What you think of the name Maya for a Christian family?

Question

My wife likes the name Maya but i think it's too associated with Hinduism. We're Christians. What do you think?

Each of us still feels the same way. I don't like the associations and my wife doesn't care. I don't care much for associations. The positive for me is that the Hebrew Mayim means water. I'll think about that as I'm thinking about doing the birth in water. My question focuses on how the name might affect the identity. I want to lead my children to find their identity in Christ, love and humility. I don't want them to identify with myths of false gods.

Answer 1

Besides the Mayan culture association... you may want to ponder other associations to that name:

Religion and mythology
Maya (Jainism), translated as "greed"; one of the 18 traditional undesirables in Jainism
Maya (illusion), a concept in Hindu and Dharmic philosophy
Mayasura, a Hindu demon often known by the name Maya
Queen Maya, the mother of the historical Buddha
Maia (mythology), eldest of the Pleiades in Greek Mythology, mother of Hermes
Maia Maiestas, goddess (also called Bona Dea) in Roman mythology, perhaps equivalent to Old Italic goddess of spring

Historical persons
Maya (Egyptian) (13th century BC), the treasurer to Pharaoh Tutankhamun of Egypt
Maya (Korean singer), K-Pop singer
Maya Angelou, African-American author and poet
Maya Bond, Japanese American singer
Maya Deren, American avant-garde filmmaker
Maya Gold, stage name of a Hungarian pornographic actress
Maya Jobarteh (b. 1983), West African kora player
Maya Lin, American architect and sculptor, designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Maya Mishalska, Mexican actress
Maya Plisetskaya, Russian ballerina
Maya Ritter (b. 1993), Canadian actress
Maya Rudolph, American actress and Saturday Night Live cast member

Fictional characters (TV, Films,Books and Fiction)
Maya, a book by Jostein Gaarder
Maya, a demi-goddess in Roger Zelazny's book Lord of Light
Maya Memsaab, a 1992 Bollywood movie starring Deepa Sahi, Farooq Shaik and Shah Rukh Khan
Maya (television show), an hour-long television adventure series
Characters
Maya was the original name given to Aelita (Code Lyoko) in the TV show Code Lyoko.
Maya (Space: 1999), an alien character on the television series Space: 1999
Maya the Bee, a character in a popular German children's book and television series
Maya of Mirinoi, The Yellow Ranger in Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy
Maya Chinn, a character from the American daytime soap opera Passions, portrayed by Kyrie Maezumi
Maya Fisher, a character in the HBO drama series Six Feet Under
Maya Gallo, a character in the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me
Maya Hernández, a doctor in the sci-fi TV series Babylon 5
Maya Ibuki, a character in the Neon Genesis Evangelion fictional universe
Maya Kamina, a character in RahXephon
Maya (Battlestar Galactica), a character in the TV series Battlestar Galactica

Music
Maya, a song by the Incredible String Band
Maya (album), by Banco de Gaia

Games
Maya (Ragnarok), an MVP monster from the MMORPG Ragnarok Online
Maya from Killer Instinct 2
Maya Fey, a primary character from the Ace Attorney series
Maya Shidow, a character from the game Phantasy Star Universe.

Other associations...
Maya, the Filipino name for the Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Maya Gold, a brand of orange-flavoured, organic chocolate produced by Green & Black's
Maya sticks, pieces of resin-rich wood used as a firestarter

Answer 2

Meaning Of Name Maya

Answer 3

You have to ask yourself what you are considering in naming your child? Some cultures believe that names have power and influence. Are you considering what it means or just how pretty it sounds? Does it matter to you what other people think about the name? Will other people make assumptions, positive or negative, about her on the basis of her name? You may or may not feel that it will influence her life.

Are you practicing Christians? Then consider that a name is often given as a guiding character principle (Prudence, Faith, Hope, Charity) or role model for a child (as in the name of a church saint or relative).

On a practical level, be sure to also give her a middle name. If her first name is different or exotic, make sure the middle name is more traditional, or vice versa. Many people use their middle name if they don't feel comfortable with their first name. Some people use their middle name as a teenage, when they are exploring their identity. I did it and my daughter has also done it, but we have both returned to our first name. My brother uses his middle name now, as he knew too many people with his first name and wanted to be unique.

Answer 4

Maya is the mother of the Hindu god Krishna.

If you're looking for a Christian name, just go with Mary. It's like Maya, only Christian.

Answer 5

The Mayas were a brutal people. Mayan civilization wasn't pretty. Sure, name her after an ancient civilization centered around human sacrifice and slavery.

Answer 6

Names: Arabic: Samar English: Summer Arabic: Maryam English: Mary Arabic: Layan English: Lianne Arabic: Nourah English: Norah Then there's Rowan, Lina and Sarah just to name a few :).

Answer 7

In Russian it's a form of Mary. In Spanish it's short for Amalia. And, of course, it's also the name of a South American civilization.

Go ahead.

Answer 8

Maya happens to have meanings in many languages, so it is ambiguous. It is Russian for Mary, Sanskrit for "dream, illusion," and it also has Spanish and Chinese meanings.

It is also a Jewish name for a girl, and it means "water." From the Hebrew Mayim.

So I think it is a lovely name for all cultures! But that is up to you.

Answer 9

Should Christians name their daughters a name such as Diana, the name of a pagan goddess? If that were so, My wife would be Francine, maybe. Name your child whatever you want. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Answer 10

Maya is also a central american Pagan religion, personally i dont care what you do with your children, its your bad karma not mine.