The best baby names in the Bible

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One of my mom’s favorite stories to tell about my birth centers on my paternal grandmother’s reaction to my name.

Grandma Dallas was apparently concerned about my parents’ choice of “Kelsey” because the only time she’d seen it before was in the name of a local business — Kelsey’s Furniture Store.

My grandma was worried that my parents had stepped too far away from traditional naming conventions but, as it turns out, they were simply on the leading edge of a trend.

By the time I was in elementary school, Kelseys were everywhere. I’ve encountered fellow Kelseys around my same age on sports teams, in college classes and on staff at the Deseret News.

I thought about my name this weekend as I read interesting stories from The Washington Post and The New York Times about recent baby name trends.

Although the stories come at the topic from different angles, both reflect on the idea that parents today are hungry for unique names. The reporters explore why separate quests for uniqueness often end up in the same place.

I was amused to learn from The New York Times that it’s becoming increasingly common to pay a name consultant to provide you with baby name ideas.

Taking that step seems unnecessary to me since you can flip through a Bible for free. The Bible includes all sorts of name options, from the classic to the absurd.

Here are some of my favorites:

• Matthew
• Luke
• Rachel
• Rebecca
• James
• Elijah
• Jedidiah
• Job
• Moriah
• Shiloh
• Tirzah
• Boaz
• Gabriel
• Keziah
• Zipporah

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Term of the week: Unauthorized pilgrims

This year’s Hajj turned tragic amid intense heat. More than 1,300 Muslims died while making the pilgrimage, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.

As I read about the tragedy, I stumbled on a term I hadn’t seen before: unauthorized pilgrims.

Here’s the context: The Saudi health minister explained that more than 80% of those who died were unauthorized pilgrims, meaning they didn’t have access to important rest stations along the journey, which would have provided relief from the heat.

Often with the help of travel agencies in their home countries, unauthorized pilgrims come into Saudi Arabia on the wrong type of visa and then travel — sometimes by foot — to Mecca.

“Saudi authorities cracked down on unauthorized pilgrims, expelling tens of thousands of people. But many, mostly Egyptians, managed to reach holy sites in and around Mecca, some on foot. Unlike authorized pilgrims, they had no hotels to return to,” The Associated Press reported.

The Saudi government will investigate the travel agencies that sent the unauthorized pilgrims, the article explained.

What I’m reading ...

Just as AI-driven tools like ChatGPT were catching on, I shared an article about pastors using them to write their sermons. In his latest column for Religion Unplugged, Bobby Ross Jr. wrote about pastors using them to translate their sermons in order to connect with more people. I have to admit that I like this second use better.

A judge in Missouri ruled last week that the state’s abortion restrictions do not violate religious freedom protections , according to The Associated Press. Faith leaders from a variety of traditions had argued that the law forces one set of religious beliefs on everyone in Missouri.

In April, I wrote about visiting the site of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. On Sunday, many others gathered at the site to break ground on the future : “A facility that will house a museum about the history of antisemitism in America, classrooms for lectures about countering hate and a space for kosher-catered events. And, of course, the sanctuary for Tree of Life,” The Forward reported.

Odds and ends

On Sunday night, two runners with BYU ties came in first and third in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, cementing the school’s reputation as “Steeple U,” as my colleague Doug Robinson reported . While watching the race, I noted that the commentators were talking about eventual winner Kenneth Rooks being so nervous before the event that he had to “read his scriptures” to calm down.