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| Image by Sandi Somers |
While teaching ESL, I
learned a lot about names from different countries. I discovered that the name
Bol Angelo Yei was from the Nuer tribe of South Sudan. The name Michael or
Solomon or Thomas usually comes from the Indian state of Kerala, where the
Apostle Thomas took the gospel. Any name that includes “Jeet” or “Singh” comes
from the Punjab state in India.
Sometimes I met families who gave their
children special names. A Kurdish mother called her son, "No Home",
and the other, "Poor", (in Kurdish), profound names to signify that
the Kurds have no homeland--they're spread across Syria, Iraq, Iran, Turkey,
and Armenia. Following World
War I, European powers carved new nations in the Middle East without regard to
such people as the Kurds.
I also saw how my ESL
students felt when their names weren't valued. In Elizebeth’s immigration
process, someone documented her as “Elizabeth”. “But that’s not the way I spell
my name,” she said. Vuoy, a Vietnamese girl of the boat people era, objected to
her teacher calling her “Nugyen,” not realizing that Nguyen was her last name
and that the Vietnamese write their family names first.
When I value the name
of a person, I think of the words of the writer Margaret Shull:
There is something
about knowing and calling a person by name that gives dignity and worth to that
individual. To look someone in the eye and say his or her name communicates
knowledge, often times warmth, and a sense of value. I care enough to know your
name. To listen, talk together, share.
All of the above gave
me a context for Biblical names. Isaiah gave his son the name, “Shea-jashub”,
which means “A remnant will return”. This signified that God had promised to return
His people from captivity. “Jesus” meant “Saviour”, or “He who shall save his
people.”
Then I sometimes
wondered why Scripture says: “The Name of the LORD is a fortified
tower; the righteous run to it and rare safe” (Proverbs 18:10), and why we sing,
"Blessed be the Name of the Lord". Why Name? On
thinking this through, I recognized that in Biblical times, names equalled the
person and identified their essence. This is something we don’t usually think
of when we name our children.
Today our parents may
have given us a name because they liked it, because it was a popular name at
the time, or because it was the name of an ancestor.
My parents gave me
the name Sandra because they liked it. However, God had a hand in it, as He divinely
chose it for me to fulfill a part of God’s story of redemption for the world.
"I have called you by name, you are mine," He said in Isaiah
43:1. Sandra means helper. In my twenties God gave me a verse which signified
the special type of helper God meant me to be.
The Sovereign LORD
has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary.
Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will (Isaiah
50:4)
Ever since that time,
I have wanted to live up to that honour.
But there is another
significance to our names. I read in Revelation that God will have a special
bestowment for us:
To the one who is
victorious, I will give… that person a white stone with a new
name written on it, known only to the one who receives it (Revelation
2:17).
The idea of my future
new name resonated deeply and brought tears. Will it be a sign of how my life
has contributed to God’s kingdom? For how I brought glory to Him? For how I
have carried out His mission for me? For sure I want to finish well and hear God’s
words, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” and hear Him say, “Your name on
earth was Sandra/Sandi, and now I give you the new name, ____.” What an honour
that will be!
Now over to you.
What does your name mean?
How and why did your parents choose your
name (if you know)?
What implication does your name have
for you in your growth of faith and writing?
Or perhaps you can write about how you chose your children’s names.
What implications did their names have
for your hopes and God’s purposes for their lives?
Joylene Bailey wrote
on how her parents chose her name and what it means to her life and
writing.
Ruth Snyder also reflected on the meaning of her name.
