medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Herr Doktor Jones, Frau Vivaria and others
The question of nomenclature is too often a frustrating one, and it is
tempting to read too much into a choice of name. The Ptolemaic dynasty
based at Alexandria derived probably from a place-name in north Egypt
(this from memory, my Coptic/Levantine shelf is 2000 miles away) -- and
some of them had pretty peaceful lives. What subsequent reasons parents
might have had for naming their children is as current as 'Kylie' and
'Diana'. Adoptive names are quite another matter, especially those
adopted by priests and monks in choosing a patron or model for a
priestly or cenobitic ('angelic', so my Coptic friends remind me) life.
But it is too often that we do not know this unless the priest/monk is
recent. Mr of Braga now -- did his mum call him Martin? Or did he later
adopt the name in honour of Martin of Tours, whose life he in some ways
tried to shadow? I will not apologise for trying to be a damp squib -- I
just believe that names are often chosen for quite prosaic reasons --
also, Luciana's reminder of the original meaning of 'christian' name --
i.e. a name adopted at baptism -- is an important one. But how many
quiet people do we currently know who are called 'Vic'? And how many
happy people called 'Deirdre'?
Angus, Oman
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