Talk:Papal name

Scope and suggested renaming of article

The scope of this article need to be revised to include Popes of Alexandria. For example, one of the backlink is from Pope John of Alexandria. Bennylin (talk) 11:15, 17 September 2010 (UTC)

That might make the scope too wide. Perhaps the article should be renamed Papal names in the Roman Catholic Church? Headhitter (talk) 09:05, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

I don't think Benedict XV's reign (7.5 years) was short like you say in the text considering that the average reign is 7.47 years (265 popes in 1980 years) — Preceding unsigned comment added by AlexanderGunnar (talk • contribs) 20:55, 12 February 2013 (UTC)

Was John II really the first pope to change his name?

Can someone provide a source for the claim that John II adopted a papal name that was different from his original name? The Liber Pontificalis merely calls him "IOHANNES qui et Mercurius" ("John also known as Mercurius"). The claim that he changed his name appears in the Catholic Encyclopedia without source. In the same article it is mentioned that the Basilica di San Clemente has memorials referring to him as "Johannes surnamed Mercurius". The Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century does not mention a name change. It merely refers to him as "Joannes II. (called Mercurius)". To me this all sounds like his name had always been John. Random person no 362478479 (talk) 18:27, 23 March 2023 (UTC)

I found another source: Liberatus of Carthage who wrote his Breviarium causae Nestorianorum et Eutychianorum shortly after John's death refers to him as "Joannes cognomento Mercurius" and "Joannes Mercurius". He does not mention a name change. Random person no 362478479 (talk) 18:49, 23 March 2023 (UTC)