What's In A Name?

What’s in a name?

Short answer? Everything.

Everything that’s most important. Identity. Character. Purpose.

The Ancients knew this. A name could make or break a man. They understood that prosperity was tied to it. So was reputation. A name would proceed it’s owner and either make a way for him, or become a impediment in life.

Today, names are a dime a dozen. The modern world has forgotten these ancient understanding, or the importance of a good name. What seems to be important to people now is whether or not a name sounds cool or draws attention. The right kind, of course. A name is simply a means to an end.

But our Father in Heaven doesn’t see it that way. When He made Adam, and gave the command to be fruitful, multiply and have dominion over the earth. There were a lot of jobs that fell under this umbrella of responsibility. But one of the first tasks Father gave Adam to do, in Genesis 2, was giving names to all the living creatures.

“And out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.”

Can you imaging being given that job?! I’ve often wondered what it would have been like. It’s still a mystery how he came up with each and every name. But what stands out to me even more, is that as he was calling and naming birds and beasts, Adam was operating out of the identity and purpose of his own name!

The name, Adam, means “man” in Hebrew, but the letters that form the name is where the real revelation lies. The name contains three living letters: Aleph (א), Dalet (ד), and Mem (מ). The ancient pictographs for these letters are an ox, a door, and water. When combining them together, we discover an overarching meaning: strength to move the water; the strong leader that commands the waters.

(By the way, there was another Adam who also operated in this way. You can read about him here.)

Now, the Father always says and does everything with intent, and He didn’t haphazardly named Adam. In fact, the very understanding of the Hebrew word for “name,” shem, illustrates this. It means an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality. And by implication, the act of naming was done to appoint honor, authority, or character.

By looking at the pictographs in shem, we can see the mystical meaning reinforcing this understanding. Shem is made up of a Shin (ש), which is the picture of two teeth, which can mean to separate, rend or destroy. The other is Mem (מ), which again, is the picture of water, and also represents blood or chaos. When combined, they reveal this concept of separating water, like when Moses parted the Red Sea.

In fact, Shin and Mem can also be found in the name of Moses, or Moshe, and they are also the beginning and end of the word for “shalom”, or peace, which is what Yeshua said when He silenced the storm and sea. Did you notice that in both of these cases, a strong leader was commanding the waters?

In the naming of Adam, Father wasn’t just naming the first man. He was setting a precedence for every man and woman that would ever come after him. He was setting in place Adam’s identity—putting purpose within his being. In Adam’s case his identity was the direct reflection of the Fathers own image, and his purpose was to mirror that image to the rest of creation. And we see this demonstrated in Adam’s very first act: calling and naming the animal.

In calling and naming the beast of the fields and the birds of the air, Adam was behaving in like manner to his Creator. He was revealing the image of Yahweh’s own character and nature through his words and deeds. In fact, he was simply following what His Creator had been doing from the beginning.

What’s the very first thing that the Creator did after created the light? He named it:

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness He called ‘night.’ ”

In Gen. 1:4, Father demonstrated the deeper principles of naming. By naming (shem) the light “day,” and the darkness “night”, He “commanded the water” and gave it individuality and identity. More than that, further into Genesis 1, we see Him defining their purpose: to mark the boundaries within the cycle of time.

Adam was simply walking out the function of his own name by calling and naming the animals. In many regards, it’s not much different from centuries ago when men were named after the labor they undertook like Carpenter, Smith, or Thatcher. Their names were the very jobs they performed.

But Adam’s name incorporated more than just a function. It established character and quality. It marked him and set him apart from every other thing. In turn, he marked every living creature, and set them apart by giving them a name.

The Hebrew word for called is “qara.” It means “to call out to”, pronounce, publish, or read. As with Adam and shem, the living letters tell us even more. Quph (ק), Resh (ר), and Aleph (א) form this word. We already know the picture for Aleph. An ox. Quph is the picture of the sun on the horizon, and Resh is the head of a man. When combining them we get this concept: the appointed time of the First and strong leader, the rising of the Authority in strength. This is illustrated in the opening acts of Yahweh in Gen. 1, and echoed in the first acts of Adam.

The act of calling and naming in the first two chapters of the bible was intentional. The Father was clearly demonstrating a principle and creating precedent for all of creation: through calling and naming, all things receive their individuality and identity, nature and character, purpose and function. A name is the sign or mark—a symbol, and it carries the description or definition of a people, place, or thing.

This precedence still continues, and the Father still operates in this way with every created thing. Including us:

“…The God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.” (Rom. 4:17)

“I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.” (Rev 2:17)

Even today, the Father is calling us to Himself. He’s ready to give us a new name. Already in His heart we are marked by it. He has singled us out with a unique identity, and there exist a special and secret name waiting to be spoken over the waters of our being. A name that carries within it the nature and purpose of our life—in the earth, and in heaven.

Until next time, may the Spirit of the Lord lead you in discovery. May you find your uniqueness within the name the Father has given you, as you continue to pursue the you He designed you to be.

Shalom.