My wayward daughter and her son "Messiah"

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Hmmm. Why don’t you absolutely dote on the name? Make sure she overhears you on the phone telling all your sisters, cousins, and friends how happy you are that she chose a Christian name.
 
I’m in a similar situation, in that I have a 20 year old son who lives with me for the time being who refuses to attend Mass with me. When he first asked to live with me, it was a condition of his occupancy to attend church with me (and pay his car insurance premium, since he isn’t in school). That lasted about 6 months before it became a weekly drag. I then decided to back off, and apologized to him for putting that condition on him- that I can’t force him to have a relationship with Jesus…he must voluntarily open his heart to God, and when he’s ready, I pray he’ll receive Christ with gusto. Until then, he’s not required to attend but always welcome. I did insist on him paying a nominal rent to me in addition to his insurance premium (which he wasn’t happy about, but has complied, after I pointed out that nowhere in our city would he be able to get an apartment for anything close to that amount).
He has a younger brother who’s 17 and still in high school, but unfortunately they both have been negatively influenced by their eldest brother (who’s 22 and out of the house) who stopped attending church at 16. Our family history is rife with non-church attendance by our sons. All I can do at this point is pray mightily for their souls, and beg God to allow me to be “Noah” for them, when the flood comes (allegorically speaking).
 
Allegra said:
Hmmm. Why don’t you absolutely dote on the name? Make sure she overhears you on the phone telling all your sisters, cousins, and friends how happy you are that she chose a Christian name.
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This is a briliant idea! I wanted to go a step further so I bought a cheap baby blanket to embroider the name on. I’ll give it to her this evening. Perhaps when she sees I “love” it she’ll change her mind. 🤣
 
If all goes well, you can hold on to that and give it to him when he’s older and tell him the funny story. Caution though! It could backfire. She could come back with something even more obnoxious!
 
I gave her the blanket and she hugged me and thanked me for the beautiful gift. She’s sticking with this ridiculous name. I dont know what else to do. My poor grandbaby is NOT the messiah! This name is so absurd. Why do parents get to give their children such stupid names when the child will have to suffer!!!
 
The name is not the end of the world. The important thing is that your grandchild is welcomed and taken care of by a loving family. The name Messiah is Hebrew in origin, means “anointed” and has become popular over the past few years. It is not that different from naming a boy Salvador (savior) or Jesus, which are pretty common names in the Hispanic world.

Years a go a close family member chose a very unusual name for her daughter, and many in the family (grandparents mostly) were quite upset about it. Like in your case, there were concerns about teasing. At that time I suggested that she picks a more common second name for her baby girl, which she has done and this calmed the family situation significantly. By the way, years later, her daughter, who is now adult, is quite proud of and happy with her strange name and no one (including her) is even thinking of using her middle name instead. I am happy to report there were no problems with other children teasing her either. Sometimes the problems we imagine are worse than the reality of life. This situation with your grandson’s name will work out as well. Also, keep in mind that it is possible to change one’s name and if the boy really hates it, he can do it later.

My suggestion is to support your daughter and not make an unnecessary issue out of this. You have enough problems to deal with as it is and it is really not your place to pick a name for your grandson. Perhaps you can (gently) advise your daughter that it may be a good idea to pick a more traditional middle name for the boy, so he has options on which name to use once he becomes older.
 
Well, at least now you know she really does like the name and didn’t choose it to spite you.
 
“Messias” (the Greek, Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish form of “Messiah”) is actually a baptismal name. A rare one, admittedly. For some reason, it is pretty common in Portugal and Brazil, and has been for quite a while.

Every Christian bears the name of Christ, and every baptized Christian is an “anointed one,” anointed with chrism. Hence the rare usage.

So of course it is imprudent in the US, but not irreligious. Cheer up!
 
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Mintaka said:
it is pretty common in Portugal and Brazil, and has been for quite a while.
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In the United States, too. Among boys’ names in 2016 it ranked about equally with Peter, Paul, and Sean. See comment No. 10 on this thread.
 
Why don’t you (personally) call the child the nickname “Siah”? Short, poppy names are really on trend, and it sounds like it could be short for Isaiah or the like. It might lessen the likelihood of the “Messy” nickname.

And keep in mind, your grandchild will be going to school with kids with a million kinds of names - common, biblical, culturally significant, improvised. It probably won’t be as big a deal as you fear.
 
Or Sai, which is actually a pretty common nickname right now. I currently have two student’s called Sai.
 
Really? Why would you do that to a child? So he can be bullied right from the get go at school?
 
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It is called having a sense of humor. Kids very much need a sense of humor (especially if they are saddled with a very outlandish name!)
 
When I said “a while” in Portugal, I meant the 1920’s. (It is also a Portuguese surname.)
 
I just returned from a praise night at church. I spoke to a friend who’s originally from Brazil, and she has heard it used, quite often…although, admittedly, not so much in the US. We kind of agreed that if he’s kept close to the church, he won’t have much trouble…if kids tease him, he can always remind them (and himself)that it’s certainly not a ‘bad’ name!

I really don’t think you have much to worry about, concerning the name. The other problems will be worked out, in time.

God bless all of you during this difficult time. Especially the baby…who didn’t ask for any of this!
 
Over dinner last night my daughter and husband were talking and she told him she had been playing around and thought “Messiah” might flow better as a middle name. There is hope yet!
 
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