Name of the Day: Shepherd

Trade names are hot, and if boys can be called Mason and Cooper, why not this equally workaday appellation?

Thanks to Corinne for suggesting Shepherd as Name of the Day.

Shepherd peeked into the US Top 1000 just once in the nineteenth century, and it takes some digging to find a real-life bearer of the name. Those that do are almost certainly wearing a family surname promoted to the first spot.

While some occupational surnames are mysterious, their trades unknown in modern life (Tanner) or simply forgotten (Thatcher), Shepherd is transparent. From the Old English sceap – sheep – and hierde – herd, the name means to round up the livestock, and was worn by crook-carrying nomads for generations.

Archer might just shoot arrows; Taylor is all about stitching. But a shepherd’s flock can be spiritual as well as woolly. The Latin term pastor literally means shepherd, and pastorem means “to lead to pasture.”

The parallel between sheep and souls isn’t new. The second century work The Shepherd of Hermas, remains an influential piece of Christian writing today and was once considered scripture by some. In the sixth century, Pope Gregory I penned Cura Pastoralis.

It’s a reference that surfaces again and again, so if you’re looking for a masculine choice with a healthy dose of spiritual sensibility, Shepherd is an option.

Most parents promoting Shepherd to the first spot were probably bestowing a familial surname. Including spelling variations, notable bearers of the name include:

Shepard Fairey, a street artist with serious high brow status. Among other notable images, he designed the Obama HOPE poster. Turns out Shepard was originally his middle name – his first name? Frank;
Shepperd Strudwick was an actor from the 1930s through the 80s, known for a handful of small roles in notable films. He was born John Shepperd;
In the 1950s, Shepard J. Crumpacker, Jr. served as a Congressman from Indiana;
Shepard Menken actor graduated from the radio to other mediums, frequently working as a voice actor. His most notable role was as the animated, valiant mongoose Rikki-Tikki-Tavi in the 1975 film adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling tale;
On the small screen, you can catch the FOX Report with Shepard Smith. The FOX News anchor was born David Shepard Smith Jr.

Inspiration to promote Shepherd to a given name may very well come from a very different television show. The short-lived, but much-lauded Joss Whedon production Firefly, later reborn for the big screen as Serenity. It’s a blend of the Wild West meets outer space in the twenty-sixth century. Shepherd Book was a pastor of an unspecified Christian faith. Shepherd was his title, but his first name was never mentioned in the series.

Shep is the logical short form. But he has a definite canine vibe, thanks to the song “Old Shep” and a number of notable dogs that have answered to the name.

Overall, Shepherd makes for a intriguing choice. It could wear especially well as an unexpected middle name option, either to honor family or for his spiritual reference.

14 thoughts on “Name of the Day: Shepherd”

There’s nothing wrong with it & I don’t have any problem with people using it;but, it’s not for me. I think I probably prefer it as a middle or last name.It’s a bit awkward for me to personally use as a first because Shepherd is one of titles of Jesus, like Son etcSo,personally, it feels a bit awkward.In saying that , I do know of someone who named their son Saviour & they are in the theological field.

There’s something very ‘ good guy in a Hallmark movie who helps everyone out, whether he is acting in Cupid’s role or helping out troubled teens’ vibe to Shep, for me. Also, Lost might influence the like/love for this name.It’s done the same with Sawyer & Evangeline

Oddly, Cooper,Mason,Taylor are more first-namey as opposed to surname-like, to me.Surnames here are more along the lines of Du toit,Labuschnage,Viljoen, Van de Westhuizen etc

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Hmmm… too sheepy for me… I’m not a fan of the nn Shep and it’s kinda equivalent to naming your kid “Cowboy” or “Farmer” to me. I mean, I get that all those other occupational names are the same sort of thing, but somehow they’re not – maybe it’s transparency of Shepherd that you point out that makes it less usable to me. And then it’s very religious sounding to me which is off-putting. This one just isn’t working for me.

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I like Shepherd! Maybe I’d nickname him Pepper which isn’t too much of a stretch?
I prefer Thatcher though, but Shepherd is awesome as well

But that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to suggest (read: BEG) you to have -Comfort- as name of the day some time! (and Remember, Morning, Clemency and Glory and such unused word names, but mainly just Comfort!)

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It’s on my middle name list. I think it’s handsome and unexpected, and I like the religious reference. As a first name I find it pretentious unless it’s a family surname. Shep has an annoying country club feel to me. I expected the name to have a moderate rise after Patrick Dempsey’s character on Grey’s Anatomy, but that probably would have happened by now.

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I really like Shepherd. I could definitely imagine myself using it, but I’m over the adopted surname thing. (If it was in my family, I’d use it in a blink.) There’s something very Southern about it to me, even more than some other surnames as names. I think that comes from the Shep’s (Jr and Sr) in the Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood. Maybe also b/c of Shep Smith who’s from Mississippi.

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It makes me think of Jack Shepherd on ‘Lost’.

I agree with UrbanAngel though, that with Jesus being *the* shepherd it makes it a little awkward as a name for me personally.

Shame about ‘Shep’ instantly bringing to mind dogs too.

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Shepherd is very nice; I like it as an alternative to Christian or Christopher. It does make me think first of Jack Shephard on Lost. (That’s the way it’s spelled.) OTOH, Shep makes me think of the mechanic in Fargo, Shep Proudfoot!

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Joy on March 11, 2010 at 7:01 pm said:

From an episode of Frasier, when Niles and Daphne needed a baby name (for an application to a prestigious preschool, even though they weren’t even pregnant):

(Niles on the phone with Daphne)
Niles: Okay, so “Delilah” is out? No, that’s fine, that’s fine.
What are your ideas? … Taylor. Fletcher. Cooper. Tanner?
Where are you getting these, the Big Book of Medieval
Professions?

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Dog.

I don’t mind it as a middle name, either a religious reference or a family name, but that way the child could “hide” the name if he wished. As a first name it’s too much.

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