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https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/60880/why-dont-english-speakers-give-the-name-jesus-to-their-children was closed as off-topic. However, the FAQ clearly states that word-choice questions are on topic. Where was the infringement?

Note that this is not a petition to reopen the question, but rather a request for information so that I do not make the same mistake again.

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  • I don't have enough rep to suggest an edit in meta, but I think the title should be change to "why is question about child-naming off-topic?"
    – Ooker
    Aug 3, 2016 at 15:49
  • The way to ask here is to reword the title. Instead of asking why English speakers don't name their child as such, ask why "Jesus" is not suitable to be a child name. See Is asking about a name of a product (not naming it) on-topic?
    – Ooker
    Aug 3, 2016 at 15:52

2 Answers 2

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I think your question is an interesting one, but this website isn't the proper forum. Child-naming conventions are not part of English language and usage, but rather more to do with cultural norms. Unfortunately, I don't know where to point you to help find an answer.

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    I will add to this two things. First, on ELU, "word choice" only applies to questions of the form, "In this particular position in this particular sentence, should I use the word X, Y, or Z?" That's quite different from "Why don't more people name their children Pamela?" Secondly, and more importantly, even if questions about culture were on-topic here, the question at hand would have to be closed as subjective and argumentative, as it is impossible to answer without conducting a huge, globally representative poll of English-speaking parents.
    – RegDwigнt
    Mar 20, 2012 at 17:13
  • @Reg And that too.
    – Kit Z. Fox Mod
    Mar 20, 2012 at 17:23
  • Thank you, I now realise that my question is more cultural than language-related.
    – dotancohen
    Mar 21, 2012 at 10:56
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Choosing a name is not the same thing as deciding which word you should use; the latter is a topic for EL&U, but the first is not a topic, as the name is decided basing on the culture a person has.

As a matter of fact, the name given to a person, even when the person was born in an English-speaking country, could also not be an English name. There are people in the USA, born in the USA, who have an Italian name, such as Rosa Maria, Marco, or Andrea.

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