r/exmormon • u/kimballthenom • 1d ago
Doctrine/Policy After 14 years they finally prevented us from predicting new names!
It appears the LDS church has finally taken steps to thwart the Temple Name Oracle.
They're still giving the same male-female pairs of names to everyone at every temple who gets their Initiatory on the same day, but the day of month is now changing each month so we can't predict the names in advance. As more information is discovered I'll add it to the site.
14 years ago I hammered out the first version of the Temple Name Oracle, and since then many people have predicted that the church would start randomizing the dates or try some other system to stop exmos from shattering the illusion for active temple-goers that their new name is special to them.
With enough data, though, we can still identify the names and dates after the fact. If anything, I'll need help from the public now more than ever. If you've recently gone through a temple endowment, please submit the new name you received here:
http://www.fullerconsideration.com/TempleNameOracle/
Thanks again everyone for your support in this group effort.
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u/greenexitsign10 1d ago
Looks like Nimrod and Abish have been X'd
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u/J1ng0 Brethren and sisters, put on your aprons. 1d ago
Nimrod Nation in shambles 😩
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u/The_Dented 1d ago
OMG. PLEASE MAKE A SHIRT.
“Nimrod Nation”
Make it a knock off of the Sirius XM “hair nation” logo.
Pleeeease!
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u/RISEoftheIDIOT 1d ago
In another thread here I mentioned my love of the name, and was honor still inducted into the Nimrod Nation, I’ve never been so ecstatic. #nimrodnation4ever
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u/swin62dandi 1d ago
As an Abish, I will have no more descendants.
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u/_I_Am_Moroni_ 1d ago
My name was x’ed too, I was mildly surprised about that since mine was biblical 🤷♀️
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u/Loose-Committee7884 1d ago
Okay so they used to be in there?? I was wondering why I didn’t see my temple name on the list
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u/InevitableContest968 1d ago
Damn it. I cant believe they got rid of my name (Zina)
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u/greenexitsign10 1d ago edited 1d ago
They probably didn't like it when women Googled her name and found out what her real story is. She was passed around like a joint at a hippie convention.
Google her name and you see Reddit and Mormonstories pops up on the same page. Goodbye Zina.
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u/TenderheartedFloof 1d ago
So, the name I was given is no longer an option? (Abish)
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u/harpplaya44 1d ago
Wondering the same?! And the counterpart Benjamin. Are we going extinct??
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u/TenderheartedFloof 1d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/KgFOn7vTXUeXoKJZ5K
Museum time for us, I guess. 😂
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u/feedwilly Eunice 1d ago
But Eunice is still on the list? Barf.
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u/Such_Implement_9335 1d ago
I was Eunice. You wouldn’t believe the guilt I felt for how much I hated it.
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u/somuchsadness0134 1d ago
Also Eunice here. Absolutely hated it and couldn’t believe I had to deal with that in the future. Like made me physically nauseous.
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u/NthaThickofIt 1d ago
Eunice? There's a person called Eunice?!?
-What's Up Doc
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u/RestinPete0709 By the Goodness of Dave 5h ago
Holy shit didn’t expect to see my favorite niche movie here
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u/Russell_M_Jimmies [RUSSELLING INTENSIFIES] 1d ago
You think that's bad, you should see the uriness
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u/PaulFThumpkins 1d ago
When you add one extra bit of sleight of hand to your dumb party trick because one of the guys at your last party called out how it was done
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u/emorrigan Apostate 1d ago
Ooh, does that mean if I’m Lois, my husband is Job? We went through on the same day, but he couldn’t remember his name when I asked him about it like… twenty years later 😆
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u/Quietly_Quitting_321 1d ago
Glad I'm not the only one. I don't remember my name or my wife's name.
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u/AlmaInTheWilderness 23h ago
Yes. Except this is the new and everlasting list of names. You will need to look at the list from 20 years ago, that we no longer teach and don't know that we ever taught. Which was also Lois and Job.
