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The Pope says children should be given truly Christian names. But why have some saints and biblical figures inspired baby names, but not others?

Our playgrounds are blessed with a multitude of Daniels, Sarahs and Adams, but not quite so many Amminadabs, Zipporahs or Habakkuks.

The names of saints Andrew, Catherine and Frances might echo down the ages, but the phone book is not exactly bursting with Abbos, Etheidwithas and Leocritas.

But could these holy, if inexplicably unfashionable, titles be due a comeback?

In a speech, Pope Benedict XVI urged parents to name their offspring in the Christian tradition, and bequeath "an unmistakable sign that the Holy Spirit will allow the person to blossom in the bosom of the Church".

In doing so, the pontiff has reiterated the Catholic Church's canon law, which cautions against baptising children in a manner "foreign to Christian sensibility".

He has also surely tapped into a growing public backlash against celebrities burdening their progeny with such profane appellations as Brooklyn, Peaches and Princess Tiaamii.

Should the British public choose to follow his Holiness's advice, there are plenty of names of saints and from the Bible's Old and New Testaments from which to choose - but, for whatever reason, some have proved more enduring than others...

Here are 10 rarely-adopted names from this Judeo-Christian tradition.

1. The name of Jezebel, the Queen of Israel, later became shorthand for a fallen woman. "This is a case of a name attracting a degree of notoriety," says social psychologist Dr Martin Skinner of Warwick University. "No-one is going to give their child a name that has taken on negative associations - in this case, with a certain type of woman. To most people, this is better known than the fact that Jezebel was, in the Old Testament, like Eve, Ruth or Naomi."

King Nebuchadnezzar II

2. Nebuchadnezzar was king of the Babylonian empire. His exploits, which are recounted in the books of Daniel and Jeremiah, were praised by Saddam Hussein, to whom he was a hero. Mr Skinner believes in this case there is also the phonetic difficulty that puts people off. "It sounds very harsh with all those zeds. It's not very easy to pronounce, either."

3. Dorcas was a faithful female disciple "full of good deeds" whose death prompted much weeping, according to the Book of Acts in the New Testament. She is also known as Tabitha, a name that is much more commonly heard.

4. Saint Philemon was the recipient of an epistle from Saint Paul in the New Testament. But whereas the name Solomon, from the wise king, is often heard, Philemon rarely is.

5. Gomer was the wife of the prophet Hosea. "To Anglo Saxon ears, there's a sort of masculinity about the sound of Gomer," says Mr Skinner. "Feminine names tend to be lighter - Nicola, Pamela and so on. Men's names tend to be sharper, like John, Jack or Sid."

6. The oldest person named in the Bible, Methuselah, is said to have lived until he was 969. "If we know one thing about him, it's that he was ancient - we use the phrase 'as old as Methulselah' and so on. When you have a baby boy, you aren't going to picture him as a Methuselah. It also sounds quite Dickensian to modern ears, as do a lot of Old Testament names which were popular in the Victorian period like Ebenezer and Ezekiel."

7. Achsah was the daughter of Caleb, who offered her in marriage to Othniel in the Old Testament.

8. According to a story dating back to the 14th Century, Saint Wilgefortis took a vow of virginity when she was promised in marriage by her father. Following her prayers for help, she grew a beard and moustache.

9. Zipporah, wife of Moses and daughter of Jethro, was mentioned in the Book of Exodus.

10. Radbod, or Radboud, was Bishop of Utrecht around 900 AD. "This is another Anglo Saxon-sounding name that you might expect to catch on," says Mr Skinner. "Maybe it just sounded too familiar. When you have a diversity of names, people sometimes pick sounds and concept they've never picked before. These days, this process has become a celebrity phenomenon."

what is in a name ? King of Kings, Lord of Lords,Counsellor,El Giboah (The Mighty One) Wonderful One !  

Donations flowed freely from passersby into the coffers of a destitute with six children begging for alms at Ikeja area of Lagos State Southwest Nigeria.

The woman with her six children

The woman, Mrs. Aisha Ibrahim, 30, from Kano State, it was gathered, gave birth to quadruplets in 2008 and a set of twins in June 2010 in her village in Kano and came to Lagos to beg for alms when she and her husband could not cope with the feeding of the children.

The woman was seen on Awolowo Way, Ikeja where a crowd gathered around her and six children (three boys and three girls).

Many passersby pitied her and gave her money freely. They called on the Lagos State Government to come to her aid by providing for the children.

