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Help[Opinions] Taboo names becoming less... taboo?
Yesterday, I was conducting student outreach (emails) at work, and two names jumped out at me on the list:
Cain & Jezebel
They didn't share the same surname, though both their surnames were Spanish (and there is a large Hispanic / Latino community in our area). Even one of these would have surprised me, much less both.
I actually like both of these names (they're on my GP list), but the names' legacies have always scared me off. Are the Biblical implications of these names just mattering less and less?
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Please rate my personal name lists:
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/117507
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/109399
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/132018
Cain & Jezebel
They didn't share the same surname, though both their surnames were Spanish (and there is a large Hispanic / Latino community in our area). Even one of these would have surprised me, much less both.
I actually like both of these names (they're on my GP list), but the names' legacies have always scared me off. Are the Biblical implications of these names just mattering less and less?
***
Please rate my personal name lists:
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/117507
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/109399
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/132018
Archived Thread - replies disabled
3
Replies
I'm not sure. Isn't Cain an English surname as well? Sound wise, Cain is very on trend. It only ranked #956 in 2021, so I'm guessing the association is what is keeping it back. It does sound like cane, so that might be a draw back too.
It doesn't look like Jezebel has ever appeared in the top 1000 names in the USA, so it seems like it is still an unusual choice. There have always been people into counter-culture or with a love of the transgressive, so it is hard to know if the taboo is gone or if some people are attracted to the idea of deliberately breaking a taboo. Alternatively, the parents might have been thinking of some quasi-feminist reinvention of the character.
The name Delilah has certainly become more popular of late, but, considering that the Puritans were the ones who apparently popularized it in English speaking countries first, I'm not sure if the use of names from unsavory Bible characters is purely a sign of lack of religiosity? Some people doubtlessly were just going for the sound and a song reference. In the case of the Puritans, I think they liked to use names that set them apart by using names that other denominations wouldn't consider. Maybe it was similar to naming a kid Humiliation to reflect on human frailty or something?
There have always been people who were given names that would be considered odd in their era/culture/society. For instance, there is record of someone named Ananias in the 16th century, and, considering that most people went to church back them, you'd think the parents would have known that Ananias was the guy struck down by God for lying. Maybe Ananias's parents just vaguely remembered the name from the Bible and thought it sounded nice? Meanwhile, the neighbors probably all considered it a weird choice.
I think what is considered taboo shifts over time. We might phase out one taboo and introduce another.
It doesn't look like Jezebel has ever appeared in the top 1000 names in the USA, so it seems like it is still an unusual choice. There have always been people into counter-culture or with a love of the transgressive, so it is hard to know if the taboo is gone or if some people are attracted to the idea of deliberately breaking a taboo. Alternatively, the parents might have been thinking of some quasi-feminist reinvention of the character.
The name Delilah has certainly become more popular of late, but, considering that the Puritans were the ones who apparently popularized it in English speaking countries first, I'm not sure if the use of names from unsavory Bible characters is purely a sign of lack of religiosity? Some people doubtlessly were just going for the sound and a song reference. In the case of the Puritans, I think they liked to use names that set them apart by using names that other denominations wouldn't consider. Maybe it was similar to naming a kid Humiliation to reflect on human frailty or something?
There have always been people who were given names that would be considered odd in their era/culture/society. For instance, there is record of someone named Ananias in the 16th century, and, considering that most people went to church back them, you'd think the parents would have known that Ananias was the guy struck down by God for lying. Maybe Ananias's parents just vaguely remembered the name from the Bible and thought it sounded nice? Meanwhile, the neighbors probably all considered it a weird choice.
I think what is considered taboo shifts over time. We might phase out one taboo and introduce another.
This message was edited 2/14/2023, 1:19 PM
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Names have become so creative nowadays. I don't say that in a bad way, I think it's great people use names from multiple origins or roots. So I feel these names will become more common. Actually when I saw the title of the thread, my first thought was ''Adolf''. Nothing biblical at all.
On a personal note: I don't enjoy Jezebel that much, simply because I don't like how it sounds (very non-objective explanation). Cain is fine.
On a personal note: I don't enjoy Jezebel that much, simply because I don't like how it sounds (very non-objective explanation). Cain is fine.
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Cain has such a pretty meaning- acquirance, "for I have acquired a man with God". A shame the character is so negative.
