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Since I associate the Trinity with God, I find it too much for name. Perhaps people who don't mind using Jesus or Emmanuel as names would be fine with Trinity, but I personally would feel uncomfortable.

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For whatever reason, some people who use the name Trinity strike me as less religious and more quasi-spiritual (for lack of a better term). It is a bit like the use of Bodhi. A lot of the people who use Bodhi as a name are not devote Buddhists, but they like the association with enlightenment and spiritual awakening.

Yeah, if I assume a religious meaning, I do think of Clover because that's how the Christian trinity was explained to me as a kid. I don't think a religious connection necessarily has to be Christian, though; it could easily be pagan.

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That said, I grew up with a Trinity, and it didn't seem religious to me. I associated it with the island (Trinidad) and names like Katrina, Trisha, Trista, Tiffany.

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I think it sounds a bit lightweight, if that makes sense. Trilling, bubbly, but not in a way that annoys me.

This message was edited 1/31/2019, 8:08 AM

I think immediately of Trini Lopez, so the vibe is cheerful, enjoyable but not particularly memorable. I've never seen an example of it used in South Africa, which is largely Protestant and therefore not particularly fascinated by the concept of the Trinity, at least among speakers of European languages.

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I wouldn't consider using it myself, for the same reason that I wouldn't use Christian or, I suppose, Shlomo: it would seem to indicate membership of a group I do not in fact form part of.

I think of it as a GP sometimes, but mostly it sounds trendy and a little cheesy. It is usable though, and nicknames like Trin and Trina are easy to fall back on.

I'd think ...

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It's either meant to be a religion-inspired name like Faith or Grace (and likely to belong to people whose social identity is strongly attached to their religion, who express their religion in symbolic personal effects ... which I don't perceive as an upperclass habit, but it doesn't seem trashy or associated with any other particular image).

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Or else (somewhat more likely if I saw it where I live - west coast urban) it's a trendy name coopted from religion, for its being a word with a fashionable sharp rhythmic sound. Both the word and ignorance of its religious connotation, seem commonplace enough for it to be deniable that it's religious. Like Serenity & Felicity, same sort of thing. Again not trashy, but not aiming to sound "classy" either.

Reminds me of the word for thirty in Spanish, treinta for some reason I don't know of as it only has a few letters in common. It is a nice name, not that common but not completely obscure. If not a bit to much associated with religion for some people the name couldn't work well.

This message was edited 1/30/2019, 1:42 PM

It reminds me of 1990’s trendy (Lindsey, Morgan, Britney). Just not a fan, sorry.

I sort-of-know a little girl named Trinity. We attend the same church. She's about 8 years old, I'd say. But beyond that, I don't know about her or her family.
Whether the name has symbolism for her/her parents, I couldn't say...perhaps, since they do attend church! (Roman Catholic.)
Not a name I would use, though I can't quite fit myself into any of the categories you list. "Too much to be a name", perhaps, but that's just me;I don't strongly dislike it.
And who knows, maybe
1. The family just liked the sound of it. OR
2.Perhaps her parents have insight into the concept of the Holy Trinity, and want to celebrate, I guess you'd say, that.

Not everyone who has used this name is making a religious statement.

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The first time I ever came across a child named Trinity was on an airplane flight back around 1990 when I sat next to a woman who had a toddler daughter named Trinity. She told me the name had been chosen because her husband was a professional jockey and one of the horses he had ridden had been called Trinity! And when I asked her about the religious meaning she said "We're Mormons and don't believe in the Trinity."

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I think the name has also been used as a transfer from the name of several rivers in the western United States and so is sometimes considered a "cowboy" name without any reference to the original religious meaning.

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Though personally I would never use it because as a Christian who does accept the Trinity it seems to me it's the same thing as naming a child God.

Ugh I hate it. It makes me angry. I guess because its religious symbolism is so heavy and I just don't think you should saddle a child with that.

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When I was renting a mother-in-law suite several years ago, my landlady's stepson and his children came to visit. His daughter's name was Trinity. It was all I could do to refrain from telling my landlady what a horrible name I think it is.

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Edited to take out the word "irrationally" from before "angry." I don't think it's irrational.

This message was edited 1/30/2019, 11:23 AM

Without doing research it strikes me as trendy (but a little off trend - more so in the 90s/early 2000s maybe?). Potentially religious in intent, certainly. I’m intrigued by it. I’d want all the siblings to have Christian concepts or virtue names, for my own selfish demographic enjoyment. Trinity, Patience, Cross, Faith, and Shepherd.

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It also reminds me of Trailer Park Boys’ long suffering sweet little Trinity.

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Edit: It definitely is often just chosen for sound/feel, not religious significance.

This message was edited 1/30/2019, 11:53 AM

I like Trinity but it became so trendy in the late 90/early 2000s. I have met an Egyptian girl with this name (family was Coptic), an Irish-American girl I went school with, and people of Hispanic, European and African heritage. I think of it as a very Christian name. Every single one of the Trinitys I knew came from a very devout Catholic or Protestant family. I do not associate a particular ethnicity with this name.

I can only think of that girl from the Matrix trilogy. Seriously. I can't imagine anyone else bearing that name haha