Why do many nuns take men's names?

Answer 1

There is no one answer to your question. Here are a few of the reasons:

• In some communities, nuns have been assigned the names that they are known by in religious life. This is an older tradition, not as common now as it once was, but it is true that some nuns have no say in what their religious idenitities will be.

• Sometimes, especially in past centuries but true even today, names were unisex or were pronounced differently for men and women. Julian is considered today to be a man's name, which puzzles some who wonder why Julian of Norwich had a "man's name," but in her day the feminine-version of the name was pronounced "Juli-anne." Today the same name is spelled "Julianne" when given to a woman.

• In some cases, when the choice has been the nun's, a particular name (whether male or female) is taken simply because the nun has a devotion to that particular saint. Indeed, in some communities there is a community-wide devotion to a particular saint and variations of that saint's name is given to all of the members. (This is why you'll sometimes find that entire communities of nuns all have double names that start or end with either "Mary" or "Joseph.")

The easy answer is tradition!- a Long-standing custom. It is true many religious orders, to which the Nuns belong ( there being no lay or unattached sisters) were founded by Men such as Saint Francis and St. Dominic- hence Franciscans, Dominicans. oddly there are more female than male saints- so there is no shortage of religious names without any Gender- hopping. Sometimes they will combine male and female names- such as a Sister Martin Mary of the IHM. ( no, she did not invert the name of the actress Mary Martin. Mary is of course the Blessed Virgin- but Martin is a male saint. You will also find such combinations as Mary Luke, and more normal-like male names adapted to a female role- I knew of a Sister Roberta. I suggest you ask about at a local convent or religious book store , they could shed some light on this veiled tradition, no pun intended. By the way both Sister Martin Mary and Sr. Roberta were both in the same order, the IHM ( Immaculate Heart of Mary).

Answer 2

At one time all Catholic nuns adopted a new name, perhaps patterned after a saint they wished to emulate and they usually took "Mary" as their second name. The practice of taking a new name is now optional, some orders continue it, but many do not, so its common now to see a name like "Sister Barbara Jones".

Answer 3

Nun is a contraction of the word renunciant. However, they are more commonly referred to as sisters in the church.

Answer 4

Nuns change their names because for them, it indicates their new life in Christ. Priests rarely change their names.

Answer 5

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