What's in a name? A name provides critical insight into someone or something. Names create identities. Names identify purpose. Names can convey a warm invitation or a stern warning.
Names are quite powerful, which is why the Bible tells us "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches...." (Proverbs 22:1) and " A good name is better than precious ointment...." (Ecclesiastes 7:1.)
Sadly, some parents don't seem to be aware of how important it is to provide names their children will be proud to live up to, rather than embarrassed to share.
Names are essentially a pronouncement of what a child is expected to become or to contribute in life, which is why they should be carefully and prayerfully chosen. Names should mean something. Names should say something. Names should point a child in the direction of their divine destiny.
Jesus' name means "the Lord is salvation", or "God saves." One of the names of Jesus is "Emmanuel" which means "God with us." It is a very fitting name since Jesus did indeed fulfill His destiny by walking with mankind.
A prayerfully chosen name informs the child and the world that someone special has arrived. On the other hand, selfishly saddling an innocent infant with a mindless moniker or careless concoction creates a caustic cacophony that incessantly induces nasty name-calling and weird word play.
Having fun with words, as I demonstrated above, is best left to poetry and other forms of communication, not as a source for baby names. Believe it or not, parents have actually given names to their children like "Espn" and "Google." There's also "Chocolate", and "Inny" (if they had twins I guess the other child would have been named "Outy"). And, there's "Rogue"--there should be no complaints from these parents when the child grows up to fulfill that name! I guess "Rogue" will make good friends with "Vice" and maybe they will even call up their pal, "Burger" when they're ready for a good meal. "Typhoid" probably would not be invited to join them, however.
All of the names I mentioned above are actual names of children--yes, actual names. Let's pray that more parents will take their roles seriously and remember that children are not toys or jokes but the future leaders of the world. As such, children need to be set up for success, not endless ridicule. Life and death are in the power of the tongue and the words or names spoken over our children must be words of life and love. After all, how awkward would it be to have to make an appointment with Dr. "Typhoid" or to vote for Vice President "Vice!"
BNcouraged! (Please don't use this as a baby name!)
Rev. Karen
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