Speaking , Aisha said she left Kano for Lagos when the suffering became unbearable and there was nobody to run to.

She gave the age of the quadruplets as two years old while the twins are six months old.

She described her husband, Ibrahim, as a peasant farmer who cannot cope with the upkeep of the children...

Aisha was accompanied by a woman and her sister, who help to carry some of the children while she begs for alms.

She received money ranging from N10 to N500 and even more from passersby.

Aisha who stays at the Lagos Central Mosque, Lagos Island, appealed to Governor Babatunde Fashola to come to her aid by providing her accommodation and job to take care of her children.

She also appealed to Nigerians to assist her take care of her malnourished children who are living on the benevolence of the public.

The 15 kids of Abayi International School, Aba, who were kidnapped on Monday regained their freedom on the early hours of Friday morning after a military task force stormed the hideout of their abductors to flush them out.

The children were later taken to the state government house in a military bus belonging to the task force, "'Operation Restore Hope" They were still in the school uniform they wore when they were kidnapped five days ago.

State governor Theodore Orji told the leader of the military force, Johnson A. O Ochaga, a brigadier, that he was happy to receive the 15 kids who have been subjected to untold ordeal alive and in good shape . He said they would be given appropriate medical attention.

The children were rescued by the Force at Ngwaiyiekwe, a community where the kidnappers had taken them to after they were abducted

on their way to school. The Force on Thusday stormed Ugwati and Ogwe primary schools, both in Ukwa west local government, which the kidnappers had converted to their camp for their nefarious activities. The kidnappers had sacked the people of the communities, who abandoned their houses which the hoodlums then occupy to keep their victims..

Mr Ochaga said the force's next task is to work to encourage the fleeing residents to return to their homes.

He said his force were in the state to assist the police, stressing that the operation was continuous exercise that will continue until the kidnappers were flushed out.

‘My day is made," Mr Orji said. "I was wondering how I would have been standing at the podium in the stadium taking the anniversary salute when my children were under the kidnappers custody.'

He who thanked the president, Goodluck Jonathan and the chief of Army Staff for sending the military on the rescue mission to Abia state to effect the release of the kids. He also said his wife had already cancelled the children's party that would have been part of the golden jubilee celebration.

He said the kidnappers were not human beings and must receive the reward of their evil act in this world.

"God will surely visit them with evil for keeping this children in the bush and denying the warmth of their homes and parental care."

Mr Orji warned the criminals to leave the state as there is no more hiding place for them to operate, even as he warned those sponsoring them that their names were being compiled and that they must at the appropriate time face the wrath of the law. He revealed that the abandoned Army barracks at Ohafia have been reactivated and taken over again by soldiers . He also said the state government has prepared Asa High School, in the centre of the kidnapping prone areas, as a camp for soldiers.

Big relief

Commending the presence of the military, he said they have made the difference in the long battle against kidnapping in the state and promised that the state would sustain the peace and appealed to those that had fled Aba and the environ to return and continue their life.

The Proprietor of the school, Chidi Ikonne, a professor of English at the University of Port Harcourt, said the rescue of the pupils was a very big relief as he had been under trauma since the hostage drama started. "We thank all those who made their release possible," he said.

Mr Ikonne said he established the school to help the poor, stating that about 40 % of the population of the school are on scholarship as part of his desire effort help the poor.

One of the parents of the kids, who said four of her children were among those rescued, thanked God for an end to her nightmares. "The five days have been hell on earth," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The children who looked frail, worn out and unkempt, drew tears from the eyes of many people who came to the government house to see them

Fifteen students of Abayi International School, Aba, were on Monday morning abducted in their school bus in Abia State.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the driver of the bus had picked the children at designated points and was on the way to school when the suspected kidnappers struck. NAN learnt that a Toyota Camry saloon car blocked the bus and the occupants, and men brandishing guns alighted and ordered it to stop.

"As the driver came down, the hoodlums collected his cell phone and ordered him to lie face down while they drove off with the pupils towards Etche in Rivers (State)," an eyewitness told NAN.
Most of the abducted students are said to be mostly nursery and primary school pupils.

Geoffrey Ogbonna, the Abia State Police Command spokesperson, told NAN that he was yet to get any report on the incidence as at press time..
The kidnappers are said to be demanding N20 million as ransom.

The Abia State Government, last week, gave kidnappers in the State two weeks ultimatum to surrender their weapons and be rehabilitated by in an amnesty programme.