# Naming Children



## Michael Butterfield (Jan 11, 2006)

I am looking for a new name for my soon to be born son. In looking I came across the following account of an interesting name.

From Benjamin Brook´s Lives of the Puritans

"Praise-God Barebone was of the baptist persuasion, and pastor to a church of that denomination, meeting in Fleet Street, London. . . . The time of Mr. Barebone´s death is not mentioned by any author we have seen, nor are we acquainted with any further particulars of his history. It may be observed, however, for the amusement of the reader, that there were three brothers of this family, each of whom had a sentence for his christen name, vis. Praise-God Barebone; Christ-came-into-the-world-to-save Barebone; and If-Christ-had-not-died-thou-hadst-been-damned Barebone. In this last instance, some are said to have omitted the former part of the sentence and to have called him only "œDamned Barebone." This style of naming individuals was exceedingly common in the time of the civil wars; yet the absurd practice was not peculiar to that period; but was I use long before, and continues, in some measure, even to the present day. it is said that the genealogy of our Saviour might be learnt from the names in Cromwell´s regiments; and that the muster-master used no other list than the first chapter of Matthew."


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