What's in a name?

For as long as I can remember, I've been obsessed with names. There's just something about them that intrigues me; The way they sound, the way they're written, what they mean, how they make you feel, what you associate them with, even how adding or taking away one letter can totally change it and create a whole new name, sound, or feel. In elementary school, I would draw pictures of made up characters just so I could name them what I thought fit their appearance or the personality I created for them. Even now as a "grown up," I love looking up names and what they mean, following the ebb and flow of popularity in naming trends, and hearing what people choose to name their babies.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds themselves interested in this topic. But what's in a name that makes them so fascinating?

A name is what you're given at birth to be called for the rest of your life. It's what you will sign checks with, put on the bottom of birthday cards, see on your license, get those freebie points with on the SATs, but even more, it is what you exchange with someone when you invite them to know you, and if you don't share it with someone who is pursuing a relationship with you, it leaves something lacking, as if they can't truly know you without it (I'm reminded of all those movies that start with a man encountering a woman who captivates him, and when she leaves without giving him her name, he makes it his mission to find out what it is). I've even noticed it in my own life, that if I see someone all the time and I don't know their name, it drives me crazy. Or if I forget someone's name, it's a horrible feeling, as if I'm forgetting who they are as a person.

What is with this need to know someone's name? I think the reason is our hunger for identity. As humans, we are wired with a need to know who we are at the deepest level and to know others at the most intimate level too, first and foremost by God, then by others.

We are made to know and be known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)


(Side thought: When Moses asked God what His name was, He said "I am what I am" which we shorten to "I am." We never really had God's "real" name to call him by until He put Himself in bodily form and called Himself "Jesus." Just another way God satisfied our need [AND His] to intimately know God through Jesus. ...although we still don't know the Father's "real" name, which I believe He intentionally left as a mystery so our curiosity and desire for adventure would lead us to pursue Him deeper, until we finally are "known [by Him] as we are known.")


In ancient Jewish tradition, people were named based on their personality, something they did, something they were, even what their destiny was. They weren't just named a name, but called something that described them. Some examples of this are: Isaac, which means "he will laugh" because of when his mother, Sarah, laughed at the idea she could be come pregnant at her old age; David, which means "beloved", and whom God proclaimed was a man after His own heart; Delilah, which means "one who weakened" because she weakened the might of Samson; Jesus, which means "God is Salvation," etc. Sometimes, God even changed their name when they encountered Him and had a transformation of heart and realized their purpose and destiny, like Abram to Abraham which means "father of nations"; Jacob to Israel which means "wrestles with God"; Simon to Peter which means "rock." Every name means something more than the letters that form them. They all have a back story.

I firmly believe that while your parents may not have realized it when they decided on what to name you, God is behind the decision and your name means something profound in relation to your identity.

A few years ago, I went on a bit of a journey to discover what my first name meant and was totally blown away with the revelation God gave me. I don't doubt it: He chose my name. 

However, I was never able to find anything substantial on my maiden name. I've tried a few times to do some research, but couldn't find much of anything, other than the fact that it's German. 

But when I walked out of my bedroom this morning and saw Ian's framed coat of arms that I got for him a few birthdays back, I thought about how my name was changed, maybe not in the same way or for the same reason as some of the people mentioned above, but I've taken on a new heritage, nonetheless, and I wanted to find out what that meant for me.

The Walsh family motto is "Transfixus sed non Mortuus" which means, "Transfixed but not dead."

Transfixed is defined as "to render motionless, as with terror, amazement, or awe."

I immediately thought of when John saw Jesus in the book of Revelation and after he described what He looked like, it says that he fell before His feet "as a dead man" (Revelation 1:17).

Transfixed, but not dead. Rendered motionless in awe of God almighty standing before him in all His splendor, yet more alive than ever.

While I have many scriptures that I call my favorite, the one that I have made the aim of my life is Psalm 27:4, "One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek; to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the Lord's beauty and inquire in His temple."

To be forever transfixed by His beauty.

This has been my heritage from the very beginning, but I always knew that when I got married, it would position me to walk in the fullness of my destiny and my calling even more because God has great purpose on my union. 

And would you believe, that my new last name that I've been grafted in to through marriage, means the very thing God has made me for, the essence of the scripture God has given me to live by. Wow.

God is so personal and deliberate with what He names you, just like He knew what scripture was the cry of my heart and what my married name would be. He really does care about the details and wants us to know our identity and purpose. Not to mention, it isn't just my destiny, but also yours, to live in this transfixed reality, because in beholding God's beauty, we discover ourselves.

So what's in a name? I'm not sure what's in yours, but I bet it's worth finding out.

<3 Hali