,
Ailward, Albreza, Alditha, Almaury, Ascelina, Avice, Aystorius
(these come from the lists of those cured at the shrine of St.
Thomas of Canterbury) are of quite frequent occurrence. The point
however cannot be dwelt on here. We may note on the other hand
that a rubric in the official "Rituale Romanum" enjoins that the
priest ought to see that unbecoming or ridiculous names of deities
or of godless pagans are not given in baptism (curet ne obscoena,
fabulosa aut ridicula vel inanium deorum vel impiorum ethnicorum
hominum nomina imponantur). Some of the seventeenth century French
rituals have gone further than this. For example that of Bourges
(1666) addressing parents and godparents urges: "Let them give to
boys the names of male saints and to girls those of women saints
as right order requires, and let them avoid the names of festivals
like Easter (P�ques), Christmas (No�l), All Saints (Toussaint) and
others that are sometimes chosen." Despite such injunctions
"Toussaint" has become a not uncommon French Christian name and
"No�l" has spread even to England. The addition of Marie,
especially in the form Jean-Marie, for boys, and of Joseph for
girls is of everyday occurrence.
In Spain and Italy again, ardent devotion to our Blessed Lady has
not remained content with the simple name Maria, but many of her
festivals etc. have also created names for girls: Concepti�n, of
which the diminutive is Concha, is one of the best known, but we
have also Asunci�n, Encarnaci�n, Mercedes, Dolores etc. in Spanish
and in Italian Assunta, Annunziata, Concetta, etc. It is strange
on the other hand that the name Mary has by no means always been a
favourite for girls, possibly from a feeling that it was too
august to be so familiarly employed. In England in the twelfth
century Mary as a Christian name is of very rare occurrence.
George again is a name which despite the recognition of the
warrior saint as patron of England, was by no means common in the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, though strangely enough it
grew in popularity after the Reformation. A writer who has made a
minute examination of the registers of Oxford University from 156O
to 1621, has made out the following list of the more common names
borne by the students in order of popularity: John, 3826; Thomas
2777; William, 2546; Richard, 1691; Robert, 1222; .Edward, 957;
Henry, 908; George, 647; Francis, 447; James, 424; Nicholas, 326;
Edmund, 298 (see Oxford Hist. Soc. Transactions, XIV). In Italy
and Spain it has always been a tolerably common practice to call a
child after the saint upon whose feast he is born.
Confirmation Names
The practice of adopting a new name was not limited to baptism.
Many medieval examples show that any notable change of condition,
especially in the spiritual order, was often accompanied by the
reception of a new name. In the eighth century the two Englishmen
Winfrith and Willibald going on different occasions to Rome
received from the reigning pontiff, along with a new commission to
preach, the names respectively of Boniface and Clement. So again
Emma of Normandy when she married King Ethelred in 1002 took the
name �lfgifu; while, of course, the reception of a new name upon
entering a religious order is almost universal even in our day. It
is not strange, then, that at confirmation, in which the
interposition of a godfather emphasizes the resemblance with
baptism, it should have become customary to take a new name,
though usually no great use is made of it. In one case, however,
that of Henry III, King of France who being the godson of our
English Edward VI had been christened Edouard Alexandre in 1551,
the same French prince at confirmation received the name of Henri,
and by this he afterwards reigned. Even in England the practice of
adopting a new name at confirmation was remembered after the
Reformation, for Sir Edward Coke declares that a man might validly
buy land by his confirmation name, and he recalls the case of a
Sir Francis Gawdye, late Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, whose
name of baptism was Thomas and his name of confirmation Francis
(Co. Litt. 3a).
HERBERT THURSTON
Transcribed by Joseph P. Thomas
Dedicated to Thresiamma Augustine
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright � 1913 by the
Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright � 1996 by
New Advent, Inc.
Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).
This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an
effort aimed at placing the entire Catholic Encyclopedia 1913
edition on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to
contribute to this worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-
mail at (knight.org/advent). For more information please download
the file cathen.txt/.zip.
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