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HelpRe: Cohen
in reply to a message by bananarama
Isn't Cohen kind of a big deal? as a surname? It's the most common one, but it is still a word that means "Priest." I remember reading the wikipedia article on Leonard Cohen and being quite surprised at the big deal made out of his surname - let's see -
Like many other Jews named Cohen, Katz, Kagan, etc., his family made a claim of descent from the Kohanim: "I had a very Messianic childhood," he told Richard Goldstein in 1967. "I was told I was a descendant of Aaron, the high priest."
Here is what the wikipedia article on Cohen says:
Bearing the name indicates that the ancestors of a person so named were priests in the Temple of Jerusalem.
Being a Cohen also imposes some limitations, however; by Jewish religious law a Cohen may not marry a divorced woman (only a single woman or a widow) and may not marry someone who converted to Judaism.
O_O at the limitations. Yeah, I would consider Cohen pretty inappropriate as a given name. Am I really the only responder to think so? I would not name my kid Pope or Bishop even though it is a surname and surnames are hip, especially if P's and B's were supposedly descended from actual popes and bishops (which wouldn't make sense I guess? then why do people have those names? odd) and were therefore subject to extra religious regulation. It is weird. I do not like it. I don't think Cohen is appropriate.
I also don't think tribal names are appropriate.
Like many other Jews named Cohen, Katz, Kagan, etc., his family made a claim of descent from the Kohanim: "I had a very Messianic childhood," he told Richard Goldstein in 1967. "I was told I was a descendant of Aaron, the high priest."
Here is what the wikipedia article on Cohen says:
Bearing the name indicates that the ancestors of a person so named were priests in the Temple of Jerusalem.
Being a Cohen also imposes some limitations, however; by Jewish religious law a Cohen may not marry a divorced woman (only a single woman or a widow) and may not marry someone who converted to Judaism.
O_O at the limitations. Yeah, I would consider Cohen pretty inappropriate as a given name. Am I really the only responder to think so? I would not name my kid Pope or Bishop even though it is a surname and surnames are hip, especially if P's and B's were supposedly descended from actual popes and bishops (which wouldn't make sense I guess? then why do people have those names? odd) and were therefore subject to extra religious regulation. It is weird. I do not like it. I don't think Cohen is appropriate.
I also don't think tribal names are appropriate.
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I don't believe any of the Cohens I know follow this rule and I've met a lot of them. It all depends whether a person views the name as a surname or a religious belief, and I don't think parents have to be responsible that no one in the world is offended by their child's name. I grow up in a primarily Jewish neighborhood and I can tell you that people would take the situation very lightly. It is much better if the parents are honoring a Cohen by first or last name, but many people just see it as a common surname and do not make a religious connection. There are so many people who have the name Cohen and do not practice Judaism accordingly. Your name's not going to please everyone. There are people out there who don't think I should name my daughter Eve because Eve committed the first sin in the bible, and there are many people out there who don't think I should name my daughter Roxanne because she was a prostitue in Moulin Rouge. Now I could give a million reasons why I actually can interpret these associations in a good way, but I'm not going to bother at the moment. Should parents be called to justify every time they use a name that to some people may be offensive? As long as it's not blatently in your face meant to offend you, I wouldn't get bent out of shape about it.
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Thanks for the help. I'm sorry I made a big deal out of this.
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