Have you ever thought about the importance of a name? Everybody has one. Most get their names from their biological parents. Traditionally, American women have taken the family name of their husband when they marry. Some folks just change their name for various reasons.
One nice thing about being an amateur genealogist is discovering the source of a name. For example, I am named after my maternal grandmother's father and her brother. The first name of each of his grandfathers names were combined to name Pop. While many people are named for family members, my brother seems to have just pulled a name out of the air for his oldest daughter.
As a parent, picking a name can be a tricky thing. I have known several guys who went by their initials because they really hated the moniker their parents hung on them. One very wise mother asked my wife when she was pregnant to stand at the back door and yell the potential names because she would find herself doing it a lot as time passed.
Personally, I am terrible with names. I can have a conversation with someone I have known for years and I will not be able to remember their name. All three of my boys will respond to Fred, George, Herkimer, Aloysius, or Seymour if I am looking at them.
Last names have special traits.
Johnson is the English way of saying son of John
. The Mc
in McComb is the
Scot way of saying son of
. 2,000 years ago, Jews used bar
in this manner,
i.e. Barabbas meant son of abbas.
According to Mosaic Law, a boy is circumcised and named when he is 8 days old. If a newborn is still alive after a week, the chances of survival are very good because all of the bodily functions have started working. Luke 2:21 tells us Mary and Joseph named him Jesus as they were instructed by the angels (Luke 1:31, Matthew 1:21) but did they?
Jesus is Greek for the Jewish name
Joshua. In reality, our Savior may have gone by Joshua Bar Joseph most of his
life. All of the New Testament was written in Greek resulting in us calling
him Jesus. Jesus may have traded Bar Joseph for of Nazareth
or Nazarene.
During his lifetime, Jesus was never publicly known as Christ.
Does Jesus know your name?
Grace and peace in the power of the Holy Spirit.
(J. Wesley McComb is a published author and a member of Christ Episcopal Church, 1534 7th St, Slidell, 643-4531.)
© by The Slidell Independent newspaper; originally published on January 1, 2010. Used by permission of publisher and author.