I was baptisted in the Coptic church a little over ten years ago now and abouna came and visited me before I was baptisted and asked me to choose a name out of the bible. A little story sorry. I chose Solomon because when I was young and learned that I was adopted I wondered what my real name was. I thought solomon because he was wise. Then getting back to when abouna visited. He left and I turned on the television and there was a man who was wrongfully imprisoned. His name was Solomon. So now I'm Solomon. This is what God is going to call me.
I'm not a convert, but as a baby, the priest also gave me another name, Antonios, being the first grandson of a priest with the same name.
The requirements of the name change is a saint in the church, which can be found in various sources, including the liturgy, the synexarium, and of course the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament. By this, you might learn to have a personal intercessor for your spiritual life, to emulate the Saint. If your own birth name is also a saint name, that may be used as well. In a lot of cases, one is baptized with the name of the Saint of the day, so you may not even know what your name may be until baptism. Your own spiritual father may choose one for you or you may request one based on your catechetical life.
Comments
My advice is to talk to abouna.
The requirements of the name change is a saint in the church, which can be found in various sources, including the liturgy, the synexarium, and of course the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament. By this, you might learn to have a personal intercessor for your spiritual life, to emulate the Saint. If your own birth name is also a saint name, that may be used as well. In a lot of cases, one is baptized with the name of the Saint of the day, so you may not even know what your name may be until baptism. Your own spiritual father may choose one for you or you may request one based on your catechetical life.