EH
#0
I\'m trying to come up with a concise (about four sentences or less) explanation of why Orthodox converts take on different names & would like to hear how others explain it.
This is to be used in a wedding program to help Protestants understand why that person you\'ve know your whole like is suddenly being called by a different name. Many of the Protestants attending will be from fundemental backgrounds, well-versed in scripture & hostile to Orthodoxy (or most anything else). They can make most evangelicals look down-right inclusive! Of course I will cite to Peter, Paul, Abraham & Sarah\'s name changes. But, of course, most Biblical people did *not* change their names.
Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.
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Anna Bennett
#17
I have been told by at least a couple priests, that, should you achieve sainthood, it is possible that your \\"birth\\" name, if different from your baptism name, could be used at the glorification.
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FG
#18
Exactly. This was the case with St. Vladimir, as well as with many early saints of Rus\'.
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DO
#20
My name might be a tough one to explain to a Protestant. I chose \\"Despina\\" because of my deep love for Panagia Despina (Royal Virgin Mother, or Mother of God), to lean on her during my spiritual journey and because she has an awesome hymn named for her: \\"It Is Truly Meet\\"!!!
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El
#1
Well first, I would aske them to explain names like Shane , Rip , Cody , Hondo , uh...... lol you know what I mean . Elias
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Ji
#6
Ummm, Elias, Shane is an Irish form of John, a variant of Sean. But I DO agree with you about the other dodgy names, and they\'re nowhere the worst I\'ve seen.
Another of my pet peeves is the trend to give diminutives as proper names, like Jack (diminutive of John), Jake (Jacob), Zac (Zachary/Zachariah), Natasha (Natalie/Natalia), Kate (Catherine/Katherine), etc. Call the kid by their diminutive, but the names on their papers should be the proper ones.
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Rev Fr Athanasios Haros
#7
I know people take on Saint\'s names but I always wondered why an otherwise \\"American\\" (insert any old ethnicity here) would change their name and then go by \\"Ioannis\\" rather than John. This seems a bit more than just honoring the Saints.
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Io
#21
Father,
I took on the name \\"Ioannis\\", though I\'m german. But my parish and most of the members are greek. And for them I am \\"Ioannis\\", or Jannis. That\'s why I took the greek name. I also could have taken the german version \\"Johannes\\", but they would also say than \\"Ioannis\\".
Maybe I am a little bit strange.
Jannis
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John Chan
#22
My birth name is John because my mom realized (thankfully) that my too literate big sister was partially kidding when she said \\"I want a baby brother named Charlie Chan\\"
For awhile, I had considered taking Seraphim of Sarov as my patron saint - but Fr Joseph kept my birth name at baptism, calling the Forerunner to be my patron saint.
If I ever return to Ethiopia, though - I will probably be known as Yohannes to the Amharic speakers and Waanis to the Banna speakers.
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BB
#2
I\'m a little lucky my birthname is my baptismal name. Well it\'s spelled slightly different. I wasn\'t brought up in a religious household but they still named me after a saint.
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TD
#3
I wasn\'t born in a religious house either.. but I was given the name Thomas from my parents... and chose Thomas the Apostle as my patron - since I was too lazy to read about all the others when his doubting seemed to suit my convert apprehension just fine.
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Elizabeth Riggs
#4
Among the New Martyrs of China of the Boxer Rebellion are St. Ia, St. Li, St. Kui-Kin, St. Hai Chuan, and hieromartyr Chi-Sung - not to mention all the others who are unknown to us, but known to God. So, for an Asian convert desiring an Asian saint\'s name, there are a few! ~~ Love in Christ ~~ Dr. Elizabeth
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CB
#23
Badelias wrote:
Well first, I would aske them to explain names like Shane , Rip , Cody , Hondo , uh...... lol you know what I mean . Elias
Hey now, I take offense to that :-P (kidding, of course)
Though my parents named me after Buffalo Bill Cody. Such a great namesake. *rolleyes*
I took the name Vladimir on my baptism, for a host of reasons.
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JC
#24
I often have to explain this to my protestant friends, as I was formerly very active before becoming Orthodox.
Although I am not married, I have wondered this very issue myself. I thought I would add a note on the side, keeping it to the point. The point being, my name has changed. I would use my baptismal name on the invitation, but state something like:
**************************
\\"On March 25, 2007, in devotion to following Jesus, Jennifer was baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and thus beginning a new life in Christ, has taken the Christian Name \\"Genevieve Evangelina\\".
**************************
I thought of perhaps going further in explaination Patron Saints etc, but the point is not the name change, but announcing the wedding, and letting them know that I now go by Genevieve and please do not trash the invitation.
If God puts it on their hearts to research Orthodoxy, then they may do so. If they ask questions at the wedding say \\"Wow, sounds like you have some interesting questions, I\'d love to discuss them. Orthodoxy is a very deep. Maybe we can go out to coffee sometime?\\" Or even just say \\"It\'s Orthodox Tradition.\\" and leave it at that, then change the subject to enjoying the wedding, or put the focus back on them.
I understand how challenging it is to want to defend Orthodox, the best way to defend it, is just to live it.
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JC
#25
PS - Jennifer (Welsh) is from Guinevere (Cornish) which is Genevieve (French). St. Genevieve of Paris, as a strong woman was popular among the Celts. So I just stuck with my name, and was surprised with Evangelina at my baptism given to me by Father Joseph in honor of the Announciation.
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RR
#5
BlackK wrote:
It is not necessary to be given a new name on converting to Orthodoxy. If your existing name is a proper \"Christian\" name, then that is sufficient. The Slavic tradition, more so than the Greek, specifies that there should be an Orthodox saint by that name for it to be a proper Christian name. In the past, this meant that many people with western names such as Robert, Aidan, Alan, etc were told they had to take another name at baptism or chrismation. With a greater awareness in recent years of the existence of pre-schism Orthodox saints from western Europe and Britain, \"obligatory\" name-changing is less common.
One of our priests who converted some 15 years ago, still goes by his original name, as do two of his children. Only his wife and daughter took on new baptismal names, as there was no saint by their original names in any Orthodox list.
For what it\'s worth, and no offense intended, Aidan is the name of an Orthodox saint. He was the abbot of the Celtic monastery of Lisdanfarne.
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