What’s in a name?

As you probably know, my name is Christopher. That was the most popular boy’s name given to babies in 1972. And I was born just a couple of years before.

We all know, over the decades, that names come and go in and out of fashion. In 1939 Margaret was the most popular girl’s name. In 2015 it was Amelia, and Margaret was nowhere to be seen. Very few names remain popular for a long period of time (only William has been in the top ten for boy’s names over an entire century). The patterns of naming reflect local fashion, politics or interests and change over time.

Patterns in the record

These patterns of personal names can provide us with indicators of when a historical event happened or was recorded. This has always been true and gives us an interesting way of demonstrating the authenticity of the New Testament.