Non catholic name

[Zakiyahbee96]

I have just become catholic and am left with a major question. My given name is not one of which that is of catholic origin. My name is Zakiyah Saima Louise. Zakiyah means intelligent in Arabic, and Saima means fasting women. The first two are of Muslim origin. My father is Nigerian and it is very common for our tribe to use Muslim names. I am wondering now that I am catholic if I need to change my name to say, a saints name? Or one that is biblically based?

 

[jdavani]

No you don’t have to change your name.

 

[ColorMomma]

There is no Catholic requirement for you to change your name. God has loved you since the moment you came into being. If you wanted to change it, that would be entirely up to you. God Bless.

 

[Rhubarb]

I don’t think so. I mean, there have been Popes named John, Peter, Stephan. These are Jewish names. There have been Popes named Dionysus, Gregory, Urban, Callixtus, Benedict, which are all Roman names. I mean, I’m not Catholic. But my name is Joshua. That’s a Jewish name. Would I need to change it?

 

[Mintaka]

Many people like to change their names, or add a different name. (Adding a name is probably easier to explain to people.) They like to remind themselves of their new self, and to remember that God has called them. Some people name themselves after a saint who helped them, or their baptismal sponsor.

But if you have become a Catholic, your name has already become a Catholic name!

So either way is a good way.

But “Sapientia” (“Wisdom” in Latin) or “Sophia” (“Wisdom” in Greek) are pretty close in meaning to Zakiyah! Heck, some people even spell Sophia with a Z, as “Zophia” or “Zofia.”

The name of the prophet Zechariah/Zachary means “Yahweh remembers.” I’ve seen people use it as a female name, so there’s nothing to stop you.

Anyway, it’s all your decision (although obviously, it’s a good idea to ask God what He thinks). If you feel a pull towards a new name, do that. If you don’t, just be the best St. Zakiyah that God can help you to be!

 

[BartholomewB]

I think Louise is a genuinely Catholic name, isn’t it? It’s the feminine form of Louis, the crusading king Louis IX of France who was canonized in 1297, less than thirty years after his death. There have been other saints as well with the name Louis, Luigi, Ludwig, or Aloysius.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

You can keep your name. My father did not have a “Catholic” name either and did not change his after he converted. He chose a patron saint he liked and had a devotion to that saint, but he didn’t take the saint’s name.

It used to be in the olden days that if you didn’t have a saint’s name, you had trouble with things like getting your name on the cemetery records at your Catholic cemetery. My mother had a lot of trouble with that when my dad died about 30 years back. The person who was in charge of the cemetery did not want to bury my father under his given legal name because it was not a Catholic saint’s name. Now, with more people having non-traditional names and less pressure for everybody to be named after a saint, that old thinking is dying out.

 

[DaveBj]

I would keep your given name, and make it the name of a Catholic saint

D

 

[Hebrews12]

If it’s something that you believe will help you start anew in your Catholic life, I would encourage you to follow that instinct. It is not required, though, so it would just be your personal choice to help bring you closer to a saint you admire and to God.