Taking a saint's name

[John E.]

I was curious to know where the tradition of taking on a Saint's name when baptized comes from. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.


John E.

[Michael Stickles]

I was curious to know where the tradition of taking on a Saint's name when baptized comes from. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

There is an article at OrthodoxInfo.com - On Taking a Christian name at Baptism (http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/taking_name.aspx) - that provides a good introduction to this.

In Christ,
Mike

[Olga]

I might also add that there exist a range of traditions within the Orthodox world as to baptismal names (be it of "cradle" Orthodox, or converts later in life). Russians and many other Slavs insist on a name which belongs to a saint.

Greeks have a range of names which are related to particular feasts, which may or may not have a saint associated with the name. Such names include Stavros/Stavroula (Exaltation of the Cross), Sotirios/Sotiria (Transfiguration - these names mean "of the Saviour"), Lambrini (Easter - means "bright one"), Evangelos/Evangelia (Annunciation), and Panaghiotis/Panaghiota (after Panaghia - All-holy, the most common title used for the Mother of God). These names do not exist in Russia, nor have I come across any Russian names which are "translations" of these. Greeks with these names might not have a patron saint as such, but they celebrate their namedays on the relevant feastday.

Many Serb names are descriptive, such as Miroslav, Slobodan, etc. There may or may not be saints associated with these names, but the Serbs have a common family patron saint, the Slava.

There are some interesting historical quirks in all of this. Many saints who converted later in life were indeed given "Christian" names at baptism, yet, in many cases, they are known not by their baptismal name, but by their former name. Through their glorification as saints, their "pre-Christian" name has become accepted as a valid baptismal name. Two saints in particular come to mind. The Orthodox world does not venerate them as St Basil and St Helen (their baptismal names), but as St Vladimir and St Olga.