explaining Orthodox names to Protestants

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.