Religious Name

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Religious Name

A religious name is a type of given name

Given name

A given name is a personal name that specifies and differentiates between members of a group of individuals, especially in a family, all of whose members usually share the same family name ....
bestowed for a religious purpose, and which is generally used in religious contexts. Different types of religious names may be in use among the clergy

Clergy

Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. The term comes from the Greek language ?????? - kleros, "a lot", "that which is assigned by lot" or metaphorically, "heritage"....
of a religion, as well in some cases among the laity

Laity

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all persons who are not clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not Holy Orders clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order ....
.

In some religious orders, a new member will often take a religious name after joining the order. This is often practiced in the Order of Saint Benedict

Order of Saint Benedict

The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent Christian monasticism Cenobium that observe the Rule of St. Benedict....
. Japanese Catholics have a long-cherished tradition of adopting a Western name as a "Baptismal name" in addition to their actual first name.

In some countries, it is common for members of the laity

Laity

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all persons who are not clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not Holy Orders clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order ....
to adopt a confirmation name, in addition to their baptismal name.

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Encyclopedia

A religious name is a type of given name

Given name

Clergy

Laity

Order of Saint Benedict

Laity

In religious organizations, the laity comprises all persons who are not clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not Holy Orders clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order ....
to adopt a confirmation name, in addition to their baptismal name. A newly-elected Pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City. The current pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in Papal conclave, 2005....
also takes on a new name, called his regnal name

Regnal name

A regnal name, or reign name, is a formal name used by some popes and monarchs during their reigns. Since medieval times, monarchs have frequently chosen to use a name different from their own personal name when they inherit a throne....
.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
converts often take a new name at the time of their reception into the church, either by baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is the ritual act, with the use of water, by which one is admitted as a full member of the Christian Church and, in the view of some, as a member of the particular Church in which the baptism is administered....
or chrismation

Chrismation

'Chrismation' is the name given in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches churches, as well as in the Assyrian Church of the East, Anglicanism, and in Lutheranism initiation rites, to the Sacrament or Sacred Mysteries more commonly known in the West as confirmation , although Italian language normally uses cresima...
. A person's religious name is always the name of a saint

Saint

A saint in Christianity is a human being who has been called to holiness. The term is used differently by various denominations, with some, such as the Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans distinguishing between Saints and saints....
, who then becomes that person's patron

Patron saint

A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, or person. Patron saints, because they have already transcended to the metaphysical, are able to intercede effectively for the needs of their special charges....
. When deciding on a name for their child, Orthodox parents will often name the child after a saint

Saint

Name day

A name day is a tradition in many countries in Europe and Latin America of celebrating on a particular day of the year associated with the one's given name....
" (i.e., the feast day of their patron saint), rather than their birthday. Orthodox monk

Monk

A Monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, the unconditioning of mind and body in favor of the realization of one's true nature, and does so living either alone or with any number of like-minded people, whilst always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose....
s and nun

Nun

A Nun is a woman who has taken special vows committing her to a religious life. She may be an monasticism who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent....
s are often given a new monastic name at the time of their tonsure

Tonsure

Tonsure is the practice of some Christianity churches, mystics, Buddhist novices and Bhikkhus, and some Hindu temples of cutting the hair from the scalp of clerics, devotees or holy people as a symbol of their renunciation of worldly fashion and esteem....
(i.e., when they take their monastic vows). A monastic name is usually the name of a prophet

Prophet

In religion, a prophet is a person who has claimed to have encountered the supernatural or the Divinity, often one who serves as an intermediary with humanity....
or a monastic saint.

Jews

Judaism

Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating in the Hebrew Bible , as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts....
who have non-Jewish legal names often have a patronymic

Patronymic

A patronym or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor....
Hebrew name

Hebrew name

Hebrew names are names that have a Hebrew language origin, classically from the Hebrew Bible. They are mostly used by people living in Judaism or Christianity parts of the world, but some are also adapted to the Islam world, particularly if a Hebrew name is mentioned in the Qur'an....
which is used for religious purposes.

Those who convert to Hinduism

Hinduism

'Hinduism' is the predominant religion of the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is often referred to as , a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal dharma", by its practitioners....
generally choose a new name, usually associated with the sect of Hinduism that they join. Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindus, like ISKCON devotees, are given a "spiritual name" by their guru upon initiation. This name ends in "Dasa" for men and "Dasi" for women (meaning "servant"), and generally begins with the same letter as the devotee's given name.

Many Buddhist

Buddhism

Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices considered by most to be a religionand is based on the teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as "The Buddha" , who was born in what is today Nepal....
sects also practice this, with newly ordained sangha

Sangha

Sangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose....
often given new names by their master. Lay Buddhists are also given Dharma name

Dharma name

A Dharma name is a new name acquired during a Buddhist Refuge . The name is traditionally given by a high-ranking Buddhist monastic.If the student doesn't have a relationship with the monastic teacher and the ceremony is a public one with a congregation present, their new name will tend to reflect the lineage/tradition rather than the indi...
s during their refuge ceremony

Refuge (Buddhism)

In lay and monastic ordination ceremonies, Buddhists take the Three Refuges in the Three Jewels and are said to "take refuge." The practice of taking refuge on behalf of young or even unborn children is mentioned in the Majjhima Nikaya, recognized by most scholars as an early text ....
.

It is usual for a Discordian

Discordianism

Discordianism is a modernism religion centered on the idea that chaos is all that there is, and that Cosmos and disorder, the latter considered a concept distinct from chaos, are both illusions that are imposed on chaos....
to adopt a faux-mystical and bizarre name for the duration of the episkoposity; such names are not immutable and are frequently adapted over time.