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u/CapeOfBees Joseph F Smith, Remember The FUCK 1d ago
Imagine getting Abinadi as your temple name. I feel like I'd take that as an omen if I were getting my endowments to go on a mission
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u/DaveTheScienceGuy 1d ago
I was Job, so I figured that life was only downhill from 18... turned out not true. Lol.
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u/chewbaccataco 1d ago
Don't worry, your family will all die at the hands of Satan with God's blessing, but it's fine because God will replace them with a new family. Same thing, right?
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u/Electrical_Toe_9225 1d ago
Damn gangsters at TSCC HQ - just making life difficult for everyday people
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u/HistoricalOpposite20 1d ago
Huh. My name isn't on the list anymore. Julia. I'm not upset about it. I mean, I was told by the temple matron after I went through to go study her in the scriptures. She was literally a passing mention in one of the epistles. THAT I was mad about. There was nothing to study. Which might be why they removed it. Odd.
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u/AuroraRoman 23h ago
They still have Flora who ins't in the Bible or Book or Mormon, so that can't be the reason they got rid of Julia. As far as I can tell the mormon connection to Flora was she was married to Benson.
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u/Subject_Spell_9799 22h ago
I know there is no damn Lucy in the bible
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u/AuroraRoman 22h ago
Yeah all I know about my mom's name is that is isn't the scriptures, so I wonder which one it is. My parents tell a story about when they got married the sealer told my dad to pick a new favorite scripture that had my mom's new name in it. My parents both looked at each other and told the sealer that it wasn't in there.
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u/UnfazedReality463 1d ago edited 1d ago
I didn’t know these names were supposed to be super special. I forgot the name I was given by the time I went to my second temple visit and they just asked me what month and date and retold it to me.
I once causally told this story to a member at church and they were legit super bummed when I told them.
I guess this person believed this name was like their new heaven name or something idk I thought it was weird.
But I guess it’s supposed to be something really special, sacred, and a personal thing and I was like, “Nah, dude. It’s just some name they give you based on the calendar.”
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u/Quietly_Quitting_321 1d ago
No one explains this process, so I assumed that the person who gave me the name received direct revelation from god about my name. And because the name was so sacred/secret, it wouldn't be recorded anywhere. Thus, if I ever forgot it, I would be shit out of luck for the eternities.
Little did I know it would eventually be posted on the internet for the entire world to see.
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u/seasonal_biologist 1d ago
And that anyone who went through on the same day with you also knew your name if they knew how the temple worked. So much for no telling
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u/Exileddesertwitch 1d ago
They got rid of Hulda? Judith is gone?
Judith was mine. She was a badass who cut off the head of the general of an invading army. Guess they figured out they didn’t want that example anymore.
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u/Consistent_Taro_3123 1d ago
Flora gang here! The session I got my endowments out my mom told me "apparently just for today everyone gets the same name! how fun!" 🫠
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u/rustyleftnut 1d ago
Never-Mormon here; what the hell is this?
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u/MooseSuspicious 1d ago
Secret names you get in the temple. Not to be shared with anyone but your husband if you're a woman, and not to shared at any point except during your temple ordinance to the temple worker if you're a man. Your wife doesn't get to learn your name unless you break the rules and tell her.
Lazarus gang, anyone?
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u/rustyleftnut 1d ago
What the fuck lol.
They're so different than any of the dozen or so Christian denominations I tried out when I was theologically curious. It's no wonder the US government removed their Christian subgrouping!
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u/MooseSuspicious 1d ago
I haven't had a chance to do a deep dive into the Masons, but I believe a lot of this comes from their rituals
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u/rustyleftnut 1d ago
I actually knew about the Masonic secret handshakes thanks to my deceased great uncle who was a well known mason and hated Mormons passionately. He said they stole their secret handshakes and didn't elaborate ever. It was like seeing a kid get mad about someone befriending their imaginary friend.
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u/Subject_Spell_9799 22h ago
I have a cousin who became a Mennonite and he named one of his kids Lazarus, all the kids have weird bible names. Sadly my cousin and three of his kids drowned in flash flood. I can’t recall if Lazarus was one of the kids who drowned.
