Homeschooling Parents Encouraged to Name their Kids Anything but Caleb or Josiah
Report: The names Caleb and Josiah are now officially the most common and over-used names in the homeschooling community (30% usage), and homeschooling moms are being asked to reconsider their zeal for a nice cute little two-syllable old testament Bible name.
Not to offend or put down the brave, truthful spy and the uncompromising young King, but to name your baby Caleb or Josiah is to unwittingly name them after countless homeschooled boys around you, and to doom them to a life of always being mixed up or specified as Caleb S. or Josiah M.
When you are looking for an NCNJ (Non Caleb/Non Josiah) first name for your child, there are a few obvious rules:
1. Do not pick something that is on the top one hundred baby names list. Liam, Ethan, Logan, Carter…. all too common and therefore unwise. (Besides, little public-schooled children are named these, and who wants to imitate them?)
2. Do not pick a virtue. This is peak homeschoolism, and you have to be careful with that.
3. Make sure you do not pick something you’ve already named one of your kids. Call them all to you and get them to say their names around the circle to ensure there is no overlap.
The only thing left to do is open the Bible at random, hopefully somewhere in Chronicles or Numbers, close your eyes, and point. The ideal family would have names like Pathrusim, Nethanel, Segub, Beth-Rapha, Er, Ebiasaph, Caleb…. oops. You’ll have to point again on that one. Seems the Biblical moms had the same problem.
