Everywhere you look there's a John, Christian (Christie?), Daniel, Jacob, Sarah, Lily — names derived from the Bible, or at least credited that way. My Jewish friend chose the Hebrew name 'Ethan' for her son, and I"m sure many of you know people whose religious beliefs influenced their children's names as well.
My own kids' names, Rowan and Aurora, definitely have some religious meaning for me as well, being Pagan, but Pagan kid names are often a little more complicated. Well, or less, depending on how you look at it.
If you're looking for a Pagan or Wiccan-themed baby name, there's a lot of different things to consider.
There's no one culture that's influenced Paganism or Wicca as a whole, or one book that names can be taken from. Nature and astronomy is obviously going to be a large part of the influence on Paganism, which is where my own children's names especially come from — Rowan and Aurora. However, Rowan's name also holds special significance, since the Celtic Druids regarded the tree with great respect, and it became associated with witchcraft and even a symbol of the "supernatural". Celtic names are incredibly common amongst Pagans since many of our modern traditions come from old Celtic practices.
Some folks look towards different cultural backgrounds like Welsh, Gaelic, or Germanic for influence, or different pantheons like the Egyptian, Norse, or Greek Gods. Some find it pretentious to use the names of Gods or Goddesses as a child's name, but others have no problem with it. My family uses their names for our pets … we have an Isis, Pandora, Loki, and Odie (who was Odin until we learned she was a girl, oops!).
So, taking in mind the wide pool you've got to draw from, finding names can be incredibly fun. Here are some of my favorites:
Girls:
- Dawn
- Ember
- Autumn
- Gwen
- Persephone
- Lily
- Sabrina
- Winter
- Bridget
- Aurora
- Summer
- Jade
- Rose
- Luna
- Bryn
- Soleil
- Isis
- Deidre
- Willow
- Lilith
- Celeste
- Jade
Boys:
- Avery
- Forest
- Cameron
- Gavin
- Hunter
- Brian
- Drew
- Evan
- Geir
- Connor
- Kegan
- Robert
- Brody
- Dylan
- Bran
- Tristen
- Steffan
- Reed
- Arthur
- Seth
- Griffin
- Amon
Gender Neutral:
- Rowan/Rowyn
- Morgan
- Raven/Ravyn
- Sage
So see? Contrary to popular belief, there's many "normal" names that also are Pagan names as well. We're not all weird. Well, kind of. And obviously, there are names that have different meanings, having origins in multiple languages or cultures as well. But I personally really like nature and Celtic names the most.
What's your favorite name from the list, or do you have some of your own?
Image via La Catholique/Flickr
