Health & Fitness

What's Wrong With Naming A Child Messiah?

The line between church and state blurred last week when a Tennessee Judge ordered a baby’s first name to be changed from Messiah to Martin.

But the parents originally took their case to court to change their 7-month-old son’s LAST name after the couple could not decided on whose surname the child should have.

Child Support Magistrate Lu Ann Ballew arrived at her decision because “The word Messiah is a title and it's a title that has only been earned by one person and that one person is Jesus Christ," she explained.

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When asked if she had any issues with parents who name a child Jesus, she responded, "I thought about that as well. And that's not relevant to this case."

For now, the boy’s legal name is Martin DeShawn McCullough — which includes both parents’s last names — but his mother says she plans to appeal Judge Ballew’s decision and will continue to call her son Messiah. 

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The Social Security Administration (SSA) online database of baby names shows the name Messiah has recently grown in popularity. In 2012, the name ranked as #387 on the list of most common names, just behind Scott (#386).

According to the SSA, the surge in naming babies Messiah put it fourth on the list of the fastest-growing names in 2012 — just behind Jase.

Should a judge have the power to change a child's name? Should some names be off-limits?


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