Things We Do With Names
I've been thinking a lot lately about all the things we do with names.
Here's my present list....If you can add substantively to it, PLEASE email me. This stuff is important to me.
 | What is the first thing we do when a new human being is born into this world? The very first thing, often before the umbilical cord is even cut? We give that person a name. | ||||||
| Names mean things....The less industrialized a people is the more important this tradition is to them. But even to us, names mean things. They have a history and a purpose. "Leroy", for one example, comes from the French "Le Roi", which means "The King." There are literally countless thousands of examples. For $4.99 you can go to your local bookstore & buy a book that will tell you what your name "means." | ||||||
| And what is the first, the very first thing we do when we meet someone? We learn their name....We tell them our name. At the first meeting, and on the phone, even over the internet, the first thing we do to establish contact and the beginning of a relationship is the exchanging of names. | ||||||
| A simple piece of paper is worthless; but with the signature of a famous person it becomes an autograph worth hundreds or thousands of dollars. That's because the signature attaches or connects that (otherwise meaningless) object to the person who signed it, conferring on it great value. (I was in Vegas, in one of the celebrity shops. They had a picture of Marilyn Monroe, $40. Right next to it, the identical picture, but with her authenticated signature, they wanted $800. | ||||||
| I think about product lines...Somebody recently saw my stereo (I worked 20 years for it, it really is my "pride & joy"), and it really doesn't look like all that much, till he saw the NAME on the amplifier, which he recognized..."Wow...that's the real thing...." See, he didn't even have to hear it, he just knew: that NAME means something, a reputation, and his entire perception and expectation of the sound were entirely, 100% changed, because of the Name! | ||||||
| And "Name Protection" (aka copyright infringement, etc) is a MASSIVE, multi-BILLION dollar enterprise on this planet...I am perfectly free to make my own brown bubbly soda...I am free to sell it to whomever will buy it. But if I put the name "Coke" on it, I will have a lawsuit slapped on me, and if I do not stop then they will throw me in jail! | ||||||
| This is anecdotal, but I read that Disney spends upwards of $200,000,000 (That's 200 million!) a year in the legal department alone, protecting the Disney name, hunting down forgeries (figurines & T-shirts etc that say Disney but don't come from Disney) and prosecuting the offenders. | ||||||
| In short, WE PROTECT OUR NAMES. Because they have value. And from what I've been told, certain of our political leaders are now regretting they did not do a better job of protecting their names!) | ||||||
| If I know your name I can find out everything about you. Your birth, where you live, where and when you went to school, how much money you have, what you own, driving record....All of this is available to the determined investigator who is equipped with your name. Lately, I've been inundated with Spam email advertisements (here's an example) (perhaps you have too?) that promise (for $20) to show me how I can find out EVERYTHING about ANYONE, with only their name. | ||||||
| Your whole personality is embodied in your name: "Keep my good name." There's been a lot of talk lately about the "Clinton Legacy." What will, for history, that NAME embody? I mean come on....NAMES come into our vocabulary and become nouns or verbs based on the actions or personality of the people involved....Does anyone really wonder what the comic means when his says he'd "Love to get a Lewinsky?" And what a tragedy that her name will be remember for just that one act. | ||||||
| One of the main targets schoolchildren have to make fun of each other is their names. Do you remember the pain? Do your kids even NOW come home crying because someone at school made fun of their name? Heck, I remember like it was yesterday....My birth name was Mark Huppert...And for years, I mean years, I was "Old Mother Hubbard." I'd be innocently walking through the halls at school and some idiot would scream, "Old Mother Hubbard! Better go get your dog a bone!" Nothing, nothing, bothered me more. And my dear stepdaughter's last name is Doody...Somewhere, somehow, in the 80's that word became nearly universally used on TV as a euphemism for "excrement." Think she didn't have any problems? | ||||||
| No document becomes legal until someone's name is attached to it. So simple, so obvious....But whether it's a check or a trust deed or a business deal or peace treaty, until those NAMES get written on the paper, the paper is worthless, and the deal it represents does not happen! | ||||||
