What’s in a Name?

“What’s in a name?”

This iconic phrase was made popular by William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Juliet gives voice to the line, implying that a person’s intrinsic qualities matter more than their name or title. The conversation goes on to speak of a rose by any other name would certainly smell as sweet.

While I totally get the point and agree in general, I’d like to push back a little bit...

Names matter more than you think.

First off, in this day and age many kids want to go by a different name, whether a nickname or something totally different. Some kids even get mad if you call them by their given name. This has leaked into the larger society because just about every form you ever fill out now has “legal name” followed by “preferred name”.

Second, names make it clear who is being spoken to.

My first summer as a camp counselor at Camp Piankatank, I was having difficulty with one camper. He was all over the place. Wild. Crazy. Disrespectful.

He hadn’t even been there an hour yet.

While our cabin was doing an icebreaker game, I tried everything to calm him down, get his attention calling out “hey man” or something like that, trying to get him in line to no avail.

Then I remembered his name.

I called out to him.

He froze!

His eyes widened. Mouth dropped. There was no doubt who I was talking to.

From that moment on, I had little to no problem with him all week.

Being Kristofer with a “K” and an “f” has always made spelling and knowing names important to me, and this moment with this camper affirmed the importance of knowing someone’s name.

That leads me to my third reason names are important: throughout Scripture God is identified and called many names based on His character. Elohim. El Shaddai. Jehovah Jirah. “The God who sees.” And of course the name of above all names, Jesus.

But even more significantly, He knows our names!

Isaiah 43:1 says, “But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

God created you. He formed you. He has redeemed you. He summons you by name. We are His. We belong to Him.

How awesome is that?

Some translations say he calls you by name. He doesn’t say “Hey you.”

He calls us by name. He summons us. He calls us to Himself.

Calling us by name shows His desire for a relationship with us, but not just a surface-level one. An intimate, personal one.

I love the way The Chosen uses this verse with Mary Magdalene in Season 1, Episode 1. At the beginning of the episode, Mary goes by a different name as one possessed by demons.

None of her “friends” know her real name. Not even the priests who come to minister to her in her possessed state know her name.

But then...

Jesus shows up as she is walking out of the bar heals her, calls her “MARY,” and recites Isaiah 43:1 to her.

The episode opened with Mary’s father teaching her Isaiah 43:1 as a child. Her father reminded her that when she is scared, she can remember that God created her and knows her by name.

And now, He shows up and knows her even when she didn’t know Him!

That is my encouragement for you today. No matter what you are going through. No matter how alone you feel. No matter how much you try to hide.

God pursues you. He knows you. He recognizes you. And He knows you by name.

You are not just someone to Him. You are His!

And because you are His, I would challenge you to take a step toward other people, learn their names even if it is hard for you, and point them toward Jesus.

After all, sometimes the most powerful way to show someone they matter is simply to know their name.

Anyway, I was just thinking...