What’s in a Name?

I never liked my name as a child.

My parents named me “Linda” because of a popular song that was recorded by a well-known crooner. In those days, my folks had a vinyl record with the song on it, and they played it all the time on the record player at home.

It was a sappy love song, and I endured a fair amount of teasing by the boys in grade school. Apparently, in the United States, many little girls born in the mid-1940s were also named Linda. I say this because of the thirty boys and girls in my first-grade classroom, five of us girls were named Linda. I went by “Linda N.” for many years so that my teachers would know which papers and reports were mine.

And for the longest time, I wished I could change my name. In Bible times, parents often gave children names with a particular meaning or symbolism. Rebekah named the second of her twin boys Jacob, which means “heel-grasper.” The name, according to Strong’s Concordance, means “heel-catcher,” “heel holder,” or “supplanter.” The root word of the name means “to supplant, circumvent, take by the heel, follow at the heel, assail insidiously, overreach.” I guess, by comparison, Linda doesn’t seem so bad.

As it came to pass, Jacob eventually deceived his father and his brother, which had life-changing implications for him. But after his true conversion, God gave him a new name, “Your name will no longer be Jacob... From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won” (Genesis 32:28, NLT). Jacob—now, Israel—may never have been a perfect man, but that day, his life turned a corner. The Bible describes the book of life where the names of Jesus’ followers are written (Revelation 13:8; 17:8; 20:12; 21:27). In fact, when speaking to a group of disciples who were going out to preach, Jesus said, “Rejoice because your names are registered in heaven” (Luke 10:20, NLT). That’s good news indeed! It means I won’t have to explain who I am in heaven. Not only does Jesus know my name, but also in God’s blessing to all nations, He says, “For the name I will give them is an everlasting one.

It will never disappear!” (Isaiah 56:5, NLT).

Let’s all look forward to the day when Jesus will welcome us home by our own name!

Linda Nottingham