April 1st, 2011 | 
Author: In every western languages, the set of names in conventional life is surprisingly limited. In countries where there is an settled Christian Church, the menu of forenames out of which a name may be chosen is generally regulated by the Church or by a secular powers operating within a Christian cultural pathway. These are names with some Christian association (in particular, a name that was borne by a person appeared in the New Testament, an early saint, or a saint with a local cult). Some of them have undergone German translation in the past. The main sources for such given names are the following:
• The Bible (New Testament): Names such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, or Mary have cognates in every western language, with many derivative and hypocoristic forms, that have given growth to countless myriads of surnames. Mention should also be made here of the Hispanic habit of Marian names, according to which a relation of the Virgin Mary can produce a female given name, even if the noun in question is masculine in grammar gender. These names among others: Pilar, Remedios, and Dolores.
• The Bible (Old Testament): Old Testament names are, of course, of Hebrew etymology, and majority of them are existed as Jewish forenames. In their vernacular western forms, names such as Job, Ezekiel, Ebenezer, Zillah, and Mehitabel have been used by Christian fundamentalists (Puritans, Dissenters) since the 16th century. There were advanced language translation service even that times. These names are not used by mainstream groups such as Roman Catholics or High-Church Anglicans, excluding cases where an Old Testament name had also emerged by an early Bible saint (e.g., David, Daniel). Some Old Testament names, especially female names, for example Deborah and Rebecca, have appeared very popular among Protestants, partly because the stock of New Testament women names is very narrow indeed.
• First Christian saints: Some saints’ names are very widespread (e.g., Anthony, Francis, Martin, Bernard) and are produced by Roman Catholics, Protestants, and religion officers alike. Others, like Teresa, Dominic, Ignatius, and Aloysius, are borne mainly or only by Roman Catholics. Among Roman Catholics in mainland Europe, a traditional given name is often chosen in respect of a saint who is the master of the county in which the infant is born. in other words, the Italian forename Gennaro is associated chiefly with Naples, Italy, and its saint, San Gennaro, a priest beheaded at Pozzuoli at times of persecution of Christians in 304 A.D. Leocadia is connected with Toledo, Spain and its chief saint, who was a virgin martyr who met a same fate in or about the same year and in whose honor the male form Leocadio is also used.
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