In every European linguas, the set of given names in everyday life is remarkably small. In countries where there is an established Christian Church, the choice of names out of which a name may be chosen is generally ruled by the Church or by a religious powers operating within a Christian cultural pathway. These are names with some Biblical relation (in particular, a name that was borne by a figure mentioned in the New Testament, an early saint, or a saint with a regional belief). Many of them have experienced German translation in the past. The main sources for these given names are the following:
• The Bible (New Testament): Names such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, and Mary have cognates in every European lingua, with various changed and hypocoristic forms, which have given rise to countless myriads of surnames. Mention should also be made here of the Spanish habit of Marian names, according to which an attribute of the Virgin Mary may produce a female given name, even if the noun in question is masculine in grammatical form. These names include Pilar, Remedios, and Dolores.
• The Bible (Old Testament): Old Testament names are, of course, of Hebrew etymology, and many of them are existed as Jewish names. In their vernacular western forms, names such as Job, Ezekiel, Ebenezer, Zillah, or Mehitabel have been used by Christian fundamentalists (Puritans, Dissenters) since the 16th century. There were developed language services even that times. These names are not used by mainstream groups such as Roman Catholics or High-Church Anglicans, excluding cases where an Old Testament name had also been borne by an early Bible saint (e.g., David, Daniel). Several Old Testament names, especially female names, such as Deborah and Rebecca, have appeared very popular among Protestants, partly because the scope of New Testament female names is very limited indeed.
• Early Christian saints: Some saints’ names are very developed (e.g., Anthony, Francis, Martin, Bernard) and are produced by Roman Catholics, Protestants, and religion officers alike. Others, such as Teresa, Dominic, Ignatius, and Aloysius, are developed mainly or exclusively by Roman Catholics. After Roman Catholics in mainland Europe, a habitual given name is regularly chosen in honor of a saint who is the patron of the locality in which the child is born. For example, the Italian name Gennaro is associated chiefly with Naples, Italy, and its saint, San Gennaro, a bishop murdered at Pozzuoli at times of persecution of Christians in 304 A.D. Leocadia is connected with Toledo, Spain and its chief saint, who was a virgin martyr who faced a same fate in or about the same year and in whose memory the male form Leocadio is also emerged.
