Naming things after the Gods

[Der Einzelgänger]

I was reading Germanic Heathenry and came across the description of Mundilfaro, the father of Sunna and Mano. He named them after the sun and moon which the gods had created. The gods in turn were insulted by this and made Sunna and Mano drives the wagons which carry their relative celetial bodies.

It says in Germanic Heathenry that Germanic customs forbid the naming of children after Gods, Goddesses, or other holy things. Which I can understand. But I was watching a part of the Tour de France, and a man's name was Thor. Is this custom different for the Nordic Heathens?

Also, I've seen people name their dogs Odin, Thor, Etc. I have a bunch of tarantulas, and only one had the name of a god. But what was weird was it did not live very long, it did not eat, and it died when it was fairly young.

Is naming things after the gods a bad thing? I was mainly asking because I plan on getting two German Shephard pups, and possibly naming them after Geri and Freki... But I'm not so sure...

[Lonnie]

IIRC...
That is more something found on the Contenental side than in the Nordic side. Just looking at the nordic sagas will show that peoples names included gods names quite often. It is just one of the many regional differences that one can find...

[beowulf]

I've mentioned naming a second son Thorvald or something to that effect and my wife wasn't very impressed with the idea. Apparently she fears he would suffer persecution at school on account of such a name. :D

[aud_friggsdottir]

We have a "Thora" and she lives up to the name :)....Red hair, blue eyes...full of fire ;)...

We also have a Freydis and Hakon's middle name is Tyr. I think it is consistent to name children after the Gods and Goddesses...

Reading the Sagas and other books, it seemed everyone had a name from the Gods or derived from one of the several names they had.

FFF

[Hveðrungur Kveldúlfsson]

Ive had names for my children picked out for some time now. If I have boys they will be: Magnus, Gunnar and Thorstein. If I have girls id want to name them: Freyja, Astrid and Thora. There is a chance my possible future wife could have a problem with the names.....but oh well!!!!! :D :p

[Der Einzelgänger]

I don't think I'll name my children after the gods. Gonna follow the Germanic custom of not naming after the gods.

I was thinking of names for boys, Friedrich (peaceful Ruler), William (Valiant Protector), maybe Liam (Unwavering Protector)
Not sure about girls names yet.

[Hveðrungur Kveldúlfsson]

I don't think I'll name my children after the gods. Gonna follow the Germanic custom of not naming after the gods.

I was thinking of names for boys, Friedrich (peaceful Ruler), William (Valiant Protector), maybe Liam (Unwavering Protector)
Not sure about girls names yet.
Im pretty sure Lissa has some girls names picked out allready ;) Remember to tell me if you guys are ever expecting and ill make those hammer shaped teething things for ya :D

[Der Einzelgänger]

Yeah I'm pretty sure she does.

Well I don't think that will be happening anytime soon... But I will definately take you up on that offer. :cool:

[æinvargR]

In Scandinavia they would sometimes take a god's name and add something in front or behind it, e.g. Þórsteinn - Thor stone. They would never give a god's name unaltered to a child. In the 18th century people started naming their sons Tor in Sweden, and in the 19th it got popular. Until 1986 Tor was considered to heathen to have a name day in the (Christian) calendar.

[beowulf]

William (Valiant Protector)'Tis a good name! :D That's my son's first name after an ancestor. His middle name is 'Riley', Irish Gaelic for "valiant one" or something to that effect, so my son's a "valiant defender". A good strong pair of names I think. ;)

[Scramaseax]

I think it shows reverence for the gods not to address them by their names but to use a kenning or pseudonym. The fact that Odin has over 170 recorded aliases shows how important he was. Plus it helps you learn about their character.

[Frozen Soul]

One of my friends decided to name his cat Thor. Unfortunatley, the cat lived a very short life. I do not know if the lifespan of the cat pertained to it's name or not. A sad event none the less.

Oh, and William is an excellent name.

[Odinskind]

One of my friends decided to name his cat Thor. Unfortunatley, the cat lived a very short life. I do not know if the lifespan of the cat pertained to it's name or not. A sad event none the less.

Oh, and William is an excellent name.


Hello all,I am new on here and I though I should just say something about this.
I find this to be very strange after reading some of the post on this thread. I had a German Sheppard puppy I named Thor about 7 years ago ,he got ran over by a car at 6 months old. Then a few months later I took in a Red Boy pit that was a female and I called her Freya,she was killed also shortly after I got her.

[pinlighter]

Welcom, Odinskindred. Post freely.

I shall have to pass on the relationship between your pets' names and their sad fate, though - I don't think the divine works on that level

[freya3]

Odinskind, nice to see another KY person in here :D

Well, not to break the streak, but I have a 5 year old lab named Freya and has been the picture of health. We named her before we got into Odinism, so maybe that is why the gods and goddesses have not taken offense and punished us. She did tear our house up literally her first year, though (had to replace the kitchen floor).

[Schwarzesonne]

In Scandinavia we see many people named after deities—especially Thór, Freyja & Baldur. On the Continent, however, this has long been considered unadvisable. Interestingly enough, ancient England was known for given somewhat hidden god-names (Osgood, Ælfric, &c.), although this tradition seems to have been lost over time.