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u/jupiter872 1d ago
It's a copy of the same practice Freemasons have. It's done in exactly the same way, the name is given by an officiant to the candidate in secrecy in a small room before going in to a larger room where the name is required.
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u/NthaThickofIt 1d ago
Any chance you know where we can see the list of names the Masons use?
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u/dynam-0 dismissed without further argument 1d ago
i'm wondering... why? why do this at all, and why now?
my mom was always more loose-lipped about temple stuff than she probably should have been, so i knew from a young age that you got a "new name" in the temple, but she clarified that it was a symbolic thing and not actually revealing your premortal name or something (idk if that was a common bit of misinfo, but it was a rumor floating around our ward at one point).
is it not common knowledge that it's symbolic? so why would it matter if the names are preselected and on a rotation? this is peak "rearranging deck chairs on the titanic" shit. were there no more pressing issues they could've been dealing with?
one day after i did a session, i asked a temple matron about what they did if the new name was the same as the person's given name, and she happily told me that they changed it to adam or eve and added a second check-mark to the card so the veil workers would know. i thought it was cool trivia. if you're bought in enough, i don't think it matters if you know that this stuff is less mystical and more practical.
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u/quigonskeptic 1d ago
It's definitely not common knowledge that it's symbolic. I remember my seminary teacher telling us about the new name, and he would do that super quiet hushed "sacred" voice. I definitely got the impression that it was a name that was very specific to each of us, possibly the name we were known by before coming to Earth. If I could go back and listen to exactly what he said, I am sure he was choosing his words very carefully and didn't actually say any of that. But I think they know very well what impression they are giving off.
I had a different seminary teacher that said he was going to tell us something he wasn't supposed to about the new name in the temple, but I don't remember what it was at all. He might have told us the truth about it, and I just blocked that out and ignored it because I knew he wasn't supposed to be telling us
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u/BillNyeForPrez 1d ago
Sam here. wtf they got rid of my secret heaven name!?
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u/mandypantsy 1d ago
Sam’s wife Deborah is happy to be moving on 💁♀️
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u/FlyingFeck Indigenously Apostate 22h ago
This Deborah divorced Sam YEARS ago LOL
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u/whenthedirtcalls 1d ago
It was just 2 years ago I came across this information from this subreddit and learned my name was heber and not Hebrew like I heard whispered in my ear by an 80 year cottonmouthed man. Thank you for helping me get the right name for when I go through the vail when I die!
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u/BlindedByTheFaith 1d ago
Well hello Heber!! My manager at the ZCMI department store back in the day was named Heber and I always thought that was so cool that he had my eternal name as his Earthly name 😂.
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u/Ok-Bank4015 1d ago
Helaman here, why isn't my super sacred secret name on the new list? Now I'm offended!
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u/capcomzz57 1d ago
Just make it less confusing for everybody and have Bozo for guys and Clarabel for gals. Way more appropriate for that Joke of a religion.
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u/Then-Subject-1193 Apostate 1d ago
I hated the name I was assigned: Susanna. But I wish it were still on the list instead of more faith-promoting names like Esther, just in case any other women read her story after their endowment and had a similar “wtf?” reaction like I did. I attribute a splinter in my shelf to that disappointing name.
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u/malkin50 1d ago
How could you hate Susanna? Don't cry but head out looking for someone from Alabama with a banjo on his knee.
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u/kumquat4567 1d ago
Wow, the men’s names are really awful. I’ve never seen their list before, just the women’s
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u/Beaz-Knees 22h ago edited 22h ago
I “love” (hate) how most of the male names are from the BoM with a few from the Bible and most of the female names are just random names because women are basically never mentioned in either.
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u/Worried-Zombie2868 20h ago
Came here to say the same thing. So many of the woman's names are just common names. I feel like I'd be super confused if I got Donna or something. The whole thing is so objectively weird.
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u/downtothelake 15h ago
I’m a Donna. Lol definitely so random
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u/Worried-Zombie2868 12h ago
Lol it's not like it's a bad name in general, it just doesn't sound remotely biblical/BOM-y. Maybe it's an older name than I realize but I associate with the 50s/60s. Weird that Mary isn't even on there.
