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Help[Facts] Re: Why are so many biblical names rarely used in continental Europe, unlike English-speaking countries?
in reply to a message by WilhelmReichelt
Jonathan, Benjamin, Aaron, Samuel, Jeremiah, and Jesse are Old Testament names that became more common in England after the Protestant Reformation. Church of England definitely swayed a bit more towards these names (and away from "catholic" names) but it didn't trump naming after family so John and Thomas still dominated.
There would have been no reason to pick up these names in countries that remained catholic or orthodox, and so the popularity of these names likely follows this map:
I don't know how much the Lutheran and calvinists shifted to Old Testament names, I'm not sure they did. This Dictionary of Medieval Names from European sources blog talks a bit more about which names were adopted more often after the reformation from England, France and Dutch sources.
https://dmnes.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/protestant-names-new-testament-influences-on-mens-names/
There would have been no reason to pick up these names in countries that remained catholic or orthodox, and so the popularity of these names likely follows this map:
I don't know how much the Lutheran and calvinists shifted to Old Testament names, I'm not sure they did. This Dictionary of Medieval Names from European sources blog talks a bit more about which names were adopted more often after the reformation from England, France and Dutch sources.
https://dmnes.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/protestant-names-new-testament-influences-on-mens-names/
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