Anyway, about taboo biblical names becoming more common, with the Zionist movement (the secular mainstream thereof) and the state of Israel being founded, a lot of the hebrew language ideologists and mainstream zionists wanted to erase the "exilic jewish" past and create a "new jew" who is hard working and militant, and in a way continue the biblical judean kingdom. As such, a lot of secular zionist children had,along with renewed hebrew names, names that weren't in use (or at least wide use) in the jewish diaspora in the past ~1800 years, some of which were righteous characters, but some were evil, such as: Nimrod, Absalom, Omri, and even Ahab.
There was an even more extreme offshoot of secular hebrew zionism in mandatory palestine called "Canaanism", which wanted to erase judaism and jewish history from the minds of the jewish public entirely, and instead return to a hypothetical pagan past where all the western semitic people spoke hebrew and believed in the same pantheon. As such, they wanted to create a secular hebrew nation-state that spans the whole area from the Euphrates to Sinai, with all the arabs, jews and other nativez merging into a single nation. Obviously, I think it's a stupid, racist idea.
Anyway, said "Canaanites" used taboo names that weren't common among any other group at the time. Names like Cain, Canaan, Abel, and a lot of pagan names from near eastern mythology. A name that started in their sphere but then became common for all israeli jewish women (including religious ones) was Annath, after the ancient Canaanite goddess.
I wouldn't name my kids after evil characters just because it would probably be hard for me to name them after people I don't see fitting.
Anyway, about taboo biblical names becoming more common, with the Zionist movement (the secular mainstream thereof) and the state of Israel being founded, a lot of the hebrew language ideologists and mainstream zionists wanted to erase the "exilic jewish" past and create a "new jew" who is hard working and militant, and in a way continue the biblical judean kingdom. As such, a lot of secular zionist children had,along with renewed hebrew names, names that weren't in use (or at least wide use) in the jewish diaspora in the past ~1800 years, some of which were righteous characters, but some were evil, such as: Nimrod, Absalom, Omri, and even Ahab.
There was an even more extreme offshoot of secular hebrew zionism in mandatory palestine called "Canaanism", which wanted to erase judaism and jewish history from the minds of the jewish public entirely, and instead return to a hypothetical pagan past where all the western semitic people spoke hebrew and believed in the same pantheon. As such, they wanted to create a secular hebrew nation-state that spans the whole area from the Euphrates to Sinai, with all the arabs, jews and other nativez merging into a single nation. Obviously, I think it's a stupid, racist idea.
Anyway, said "Canaanites" used taboo names that weren't common among any other group at the time. Names like Cain, Canaan, Abel, and a lot of pagan names from near eastern mythology. A name that started in their sphere but then became common for all israeli jewish women (including religious ones) was Annath, after the ancient Canaanite goddess.
I wouldn't name my kids after evil characters just because it would probably be hard for me to name them after people I don't see fitting.
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It's interesting that Abel is considered taboo as well!
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I think the issue with Abel is that it sounds like "able." It's off putting and maybe weirdly ableist sounding?
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Yeah, but I don't imagine that's an issue in Hebrew.
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Interesting, thank you!
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Cain and other spellings of it seems to be, if not popular, at least fashionable. Kind of gos along with Kayden and Cade, and the whole last-name trend.
Jezebel isn't just the name of the one Biblical character; it's become a generic and unflattering common noun, and I'd be surprised if anyone knowing their Bible would use it. There's nothing but the Biblical association and more recently, the Cosmopolitan-type Internet magazine to associate the name with. It would be different if there was some famous person or even a whole lot of un famous people who bore that name.
Jezebel isn't just the name of the one Biblical character; it's become a generic and unflattering common noun, and I'd be surprised if anyone knowing their Bible would use it. There's nothing but the Biblical association and more recently, the Cosmopolitan-type Internet magazine to associate the name with. It would be different if there was some famous person or even a whole lot of un famous people who bore that name.
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I have seen a resurgence of Cain, but in different spellings, probably to separate it from the taboo. Mostly I see Kane, though I've also seen Kain. Jezebel is on my GP list too. It sounds pretty and honestly, even growing up in the church, without looking it up, I can't remember why it's bad, just that it is, so it's possible people just don't know. I do think that Biblical implications of names are meaning less as there is more movement away from traditional ideas and beliefs.
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I don’t think as many people would care anymore. The world is becoming more educated and atheist and agnostic. Just biblical stories.
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I think so. Even though there are obviously a ton of people who are Christians (and some might be put off by that sort of name), I don't think it would actively bother people nowadays. There are plenty of people with interesting names and plenty of people who aren't super familiar with biblical references, so I don't think names like Cain and Jezebel stand out quite as much as they maybe used to.
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