It's fine not to choose a name from the Torah, but perhaps you also shouldn't choose such a blatantly new Testament Biblical name either. Or a blatantly Star Warsian name. Unless your husband really wants to turn on his James Earl Jones voice "Luke .... "

I'm a former Catholic who's now agnostic. I would always associate Luke first with Star Wars, then with the New Testament, then with the Dukes of Hazard.

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I don't strongly feel that the name needs to come from the Torah as some of the posters have mentioned. I know a millions Jews with my name and it's of Greek origin. Same with my husband's and his is Scottish. I don't think our parents really noticed at the time. Maybe because the names were so popular when we were born.

It is weird to me that there are so many Jewish Mathews, Jonathans and Marcs, but not as many Lukes.

And for the star wars comments, for whatever reason that doesn't bother me. A name will always be associated with something.

Definitely don't confuse the New Testament John with the Old Testament Jonathan. The story of Jonathan and his platonic relationship with David is pretty fun but he was definitely Jewish.

Since you are giving the baby the Hebrew name of the beloved family member, perhaps you could do something else for the English first name and use the "L" and Luke for the middle name. I think someone else said use a different first name and the name Lucas. The letter "L" is really tough. We had this problem with the letter "K" for a girl and ended up using the K for the middle name. The family was still really honored that we chose to name after my favorite uncle and we spared DD the trouble of having very limited options that we liked. Tough choices for you. Good luck.

I am Jewish (reform) and like the name Luke. I say go 4 it!

Anonymous wrote:religion is not for everybody. names, however, are.

Good point. Nobody bat's an eye at non-Jewish kids with Old Testament names. At least it's not Christopher.

Very goyish.

OP again. I don't strongly feel that the name needs to come from the Torah as some of the posters have mentioned. I know a millions Jews with my name and it's of Greek origin. Same with my husband's and his is Scottish. I don't think our parents really noticed at the time. Maybe because the names were so popular when we were born.

It is weird to me that there are so many Jewish Mathews, Jonathans and Marcs, but not as many Lukes.

And for the star wars comments, for whatever reason that doesn't bother me. A name will always be associated with something.

OP here. I think of Mary, Christopher and Christine as the real big no-nos for Jews, and funny enough I know Jews with these names. They are all fine, well adjusted adults who seem to be okay with their names. Luke is boarder line to me, but obviously it bothered me enough to mention it here.

We are naming the baby after a beloved relative who has passed and our tradition is to give the baby Hebrew name of person that passed (that is only used when they are bar mitzvahed and at the circumcision) and the first letter of the English name of the person who passed, which is L. I don't really like any other L names for boys.

We are not super Jewish, but some relatives in our family our more observant and I don't want to offend anyone since we are supposed to be honoring the person who passed.

The only absolute no-nos for a Jewish boy, in my opinion, are Christian, Christopher, and Jesus. (And Judas I suppose, but who would ever use that?) Luke does sound Christian, but it's not terrible.

FWIW, I have a non-Jewish first and last name (but was born and raised Jewish) and when I am introduced to other Jews, at shul or wherever, they assume I am either Christian or a convert. I know this because they have told me so. It doesn't bother me that much anymore, though it used to.

If you love Luke, then go for it. I love the name Paul and would consider using that for a son. It's fairly Christian but I have known Jewish men with the name, and the kids will have my husband's last name which is a traditional Jewish name, so I figure it cancels out.

I don't think it's too Christian, but I married into a not particularly observant Jewish family, so what do I know. The one that always surprises me is Peter. I know a surprising number of Jewish men named Peter.

religion is not for everybody. names, however, are.

I'm Jewish and I wouldn't use it, but that's just me -- I want a more Jewish name. If you like it yourself, and are only worried about what other people will think, I wouldn't worry about it. With so many mixed marriages now, I know Jewish kids with names from all kinds of cultures (Indian, Japanese, and yes, traditionally Christian names). As long as you're planning to belong to a non-Orthodox synagogue, I doubt anyone will blink an eye.

The only other consideration is if your last name is very Jewish, you might want a first name that matches it better. But again that's just a personal preference.

Given that Jesus and his early followers (and early chroniclers) were Jewish, I would have assumed that Luke was a Hebrew name originally. Like Matthew and Marc are. And Jesus was for that matter, right? But I am not Jewish. So my guess is that a lot of non-Jews will not know to criticize and would assume it likely that Lucas/Luke was also Hebrew originally. I cannot say about the Jewish community, though.

FWIW, the Gospels have varying attitudes toward Judaism, as I learned in a college course on the subject. Matthew is very respectful of the Jewish traditions and tries to paint the Jesus Movement as an extension of Judaism. The Gospel of Luke (and its companion Acts of the Apostles) is more about the separation of the Jesus Movement from Judaism and into its own tradition. There are some excellent secular resources even on the internet to learn about what the Gospels say about Judaism to the extent this interests you or may bother you.

(Your question caused me to research a bit, and it appears that there is some controversy as to whether "Luke" was Gentile or Jew: http://www.levitt.com/essays/luke. This is all academic, of course, but interesting to me.)

Interesting that two of the Gospels are very common Jewish boy names, Matthew and Mark. I know of and grew up with many Jewish boys named these two names. As far as Luke and John, I haven't seen any Jewish Lukes. I don't know many Jewish Johns either, but tons and tons of Jonathans.

No, it is too Star Wars-ian. You won't believe how popular Star Wars is nowadays among boys, if you didn't already know.