Christening Name
Christening Name
The name formally given to a child at Christian baptism in British tradition, historically the sole legal means of name registration and identical to the given name in most cases.
In British tradition, a christening name is the forename bestowed upon a child at the rite of baptism (christening) in the Christian church. For centuries before civil registration, the parish baptism record was the only official documentation of a person's birth and name — there was no separate birth certificate. The 1836 Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act created a parallel civil system for England and Wales, but the christening name retained its cultural primacy. Families who did not christen their children immediately at birth sometimes found their legal name differed from the name they were known by at home.
Religious and Ceremonial Context
The christening ceremony involves the pouring or immersion of water and the formal pronouncement of the child's name by the officiating minister. Godparents play a significant role, often providing one of the child's names. The tradition of naming children after saints was dominant in England until the 16th-century Reformation reduced the influence of the Catholic saints' calendar, though saint-name traditions persisted strongly in Catholic families and in Ireland and Scotland.
Discrepancy and Common-Law Names
A peculiar feature of British naming history is that a person might have one name on their baptismal register and go by a completely different name in daily life — a 'common-law name' based purely on usage and reputation. British law has traditionally recognised names acquired through consistent use and reputation (the 'reputation' principle), meaning that legal identity and christening identity could diverge. This flexibility, while sometimes administratively inconvenient, reflects a pragmatic English tradition that a person is who their community knows them to be.