| Sometimes, when it is really important (I recently refinanced my house) you need to get your signature notarized, meaning you have to provide proof you are who you say you are... | ||||||
| 3 years ago I changed my name, legally. But the problems continue, even to this day...You would not BELIEVE what all is involved in just trying to do a name change (not a simple let's-get-married-type of name change, but a real one...obscure...not to mention that it's weird, and I have only ONE LEGAL NAME......Do you know, for example, dear friend (can we talk?) that yours truly, "host of God's Homepage", professional programmer for 18 years, 100,000 software users in the country (ready?) cannot even order things over the internet! (Well, sometimes it works, but more often than not it won't.) See, the online order forms (I KNOW you've seen them) REQUIRE a first and last name, and they REQUIRE that this match EXACTLY the credit card....MY credit card says "Ahyh", because THAT's MY NAME!!! But the system just will not handle it...Not that this has anything to do with anything, but changing my name has been one of the most EXCITING things I have done in years. Really...And to watch the daily (yes, daily) repercussions continue to echo because of that one decision is fascinating....endlessly amusing. (Unless I'm in a hurry, at which point it can get frustrating. Oh well.) | ||||||
| Forging someone else's signature is a crime; they can throw you in jail for years. | ||||||
| Names really do have power. They contain the power of the person or thing named.....Names can open doors, get appointments, make things happen. The "Ahyh" name is not getting an appointment with George Bush, no matter what. But the "Cheney" name has a standing appointment. Walk right in. | ||||||
| I guess what I'm pointing to is the DIRECT, IMMEDIATE connection between the PERSON and their NAME...The name actually represents the person...You could say that your name is your ambassador. The Name really is, in many ways, the person. | ||||||
| I can "assign" my name to you, through Power of Attorney, or send you as an ambassador in my name, (just did a quick check....the phrase "In my name" appears in the Bible 27 times.) You, then, "using" my name, have all the powers that I do. | ||||||
| Names even have money. Take a simple piece of paper and it is worthless. But turn it into a check, and put on it the name of a rich person, and that worthless piece of paper has immense power because of the wealth of the person who's name rests on the check. You can call my accountant, ask for $10,000 cash, and they will hang-up on you. But if MY name makes the request, the envelope is waiting. | ||||||
| Then there's the entire, mysterious object-word, person-name connection. Names (words) are the basis for our entire system of language and, indeed, thought. It has been repeatedly shown that the words we have to use shape the thoughts we are capable of having, and vice versa....Eskimos with 40 words for "snow"...Arabic with 30 varieties of "brown"...English with only 1 word for "Love", but 200+ words for the female breast. These things TELL US THINGS about ourselves....what we name, how we name it, a very deep and fascinating subject. | ||||||
| It is AMAZING to me that YHWH gave Adam 3 "jobs":
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| This may seem obvious, but It is important to us that our name be spelled correctly and pronounced correctly. Just think about all of the effort that goes into TV, radio and newspapers to make sure the media knows and communicates the correct spelling and pronunciation of people's names. And every time they mispronounce or misspell a name, the will apologize! | ||||||
| Then there's fringe, "weird" stuff that I don't recommend, but
still a part of what we do, like "Your name reveals your
personality", by counting the letters and giving values to the letters
and combining that with the sun's angle at your birth, that kind of
thing. Personally I've always found it a bit silly. But still,
even in our modern, secular world many people find almost a "magic
power" in names.
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Practical application?
I've written about this a lot...a briefer list can be found in God is Not God's Name.
Names are SO IMPORTANT...you could make a case that they are the basis of our entire social order.
And yet, the overwhelming majority of humanity does not know God's Name...those who know don't care...The Bible translators refuse to even PUT THE NAME IN THE BIBLE!!!!!!
The practical application is actually so simple, so straight-forward, and yet so overwhelmingly powerful:
| The Creator of the Universe has a Name. |
| In Exodus 3:14 He reveals that Name. Says it's His memorial Name for all generations. |
| Every single paragraph above could be re-written in terms of how it applies to God's name, and how That Name applies to YOU! |
But I will leave that exercise to you, should you care. Call it homework.
