Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Cain
Cain comes from the Hebrew Qayin (קין) meaning “acquired”, perhaps stemming from the fact that Cain is the very first child "acquired" by Adam and Eve. Borne from the Bible, in the book of Genesis, Cain holds a couple important distinctions. For one, he was the first human ever born – the first son of God’s creations Adam and Eve. Secondly, he is the first human to have perpetrated a murder. Of course, as we all know, Cain killed his brother Abel for reasons not entirely explained. We are told that the older brother Cain is a “worker of the ground” (i.e., a crop farmer) while the younger, Abel, is a “keeper of the sheep” (i.e., a shepherd). Each of the two brothers brings an offering to God – Cain the fruit from his ground and Abel the first born of his flock. We’re not told why exactly, but the Lord favors Abel’s offering, “…but for Cain and his offering [God] had no regard.” Of course this infuriates Cain [Genesis 4:3-5]. The Lord sees Cain’s anger and warns him that “sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” Unfortunately, Cain fails the next test too. Sin-shmin. Cain lures Abel out to the field and kills him in a jealous fury. When God asks Cain “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain famously replies: “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” [Genesis 4:9]. Because the land had swallowed the blood of Abel, it would no longer produce crops for Cain. He was therefore exiled and forced to roam the earth as a fugitive. Perhaps because God’s favoritism ostensibly set in motion the first sibling rivalry, He decided to show Cain some mercy by “marking” him (we’re not told if this mark comes in the form of a scarlet letter, a skull-and-bones tattoo, a gigantic birth-mark or what). Whatever the “mark of Cain” looks like, it’s meant to protect Cain from being murdered himself as a fugitive for his murderous deed. Cain does go on to sire a few children (apparently with his sister but this part is not made clear to us either). In the end, the descendents of Cain are killed in the Great Deluge (only Noah, descendent of Seth – Adam and Eve’s third son – survived to perpetuate humankind). The story of Cain gives us many expressions such as “raising Cain”, “the mark of Cain”, and “my brother’s keeper”. Despite the unfortunate outcome surrounding the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, the name Cain (while not as popular as Abel) is still in circulation today.
All About the Baby Name – Cain
Personality
OF THE BOY NAME CAIN
The number Nine personality represents the completion or ending of the cycle, and a need for perfection. This is the personality that moves from "self" to a greater understanding and compassion for the human condition and the world order. They want to make the world a better place. Nines are capable of great spiritual and humanitarian achievements. They are courageous and fearless, able to fight great battles on behalf of worthy causes. These personalities will not tolerate injustice. They are compassionate people with a strong sensitivity to others. They are able to both educate and inspire. Friendships and relationships are the lifeblood to the Nine, and they place a high value on love and affection. Nines are often exceptionally gifted artistically, and they have a keen imagination and enterprising mind.
Popularity
OF THE BOY NAME CAIN
Honestly, we had to do a double-take on this one. Cain is a name with enormous negative connotations from a religious perspective. However, as with anything, it’s all a matter of perspective, right? Cain is the first human, the first son, the first brother, the first murderer and, undeniably, the first “bad boy” in the history of mankind. If we step back a little and disassociate ourselves for a moment from this universal story of “bad-brother” Cain and “innocent-victim” Abel, we might find a wee-bit of sympathy for the boy who has come to symbolize evil. First of all, can we all agree on one thing? God totally played favorites by ignoring Cain’s offering; an offering, by the way, that was presented to God with all the right intentions we’re sure. Perhaps had it been Abel’s baby sheep that had been rejected and Cain’s crop that had been preferred, then perhaps it would have been Abel who killed Cain in a crime of passion. Who’s to know for sure? The story of Cain is one of those “tests of God” that the Old Testament is so fond of (remember Abraham’s “test” to see if he would sacrifice Isaac?). While Abraham received a score of A+ on his test, Cain gets an F for failure. Since we’d be hard-pressed to find a person who doesn’t know the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, then we must conjecture as to why this name (synonymous with murder) is even in circulation today. We’ve come up with three possibilities. Either it’s being used by religious folks as an act of humility; it’s being used by non-religious folks as an act of irony; or, and most likely in our opinion, it’s being used as an altered spelling of Kane, one of those trendy surnames-turned-first-names. In any case, Cain has only been on the American male naming charts sporadically since 1994 and is used with extremely low frequency. In fact, there are probably barely 1,000 boys named Cain under the age of 20 years in America today.
Quick Facts
ON CAIN
GENDER:
Boy
ORIGIN:
Hebrew
NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:
1
RANKING POPULARITY:
784
PRONUNCIATION:
KAYN
SIMPLE MEANING:
Acquired
Characteristics
OF CAIN
