 IN BIBLICAL times girls were valued mainly for their ability to work, whereas boys were valued because they carried on the family name. In fact, sons were so important that upon the birth of her first son, a woman changed her name to "mother of" followed by the son's name. In the earliest times, before people believed that there was life after death, parents believed that upon death they lived on through their children. If there were no children, there was no future. If a man died without children, it was the duty of the nearest male relative to marry the deceased's wife. Upon the birth of their first son, the child was given the name of the mother's first husband and inherited his property. In Old Testament times a child was named immediately after birth. The chosen name was always meaningful. It would describe the child's character, circumstances surrounding the birth, or the family's feelings toward God. Names derived from place-names were also used, as were those of plants and animals. In New Testament times the baby was named eight days after the birth, and if the child was male, it was circumcised at the same time. Besides the naming ceremony, one or two other ceremonies also took place at this time. If the new baby was the first-born son, the parents were required to "buy it back." First-born sons were thought to belong to God in a special way, in reference to God passing over the Israelites' eldest sons when all the first-born sons in Egypt died. From then on, God declared that the first-born sons belonged to him (Exodus 13:13-15). Males of the first generation after the exodus from Egypt were redeemed (bought back) by dedicating the Levites for God's service, who then became the nation's priests and spiritual leaders. After that, each family was required to pay five silver pieces to the priest to redeem their first-born sons. Another birth ceremony was carried out regardless of which child was born. This was the purification sacrifice performed by the mother. In order to worship God after childbirth, the woman had to become "clean" again, and to achieve this she was required to sacrifice first a pigeon and then a lamb. (Two pigeons were acceptable if the woman was too poor to afford a lamb.) In later years money could be put into the offering boxes in the temple to pay for the priest to perform the ceremony. In the Christian tradition early followers mainly used Old Testament Hebrew names. The practice eventually changed in favor of New Testament names as the Christians began to protest Judaism. During the Reformation, in response to the growing discontent with the Catholic Church, many Protestant faiths turned again to Old Testament names. The Puritans in particular shunned New Testament names in favor of Old Testament names or those that denoted abstract virtues such as Faith, Hope, and Charity. As a symbol of their break with the Church of England and their rejection of established church practices, Puritan extremists took delight in choosing the oddest-sounding names they could find, even going so far as to use entire verses of Scripture for their children's names. Because of the omnipresence of Christianity, the most widespread names in the world are those taken from the Bible. John, by far the most popular name chosen for male children, is found in every Western language, in more than a hundred forms. Mary and its variants are the overwhelming favorite for girls' names. Mary is the most frequently used female name in Catholic countries, and the variant Marie is also given to males as a middle name to put them under the special protection of the virgin mother of Jesus. |
