4 ms·

As the father of a son named Daniel, I found this fascinating. Thanks! I think I agree with the comment in the conclusion that Torah names are used by non-Jews

As the father of a son named Daniel, I found this fascinating. Thanks! I think I agree with the comment in the conclusion that Torah names are used by non-Jews when a Christian comes across the name. But I don't think in this case it's because of the supposed prophecies about Jesus but because the stories about Daniel in the Book of Daniel are memorable. I remember hearing about "Daniel in the Lion's Den" and Daniel sitting in flames in church and in my Children's Bible stories. But I chose the name for my son not (directly) because of its religious significance but because it's a normal, known name, in both English and Spanish. That is, neither a WASP American or a Mexican will really bat an eye at it. As a Hispanic American, that's something I've appreciated about my own name, Gabriel (and would love a historical deep dive on that name!). I couldn't really find any other names like that.

082349872349872 3y ago
David, Leonardo, Sebastian? (just going off baby name sites; wonder what ads I'll be seeing for the next few weeks?) There was a line in To Kill a Mockingbird about being named for a Confederate general leading to slow, steady, drinking, but when I looked at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_Civil_War_generals_(Confederate) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_Civil_War_gen... they have the WASP standards: British kings, Other kings, Biblical. (they also don't [from looking at A-C] seem to have the <ancestral name> <everyday name> <family name> triad that was common in certain parts of the US during my youth)
madcaptenor 3y ago
As a father of a daughter named Claudia, it has that property as well, although that doesn't help you since you have a son.
aidenn0 3y ago
Gabriel also appears in both the Hebrew scriptures (in the Ketuvim, which only names two angels) and the Gospels, being both the angel who explains Daniel's visions to him, and involved in the revelations for the births of both Jesus and John the Baptist. Is Michael (or it s cognate) at all common as a name in Mexico? That's a figure that is at least as prominent as Gabriel across the Abrahamic religions (in particular the prominent inclusion in the Leonine Prayers keep it a popular name in many Roman Catholic regions).
- klipt 3y ago
  > Michael (or it s cognate) at all common as a name in Mexico That would be Miguel.
  - aidenn0 3y ago
    Right; I feel stupid now. Unlike Gabriel or Daniel it's spelled differently. This removes the "resume friendly" aspect of the name that those have.
justusthane 3y ago
You might like this site, which gives name overlaps between two languages: https://mixedname.com/english_spanish_masculine_names https://mixedname.com/english_spanish_masculine_names
- limaoscarjuliet 3y ago
  That Venn diagram showing a child coming out from center of two round overlapping circles might be not the best choice, especially when pink color circles are at play when looking for feminine names :-) P.S. A bit of noise in the data too, some names in Polish/English pairs are not really good.
  - SamBam 3y ago
    Maybe it's intentional, and made by people who are not embarrassed to know where babies come from.
Hayvok 3y ago
> I remember hearing about "Daniel in the Lion's Den" and Daniel sitting in flames in church and in my Children's Bible stories. Minor nitpick, but it was Daniel's three friends who were thrown into the furnace, not Daniel himself. They are both indeed memorable stories.
- xp84 3y ago
  Shad’rach, Me’shach, and Abed’nego were thrown into the fiery furnace if I remember correctly. (Please forgive any spelling variations)
  - lfpeb8b45ez 3y ago
    Or Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, to use their less well known Hebrew names.
    - gandalfian 3y ago
      Or Shakeyourbed, Makeyourbed and Uptobedyougo, according to some children's classes...
      - RattlesnakeJake 3y ago
        Having grown up with VeggieTales, I still find myself defaulting to "Rack, Shack, and Benny."
AlotOfReading 3y ago
Gabriel is a conjunction of gabri- (heroic man), and -el (god), roughly translating to "man of God". -el is just a generic proto-semitic word for god that long predates any sort of written language. gabri- is likely related to a well known Aramean king named Gabbār, documented in the Kilamuwa stela alongside his (honorable) god Ba'al SMD. It's entirely possible that there's some recursive etymology here though, as is common with dynastic names.
malingo 3y ago
The story of Daniel killing the dragon with hair cakes is also pretty good: https://biblehub.com/catholic/daniel/14-26.htm https://biblehub.com/catholic/daniel/14-26.htm

082349872349872 3y ago

David, Leonardo, Sebastian? (just going off baby name sites; wonder what ads I'll be seeing for the next few weeks?) There was a line in To Kill a Mockingbird about being named for a Confederate general leading to slow, steady, drinking, but when I looked at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_Civil_War_generals_(Confederate) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_Civil_War_gen... they have the WASP standards: British kings, Other kings, Biblical. (they also don't [from looking at A-C] seem to have the <ancestral name> <everyday name> <family name> triad that was common in certain parts of the US during my youth)

madcaptenor 3y ago

As a father of a daughter named Claudia, it has that property as well, although that doesn't help you since you have a son.

aidenn0 3y ago

Gabriel also appears in both the Hebrew scriptures (in the Ketuvim, which only names two angels) and the Gospels, being both the angel who explains Daniel's visions to him, and involved in the revelations for the births of both Jesus and John the Baptist. Is Michael (or it s cognate) at all common as a name in Mexico? That's a figure that is at least as prominent as Gabriel across the Abrahamic religions (in particular the prominent inclusion in the Leonine Prayers keep it a popular name in many Roman Catholic regions).

klipt 3y ago
> Michael (or it s cognate) at all common as a name in Mexico That would be Miguel.
- aidenn0 3y ago
  Right; I feel stupid now. Unlike Gabriel or Daniel it's spelled differently. This removes the "resume friendly" aspect of the name that those have.

justusthane 3y ago

You might like this site, which gives name overlaps between two languages: https://mixedname.com/english_spanish_masculine_names https://mixedname.com/english_spanish_masculine_names

limaoscarjuliet 3y ago
That Venn diagram showing a child coming out from center of two round overlapping circles might be not the best choice, especially when pink color circles are at play when looking for feminine names :-) P.S. A bit of noise in the data too, some names in Polish/English pairs are not really good.
- SamBam 3y ago
  Maybe it's intentional, and made by people who are not embarrassed to know where babies come from.

Hayvok 3y ago

> I remember hearing about "Daniel in the Lion's Den" and Daniel sitting in flames in church and in my Children's Bible stories. Minor nitpick, but it was Daniel's three friends who were thrown into the furnace, not Daniel himself. They are both indeed memorable stories.

xp84 3y ago
Shad’rach, Me’shach, and Abed’nego were thrown into the fiery furnace if I remember correctly. (Please forgive any spelling variations)
- lfpeb8b45ez 3y ago
  Or Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, to use their less well known Hebrew names.
  - gandalfian 3y ago
    Or Shakeyourbed, Makeyourbed and Uptobedyougo, according to some children's classes...
    - RattlesnakeJake 3y ago
      Having grown up with VeggieTales, I still find myself defaulting to "Rack, Shack, and Benny."

AlotOfReading 3y ago

Gabriel is a conjunction of gabri- (heroic man), and -el (god), roughly translating to "man of God". -el is just a generic proto-semitic word for god that long predates any sort of written language. gabri- is likely related to a well known Aramean king named Gabbār, documented in the Kilamuwa stela alongside his (honorable) god Ba'al SMD. It's entirely possible that there's some recursive etymology here though, as is common with dynastic names.

malingo 3y ago

The story of Daniel killing the dragon with hair cakes is also pretty good: https://biblehub.com/catholic/daniel/14-26.htm https://biblehub.com/catholic/daniel/14-26.htm