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Help[Opinions] Messiah
It's interesting to me that in all the remarks about individual birth announcements for boys named Messiah that no one has pointed out that Messiah made the top 1000 names for boys on the USA Social Security list in 2005. There were 194 boys named Messiah born that year in the United States.
Mashiach and Mashiah, the modern Hebrew forms of Messiah, have evidently been used as boys' names in modern Israel, because they are listed as such in Smadar Shir Sidi's The Complete Book of Hebrew Baby Names. It seems to me that if the Israelis allow this name, it would be odd for people in other countries to insist it should be prohibited as "blasphemous."
I personally don't think the connotations of Messiah are any more "hard to live up to" than those of Salvador and Salvatore, which mean "savior", and have been used in Spanish and Italian culture for centuries.
From the middle names in most of the birth announcements that have been posted, it seems clear that the majority of boys now being named Messiah in the USA are African-American. We seem to be moving toward Messiah being accepted as a normal name in African-American culture, just as Salvador and Jesus are accepted in Hispanic culture. There have been times and places in the Christian world where Emmanuel, Mary, and Michael were all deemed too sacred for use by mere mortals. Nowadays no one objects to them, and we will probably all get used to Messiah, too.
Mashiach and Mashiah, the modern Hebrew forms of Messiah, have evidently been used as boys' names in modern Israel, because they are listed as such in Smadar Shir Sidi's The Complete Book of Hebrew Baby Names. It seems to me that if the Israelis allow this name, it would be odd for people in other countries to insist it should be prohibited as "blasphemous."
I personally don't think the connotations of Messiah are any more "hard to live up to" than those of Salvador and Salvatore, which mean "savior", and have been used in Spanish and Italian culture for centuries.
From the middle names in most of the birth announcements that have been posted, it seems clear that the majority of boys now being named Messiah in the USA are African-American. We seem to be moving toward Messiah being accepted as a normal name in African-American culture, just as Salvador and Jesus are accepted in Hispanic culture. There have been times and places in the Christian world where Emmanuel, Mary, and Michael were all deemed too sacred for use by mere mortals. Nowadays no one objects to them, and we will probably all get used to Messiah, too.
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I would never use it because I am not Christian, but I think it is fine for someone else's child, but a little over the top. It is right there in your face, like naming your child Champion or something. It is a lot to live up to. I prefer Shiloh, Emmanuel or Salvatore.
Aesthetically, I love the sound of Messiah, but as a girls name. I would hate to see it used on a girl though because to me it screams trashy. But it does sound kind of pretty.
Aesthetically, I love the sound of Messiah, but as a girls name. I would hate to see it used on a girl though because to me it screams trashy. But it does sound kind of pretty.
This message was edited 9/9/2006, 9:18 PM
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I like Shiloh, and Emmanuel. I would use them too, I. I never knew that Shiloh was in referance to Christ, I thought of the battle. LOL
I personally wouldn't use Messiah, or Jesus, or Savior, or something of that nature.
Shiloh, Shepherd, Morning Star, River and Emmanuel I would use though.
Basically anyhting that wasn't very obvious. I personally feel the others are too 'sacred' for me to use, especially Jesus. I won't even use Joshua.
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R.I.P.: Steve Irwin
I personally wouldn't use Messiah, or Jesus, or Savior, or something of that nature.
Shiloh, Shepherd, Morning Star, River and Emmanuel I would use though.
Basically anyhting that wasn't very obvious. I personally feel the others are too 'sacred' for me to use, especially Jesus. I won't even use Joshua.
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R.I.P.: Steve Irwin
This message was edited 9/9/2006, 9:06 PM
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Lol, yep . . .
Although I'm a Christian, I don't object to Messiah any more than to the other names you've mentioned. I wouldn't use it myself as I think it's very much over-the-top, but there's nothing wrong with it.
The reason I *would* object to Messiah, as a very bad idea for a child's name, is the classic Monty Python line: "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy"!
♦ Chrisell ♦
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
Although I'm a Christian, I don't object to Messiah any more than to the other names you've mentioned. I wouldn't use it myself as I think it's very much over-the-top, but there's nothing wrong with it.
The reason I *would* object to Messiah, as a very bad idea for a child's name, is the classic Monty Python line: "He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy"!
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien.
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