Exotic Names

A Name is a very personal thing. It not only represents who we are to other people, but it reflects who we want to become. In many ways, our name becomes synonymous with our identity. It’s why so many of us take it personally when someone else uses the wrong name. In the Church, how we name our children can vary from region to region, but one thing is certain. We all are associated with our name.

I was reading through the saints for today and noticed just how many saints have names I rarely if ever hear. Pancratios, Metrophanes and Patermuthius are all saints of the Church, but I have never once met someone who bears their name. On the contrary I’ve met innumerable Johns and Michaels and Marias, so I wanted to reflect on what it means to name our children and, in the case of converting into the Church, ourselves.

I was named after my maternal grandfather and my son is named after my father. This is likely the most common source of our name and it explains why so many people share the same name. There are other traditions, but honoring the memory of a family member seems to be the most common. So, why not honor the saints? Aren’t they also part of our Church family? Are we worried our children will be ridiculed because their names are not common? Yes, I even know people who purposely choose a name from the “This Year’s Most Common Name” list they find on Google.

There is a less common tradition in the Church of naming children after one of the saints born on the same day. In other words, if a boy were born today he might be named Pancratios, and then I  would actually know someone by that name.

For me, there might be one special benefit for choosing a name OTHER THAN the list of most popular. It begins a conversation with the people we meet. “Oh, your name is Pancratios. I’ve never heard that name before. Does it have any special meaning?” We can go on to explain he was one of the first Christians in Antioch. He knew Saint Peter and later moved to Sicily to share the Gospel there. Next thing you know, we are involved in a discussion of Christian history and evangelism rather than, “It was my grandfather’s name.”

Every time we can find new ways to engage in conversation about the Gospel and the Church, the more chances we have to inspire others to Live A New Life In Christ. It doesn’t have to be a rare or exotic name, but at least that would open the door to discussion.