In every European languages, the set of names in conventional use is remarkably limited. In territories where there is an settled Biblical Church, the menu of names out of which a name may be selected is generally ruled by the Church or by a religious powers working within a Christian cultural pathway. These are names with some Christian relation (in particular, a name that was borne by a person mentioned in the New Testament, an early saint, or a saint with a regional cult). Some of them have experienced German translation in the past. The main sources for these given names are the following:
• The Bible (New Testament): Forenames such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, and Mary have cognates in every European language, with many changed and hypocoristic forms, which have given growth to enormous myriads of patronymics. Mention should also be made here of the Hispanic tradition of Marian names, according to which an attribute of the Virgin Mary can produce a woman first name, despite the noun investigated is masculine in grammar form. These names among others: Pilar, Remedios, and Dolores.
• The Bible (Old Testament): Old Testament names are, naturally, of Hebrew etymology, and many of them are used traditionally as Jewish forenames. In their vernacular European forms, names such as Job, Ezekiel, Ebenezer, Zillah, and Mehitabel have been used by Christian orthodox (Puritans, Dissenters) from the 16th century. There were developed language translation service already that times. These names are not used by common groups such as Roman Catholics or High-Church Anglicans, except in cases where an Old Testament name had also been borne by an early Christian saint (e.g., David, Daniel). Several Old Testament names, especially female names, such as Deborah and Rebecca, have become extremely popular among Protestants, partly because the scope of New Testament women names is very limited indeed.
• Early Christian saints: Some saints’ names are very developed (e.g., Anthony, Francis, Martin, Bernard) and are borne by Roman Catholics, Protestants, and religion officers alike. Others, like Teresa, Dominic, Ignatius, and Aloysius, are developed generally or exclusively by Roman Catholics. After Roman Catholics in continental Europe, a habitual given name is often chosen in honor of a saint who is the patron of the county in which the child is born. For example, the Napolitano name Gennaro is associated chiefly with Naples, Italy, and its saint, San Gennaro, a bishop murdered at Pozzuoli at times of persecution of Christians in 304 A.D. Leocadia is connected with Toledo, Spain and its patron saint, who was a virgin martyr who met a same fate in or about the same year and in whose memory the male form Leocadio is also emerged.