a plower of royal fields

Celebrity pregnancies have made it a social norm to bestow upon your new bundle of joy the most ridiculous and disturbing name as possible. Demi Moore and Bruce Willis named their daughters Rumer, Scout and Tallulah. Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow named their daughter Apple. Robert Rodriguez’ four children are named Rocket, Racer, Rebel, and Rogue.

Interestingly (and thankfully), recent trends for newborn names suggest a return to more traditional forms. The top five girl’s names for 2009 were Isabella, Sophia, Emma, Olivia, and Ava. Aiden, Ethan, Jackson, Jayden, and Jacob topped of the boy’s list. (Side note: Kim doesn’t even break the top 100).

I don’t know if this future SLP in me or just simply my anal retentiveness, but all these names sound the same. All the girls names end with an “uh” and the majority of the boys end with a form of “en.” Don’t get me wrong, these are beautiful sounding names. And the same time I guess that’s my point. They all sound beautiful… but what do they mean?

I was struck by this concept of name meaning when recently reading through the first couple chapters of Luke. In the first chapter Zechariah was approached by an angel who informed him that his old, barren wife Elizabeth will bare him a son that will be called John. Zechariah scoffs at the angel (naturally) and thus was stricken mute. Amazingly Elizabeth becomes pregnant and a baby boy is born.

In Jewish culture is was expected that the first child would carry on the father’s name. However, Zechariah supported Elizabeth in naming the child John and wrote on a piece of paper that he should be called such. At this point Zechariah’s speech immediately returned. John means "YAHWEH is gracious".

Later on in this chapter an angel pays a visit Mary. She is also informed of a miraculous pregnancy and births a baby during the next chapter. This baby was given the name Jesus. Jesus means "the Lord is salvation".

These babies were not given their names because they sounded beautiful. They were given names that reflected the Lord. Their names represented a relationship with God and signified a level of hope for the child’s future. Now we name children after polluted cities and foods in the produce aisle.

Even though I enjoy harping on celebrity and popular names, it important to realize that in the end it does not matter what we are named. Yes, I would love to go back to an era in which children were christened to reflect the truths of Christ. But the beauty of it is that names no longer define an individual and their path. It no longer matters what we are called. Rather that which is essential is how we are called to live in Christ. Our identities should be rooted in the one who is beyond all names and labels – in the I Am.