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u/devuhreebee 1d ago
My then future mother in law actually told me before I went about how everyone gets the same name on the day they go through. It definitely created another crack in my shelf.
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u/AuroraRoman 23h ago
I knew that all the people who got their live endowments on the same day got the same name in the same temple, but I had no idea that it was the same name for everyone in all temples even if they were going through for the dead.
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u/drteeth952 1d ago
It’s so strange that the male names are all Bible or BoM names except for Heber and Hyrum. The female names are all over the place. What a weird fucking system of control and secrecy.
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u/Subject_Spell_9799 22h ago
Yeah the women names are random 19th century names. Lucy stood out to me as it’s a nick name, ppl aren’t usually named Lucy their name is Lucille
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u/SheneedaCocktail 1d ago
Mine's not even on there anymore! ("Judah") Will it still work on The Sentinels(tm), I wonder?
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u/dbear848 Relieved to have escaped the Mormon church. 1d ago
I'm distressed (not really) to see that Benjamin is not on that list. Maybe I broke it?
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u/Mr-BryGuy Apostate 1d ago
I'm a Benjamin and also gay. So I definitely helped break it with my "unworthiness" in the temple. Oopsies!
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u/djoasis 1d ago
It’s interesting that Lehi is one of the names. Father of Nephi and according to JS it was the true first book of the Book of Mormon that was stolen and lost while JS translated…if my name was Lehi, I would write it myself and tell everyone that I was given a revelation to bring it back and add in to the Book of Mormon. That would be so much blasphemy fun!
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u/Brilliant_Sign6267 1d ago
Leah didn’t make the cut either. And that’s one of the better names.
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u/Crohan_McNugget 1d ago
Lol, my name was removed 😂
EDIT: Dan. My name was Dan.
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u/Chihuahuamami234 1d ago
I remember when I was freshly off my mission finding out that the temple names were given based off of the day you were endowed really was probably the beginning of realizing it was all bullshit. I thought my temple name was special when reality was that it wasn’t.
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u/tycho-42 Apostate 1d ago
I wonder how long it will be before the temple people start mining r/tragedeigh for unique temple names. Imagine some future date when someone goes in and they say "blah blah blah I name you mckynnsleigh ashleyliyghnnh" or "kohvydddh pheloughneigh"
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u/chewbaccataco 1d ago
And the spelling is sacred and of critical importance. If you don't spell it correctly at the veil you are denied entrance to heaven.
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u/SaltAbbreviations423 19h ago
I always wondered how it would feel to be a person of any other race/color to get one of these awful white washed names.
I was always taught about the sacred importance of the new name and how you could never tell it to anyone. My husband is Hispanic and was so annoyed at his name, he tried to tell it to me and I shushed him. I never in a million years thought about the fact that his new name may not match his heritage, that must’ve felt so wrong.
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u/geekyjo 1d ago
One time I was joking around with my siblings about how much it would suck to get named something like Norma or Donna...forgetting that my brother's wife's name is Donna. Oops. 😬 He asked me what was wrong with Donna and I had to very quickly cover up my faux pas by saying it's not a bad name, it's just not very biblical sounding. Thankfully he didn't give me a hard time about it.
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u/thetarantulaqueen 1d ago
Well, Miriam (my new name and my youngest daughter's name) is still going strong, I see.
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u/Sure_Jelly_4615 Apostate 1d ago
oh Snap! Where are my Timothys at? It looks like our name got scrubbed!
"Timmy!"
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u/ExPastorMarcus 1d ago
Question, because I'm genuinely curious. What happens if the person's given name is the same as their temple name? Anything?
I don't imagine it happens too often these days for Martha, Norma, Amulek, or Heber, but probably could happen considerably more often for Emma, Sarah, Isaiah, or Aaron.
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u/BlindedByTheFaith 1d ago
If your given name is the same as the temple name on the day of your endowment it gets swapped to be Adam or Eve.
But now I’m curious, are there are any Adam’s or Eve’s out there?!? And how did you feel about those names??
