When I named my kids I was looking for classical name, and also a practicing Xian. I have Sarah, Michelle, and Rebecca. I still like the names despite their religous links.

Ironically, many of the names in the Bible have underlying meanings, so are often more likely literary constructs to convey a meaning than a particular person. For Example: Jesus Christ Means Savior Messiah. Judas: Means literally the Jews. So Ironically the Messiah was Betrayed by the Jews....

Nope. My son's name is about as religious as it gets, but I don't care. I named him after a musician and an antitheist author. Despite his name, he's plenty atheist.

We sometimes forget that, just because the name of a character, (who may or may not have ever existed) was made famous by that work of fiction known as the Bible, doesn't necessarily make that name 'religious.'

Lol I was just thinking about this the other day. I never liked religious names. Actually I just hate them! Naming someone after someone in a religious text doesn’t mean they’ll be any closer to a saint than your ordinary person with an ordinary name. Or “worldly” name as the religious people would say. Being named after someone like a scientist would be badass, though!

I am named after a scientist Lord Kelvin. One of the last great 19th century thinkers. He had over 200 papers puplished before he was 21. Did work on superconductivity (hence the SI unit) and helped design the 1st trans-atlantic phone cable. How many other scientist names would make good 1st names? Ohm perhaps? Watt maybe? Newton for sure. Wouldnt it be great if our kindergarden classes were full of Dawkinss, Darwins, Rutherfords and Curies. Cricks, Mendels and Pastures?

Along those lines, I think it's really interesting that the name Jesús is very common in Spanish- speaking countries, but, at least to my knowledge, is almost never given to children by English speakers (at least not by christians). I've even know or known of at least three women named Jesús-- not Maria de Jesús, which is common enough -- just Jesús.
A look at any list of arrests and detentions shows that it certainly doesn't keep people out of trouble.
Another interesting point is that "It is estimated that more than 150 million men and boys in the world bear the name Muhammad." [Wikipedia] It is also one of the most popular baby names in regions of growing muslim communities in Western countries.

Part sound, part meaning. Leaning towards meaning. Anything but a Christian name.

I named my daughter after Stevie Ray Vaughan. He was a God so I guess I would.

My name is Ian from the Scottish form of John, which is a Christian meaning of Gift from God or somesuch nonsense. I'm not keen on it's association with John the Baptist etc. I think I actually prefer that it leans towards the Celtic rather than Anglicized form. I wouldn't name any of my kids after that pesky Judaeo-Xtian malarkey. Bleh!

I named mine Lilith cause my folks are to dumb to google lol and I only liked the storm goddess aspect of it more than the rest of the nonsense-

On the other hand, I suspect that I was named after my father's secret gay lover....but maybe not. He did have an old friend named "Arnie" that none of us ever met.

Honestly I don't see religion as a Plague. I never named my kids based on being a bible name... even though some names did appeared in the bible in some form. Let it be bible or popol-vuh... It is being ignored by me.

Kinda hard to avoid that unless you make one up. I'm David and it's a VERY old testament name.

So I'll preface this by saying I'm trying my hardest to never have children ever, so bear with me on that point. That being said, if I did happen to have a kid, I would want to name them after things that are significant to me and my life (or my parter and hers), and totally disregard whether it was a religious name or not. Example: Were I to have a girl, I would name her Alice Liddell, after the character from American McGee's Alice, because that game is awesome.

My children have been named after wonderful family members and strong people in history . I don't attach many names as having only religious connotations, more historical.

Yes! I would never name a son Mary.

I would pick something out of my ethnic heritage.

Both our children are named a combination of grandparents names selected for the 'yellablity'. They ended up being the realatively biblically significant names of Anna and David for first names. Middle names were a mixed bag. To us the names mean only that we thought of people close to us... and that we couldn't agree on anything else!

I always thought Matthias was a cool name. I care a little bit about meaning but only when the name is iffy to me anyways. So went with the first option.

I am named after my father. Our names mean "Messenger of God". We are both non-religious. I think I will follow and pass that name up to my son if I come to have one. I don't mind it being religious.

Or pets? A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables when a voice in the dark said, "I can see you and Jesus can see you too" He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off, and froze. When he heard nothing more, he shook his head and continued. Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard 'Jesus is watching you.' Startled, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice. Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot. 'Did you say that?' he hissed at the parrot. 'Yes', the parrot confessed, then squawked, 'I'm just trying to tell you that Jesus is watching you.' The burglar relaxed. 'huh? Who in the world are you?' 'Moses,' replied the bird. 'Moses?' the burglar laughed. 'What kind of idiot would name a bird Moses?' 'The kind of idiot who would name a Rottweiler Jesus.'

Oh yes...it bothers me no end..

My name's Ian, Scottish for John who 'wrote' a gospel and was a saint, my second name is Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, my third (confirmation name) is Declan, also an Irish saint and the first three letters of my surname spell 'God' There's not point in me making a stand over a religious name! lol

I would definitely avoid it. One thing is that theists could use it against my child at some point in future.