As a child or adult is received into the Christian Church they are given a Christian name, usually a biblical name. In an increasingly multi-faith Australia the names we give and bear are becoming increasingly significant as personal identifiers and in witness. Hence my interest in names. In Australia,
Today’s parents are avoiding gender neutral names … yet there is a creativity in their conservatism with the traditional names sharing the top 10.
Boys: Jack, William, Lachlan, Joshua, Riley, Thomas, Cooper, Oliver, James and Ethan.
Girls: Mia, Chloe, Isabella, Charlotte, Emily, Ella, Olivia, Sienna, Ava and Sophie.
(Source: McCrindle Research Baby Names Australia 2008) See article.
PS Humour me for a moment: I note that the name ‘John’ occupied first place in 1950 and is now 80th. Does ‘Jack’ count as ‘John’?
Apparently, last year, only 18 baby boys born in the whole of Australia were given the name Peter. Makes our boy pretty special! But what of the Biblical ‘Rock’?
It took ‘One Man’to be the Rock on which the church was built and we could do with many more Peters and Petras to build the church. Thanks for providing one! 🙂