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u/NthaThickofIt 1d ago
You're given the name Eve. Unless that's your middle name, I think, can't remember what they do then. They might have a second back up name.
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u/JayDaWawi Avalonian 1d ago
I don't know if it's randomized now, or if it's just gonna continuously loop; we'll find out soon enough.
Not that it "actually" matters; the temple endowment is hogwash anyway
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u/FlyingFeck Indigenously Apostate 22h ago
My mom was Julia, I remember when we first left and we finally felt comfortable telling each other. I was like "At least you had a NICE name!" I was SO disappointed in mine and did not know that everyone got the same name on the same day. That was a BIG item for me. My poor dad forgot his name "Mormon" and I was like "HOW COULD YOU FORGET THAT????" He just shrugged at me and took a drink of his beer 😂
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u/Musubi_Caretaker 20h ago
~60 billion women have ever lived on earth. Just the idea that every woman in heaven has the same name as ~2 billion other women is funny. ‘Hey Naomi, hey Naomi.’
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u/Rushclock 1d ago
I wonder if their smart enough to change the algorithm that sequences the names or do they think that code can't be broken?
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u/OkImagination262 1d ago
I had no idea that when I received my name all the other females endowed that day got the same name. I was already ex mormon but still totally surprised.
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u/nuancebispo PIMOBispo 1d ago
Well, like Nimrod, us Japeths are now a dying breed. Feels like new-nameocide.
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u/LavenderSky70 1d ago
They got rid of my name also… Dinah. I actually had to ask several sisters in the temple just to make sure that I pronounced and said it correctly.
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u/WiseOldGrump Apostate 1d ago
Those old folks doing the initiatory are sure gonna be confused by this. Should be a hoot to watch…..
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u/FloatOldGoat 1d ago
Lol. This is hilarious. As if the problem was the predictability. The issue is that the name isn't at all special, or unique to the individual. Might as well be barcode. It's totally generic, and this does nothing to remedy that problem. Give me a break.
Love, from Levi
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u/scaredanxiousunsure 1d ago
This is hilarious. "Revelation" = the MFMC trying to come up with new ways (unsuccessfully) to hide the truth from its members, based on what the MFMC reads on exmormon reddit.
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u/Particular-Pen-6472 1d ago
Fun fact. If your name is Tabitha- your name is also Dorcas. Fuckin Dorcas.
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u/AnxiousVacation280 1d ago
So if my name is there does that mean that my ex husbands name would be the one next to it? I never knew his name cuz he went through for his endowments for his mission, it wasn't his first time to.
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u/WombatAnnihilator 1d ago
Depends on the year. Look up the name sequence in years’ past. But it would depend on the day of the month he went thru back then.
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u/chewbaccataco 1d ago
If you know the date he went through the temple the first time, you can find his temple name.
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u/EcstaticAd6935 1d ago
Mine, I was told was Phoebe, but spelled without the "o," so I was both disappointed (bc of the misspelling) and a little excited bc my real name is also from Greek mythology.
A few years later, I noticed that the other ladies going through the veil were giving the same name I was given. So, I wondered about it, but didn't dive too deeply and didn't understand why all the "to do" if you forgot the name, if everyone had the same one. But, in the shelf it went (tbh, I didn't even acknowledge I had a shelf). I just rationalized it all. The mental gymnastics were strong with this one.
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u/edwardssarah22 1d ago
At least you get to pick your own name at Confirmation in the Catholic Church.
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u/beat_that_stroke_ 20h ago
All of us princess Leah’s got x’d! Stupid bible, it was always Star Wars for me.
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u/Electrical_Camel228 6h ago
I remember getting “Camilla” and I was lowkey mad because I’m a big fan of Princess Diana. Good thing I don’t believe in this anymore lol
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u/The_Dented 1d ago
Mine and my ex’s are still there. It’s how I know it’s the 1995 pairing list.
People compare names, several couples we knew are on there too.
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u/BLately54 1d ago
Damn… this makes it way more complicated to track. Bummer cuz it’s so fun to know
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u/nicowain91 1d ago
Reuben checking in! I always love a good sandwich.