Catholic baptismal name suitability

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I was appalled last Sunday at mass. Our pastor is making a genuine effort to conform to the GIRM - he seems to be very disposed to be orthodox - so I was especially surprised by what happened!

We infrequently have baptisms at mass (most of the time baptisms are after the last mass of the day). For this baptism, when the pastor asked what name was to be given the child, the parents responded “Lilith Ann”. ***Lilith, ***for heaven’s sake! In this neck of the woods, the annual Lilith Festival is a celebration of New Age mysticism, Wicca, lesbianism, and so forth. While the paster might not be aware of that (his former assignment in our large Archdiocese is some distance from here), isn’t Lilith the dark woman of Genesis? Is this a suitable name for a Catholic child, or is this a strange but fashionable neoChristian monniker?

I asked father about it after mass (in private), and he said he was surprised also at Lilith as a name, but said the parents said they understood Lilith to be the first wife of Adam, and nothing more, so he saw nothing wrong with use of the name. Oh well… Any thoughts, anyone?
 
I am unaware of any Catholic teaching that Adam had a wife before Eve. Doesn’t Lilith belong to Jewish mythology? And wasn’t she a demon?
 
Isaiah 34:14 - “Wildcats shall meet with hyenas, goat-deamons shall call to each other; there too Lilith shall repose, and find a place to rest.”

NAB describes Lilith: a female demon thought to roam about the desert.
 
Not a name I would have picked but it seems right on par with Taylor, Madison, Hunter, Jackson, Peyton, Dakota, Savannah, etc.

The child has the christian name of Ann. That’s the important one.
 
Baptismal names ought to be in conformity with Christian patrimony. In other words, people should not be presenting children named lucifer or mohammed or lillith for Baptism.

How sad that Father didn’t take the opportunity to instruct the willfully ignorant.
 
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Ham1:
The child has the christian name of Ann. That’s the important one.
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Very true. At least she does have one patron saint.
 
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Intrntsrch:
How sad that Father didn’t take the opportunity to instruct the willfully ignorant.
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This was exactly my own thought. You know, I think I will pass the quote courteously provided above from Isaiah to Fr. That certainly will do no harm…

Regards.
 
wisdom 3:5:
Isaiah 34:14 - “Wildcats shall meet with hyenas, goat-deamons shall call to each other; there too Lilith shall repose, and find a place to rest.”

NAB describes Lilith: a female demon thought to roam about the desert.
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Thank you for the citation. I am sending it on to my pastor.
 
Back up a second. These people are having their child baptized, gave her the name Ann, simply thought Lilith was a pretty name…what have they done wrong? More importantly, let’s look at what they’ve done right.
 
Certainly, giving a child a Christian middle name is a step in the right direction. But if the Catholic child goes through life being called by a very un-Christian first name, it would seem to be sending quite the opposite message that this tradition seeks to send. My personal favorite un-Christian first name for a Catholic girl is Brandy. I just can’t understand how a parent can do that to their child.
 
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Flounder:
Back up a second. These people are having their child baptized, gave her the name Ann, simply thought Lilith was a pretty name…what have they done wrong? More importantly, let’s look at what they’ve done right.
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Actually, when I asked father if they knew the legend of Adam’s demon wife, Lilith, he told me that he asked the same question. They did know the legend - and still chose to name their child Lilith, since Lilith was Adam’s first wife (even though a demonic one).

I have three problems with this. First, Lilith is the name of a demon, albeit mythical, although Isaiah mentions “the lilith” (please see post above). Since the literal is always the basis for the symbolic when interpreting Scripture, we cannot merely dismiss Lilith as superstitious nonsense of the Old Testament (something one can never do)! The name represents something unGodly.

Second, the parents might respond that Lilith is only a myth and so the name has no power. Yet, they cited the reason for desiring the name as being Lilith’s status as Adam’s first wife. One cannot cite a myth’s powerlessness and then cite the myth as a motivation for use in a Catholic sacrament.

Third, I think a baptism performed so publicly, as part of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, using the name of a mythical demon, does not enhance the sacred: it trivializes Catholic spirituality at its best and blasphemes it at its worst.

Something is out of whack here.

Sadly, I’m coming to the conclusion that, after ten years at this parish, liturgical novelty has finally arrived. It’s time to move on to another, more orthodox parish.
 
It seems Canon Law also has something to say about this:

Can. 855 Parents, sponsors and parish priests are to take care that a name is not given which is foreign to Christian sentiment.
 
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dantheman:
It seems Canon Law also has something to say about this:

Can. 855 Parents, sponsors and parish priests are to take care that a name is not given which is foreign to Christian sentiment.
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Canon Law speaks wisely. Lilith is not an appropriate name for a Christian child, even if it is tempered with the middle name Ann. Why not, therefore, name a child Beelzebub?

'thann
 
I still think you’re having a cow about nothing…we catholics have often chosen Christian names, often middle names, to recognize a saint and get a patron. We have also chosen first names that aren’t religious.

Someone had to be George, Linus, Augustine etc. first after all. And how about nicknames?

If their intent was evil in naming the child after a demon, then it was evil. If it was innocent and just a nice sounding name, then the child won’t suffer. Hey there’s a Cardinal Sin in the college of cardinals.

I think the canon law is addressing baptismal and confirmation names…
 
I have heard about a priest baptizing a child named Lucifer. The family said it was a family name.

What’s in a name…?
 
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