By Jim Nichols

The veterinarian’s waiting room contained the predictable collection of people and animals. Most were well-behaved (people and animals); a few were anxious, but the noise level was tolerable. 

On one wall was a bulletin board with a half-dozen messages pinned on it. One index card read: 

LOST CAT

Lost Cat. Gray and white color. Left ear mostly missing and ragged.
Half the tail is gone.
Right eye permanently closed. 
Many missing teeth.
Answers to the name “Lucky.”

Have you ever considered the importance we place on names? When you first see someone’s pet, what is your question for the owner? “What’s its name?” If someone has a new human baby, we ask a similar question. Names are important and that leads to other wonderings.

Have you ever met anyone who has the same name as you? My first experience of that occurred in college when another fellow (from California, no less) was in the class one year behind mine. For three years there was moderate confusion among people who knew both of us. I still get university communications addressed to him despite my years of trying to get it corrected. I seriously wonder if, when one of us dies, whether the university will mess up the announcement.

These days there is apparently someone with my name who has his car serviced the same place I do. Furthermore, someone at my pharmacy shares the name; when I pick up a medicine, they ask me for my birth date to distinguish me from him. It is rather awkwardly weird.

Do you know how you ended up with the name you carry now? There were likely a few people (such as your parents) who had serious conversations about “what shall we name the baby?” I am not making light of this task; this is a weighty decision. Some names connect to previous family members. I come from a family where several of the males were “James.” Interestingly, the name is frequently shortened to the nickname “Jim” and that (I am told) caused one of my two grandmothers to argue against it for newborn me. She was a former schoolteacher, and she had a particularly troublesome student one year named “Jim” and she did not like that name for her future grandson. She lost the argument and did, in fact, refer to me by that name throughout my life.

If you, reader, have children, do you recall conversations about baby names? Those conversations may appear superficial today, but they were certainly important at the time. Once you chose a name to use, did you feel compelled to explain to others why you made that choice? Names are not a trivial concern and, I suspect, probing history would reveal thoughtful consideration. 

How did we get our name? There are people who do not like their given name, so they change it. What are their considerations as they do that? 

Law enforcement can create a new identity for select individuals in a “witness protection” program. Besides making good television drama, I wonder if the actual fact troubles the true humans involved.

Readers of the Bible cannot easily miss the emphasis on the “name” of the characters. Whereas in modern times individual names may be mostly labels with a minimum amount of spiritual importance, in scripture the names of individuals are often sacred. A name can reveal an inner essence, divine purpose, or unfolding journey. The name might speak of identity, character, and God-given purpose. The name was an indication of what we might expect from this person.

For example, Jacob’s name translates to “heel grabber” or “deceiver” in anticipation of his birth status. Abram’s name translated to “exalted father” but changed to Abraham (“father of many nations/multitudes”) when God and he made a covenantal promise. In parallel, his wife Sarai (“my princess”) had a change to Sarah (“mother of nations”). Simon’s name changed to Peter, Jacob to Israel, Saul to Paul—these were not random but spoke of a new identity and relationship with God.

Clearly, individual names are often not a trivial choice. Perhaps we should respect them more than we do.

Jim Nichols is a retired Abilene Christian University biology professor and current hospital chaplain