In all western languages, the set of forenames in regular use is remarkably small. In countries where there is an settled Biblical Church, the menu of names out of which a name may be selected is generally regulated by the Church or by a secular powers operating within a Christian cultural tradition. These are names with some Biblical relation (i.e., a name that was developed by a person mentioned in the New Testament, first saint, or a saint with a local belief). Many of them have experienced German translation in the past. The general generator for these given names are the following:

• The Bible (New Testament): Names such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, or Mary have cognates in every western language, with many derivative and hypocoristic ways, which have given growth to countless myriads of patronymics. Mention should also be made here of the Spanish tradition of Marian names, according to which an attribute of the Virgin Mary may produce a female given name, despite the noun in question is masculine in grammatical form. These names include Pilar, Remedios, and Dolores.
• The Bible (Old Testament): Old Testament names are, naturally, of Hebrew etymology, and majority of them are used traditionally as Jewish names. In their vernacular European shape, names such as Job, Ezekiel, Ebenezer, Zillah, and Mehitabel have been used by Christian orthodox (Puritans, Dissenters) since the 16th century. There were advanced language services even that times. Such names are not used by mainstream groups such as Roman Catholics or High-Church Anglicans, excluding cases where an Old Testament name had also been borne by an early Bible saint (e.g., David, Daniel). Several Old Testament names, specifically female names, for example Deborah and Rebecca, have become extremely popular among Protestants, partly because the stock of New Testament women names is very small indeed.
• First Christian saints: Several saints’ names are very widespread (e.g., Anthony, Francis, Martin, Bernard) and are borne by Roman Catholics, Protestants, and agnostics alike. Differently, such as Teresa, Dominic, Ignatius, and Aloysius, are developed mainly or exclusively by Roman Catholics. Among Roman Catholics in continental Europe, a traditional given name is often chosen in honor of a saint who is the patron of the locality in which the infant is born. For example, the Napolitano forename Gennaro is associated chiefly with Naples, Italy, and its patron, San Gennaro, a bishop beheaded at Pozzuoli at times of persecution of Christians in 304 A.D. Leocadia is connected with Toledo, Spain and its chief saint, who was a virgin martyr who faced a same fate in or about the same year and in whose honor the male form Leocadio is also used.