Name

The influence of Christianity has declined in the United States. Yet in maternity wards across the country, when newborns scrunch up their tiny faces and fill their lungs with their first breaths of air, parents regularly turn to Scripture. They give their children biblical names.

Some Bible names are more popular than ever. One hundred years ago, for example, Noah was the 400th most common newborn name in America. But in the early 1990s, the number of babies named after the ark-building patriarch rose rapidly. By 1996, Noah was the 50th most popular baby name for boys, and by 2009, it was in the top 10. For the past decade, Noah has been the No. 1 or No. 2 name for boys.

A few names, such as Mary and Martha, have become less popular, but other Bible names appear resistant to cultural change. A girl born in America today is about as likely to be named Elizabeth as she would have been a century ago. David was the 28th most popular boy name in 1920. It was 25th in 2020. Other popular names include Eden, Grace, Elijah, and John.

America has changed a lot in 100 years. But when it comes to naming babies, plenty of people still go back to the Bible.

U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon asked an unusual question to attorney Janet Hoffman during the sentencing phase of a recent case. “Do you want me to refer to your client as Mr. Pearce, Mr. Doe or Mr. Casper?”

Normally a defendant’s name is one of the first established facts in a criminal proceeding, but in this case, it was a mystery behind the whole thing. Hoffman’s client was a well-known attorney who went professionally by the name Roger A. Pearce Jr. He had spent more than three decades practicing law in Oregon and Washington. Now, at age 77, he was living a comfortable life, having retired with his wife to a million-dollar condo on Lake Washington in Seattle. But recently authorities discovered that he’d been living a lie. Roger A. Pearce Jr. was not his legal name.

The ruse was discovered in 2022 when the State Department flagged his passport application because he applied for a new social security number as an adult. So, prosecutors indicted him as “John Doe,” after he was arrested on a warrant. After pleading guilty to misdemeanor identity fraud, the judge asked his courtroom deputy to have the defendant state his name for the record.

He said, “My birth name was Willie Ragan Casper Jr.” Casper, a.k.a. Pearce, explained that he went to college at Rice University in Texas, but made a series of poor choices, dropping out of school, then quickly marrying and splitting apart. In desperation, he engaged in petty theft and check-kiting schemes.

He said, “I was a young person, confused, depressed. I felt the failure. I was ashamed that I had wasted a lot of my parents’ money supporting me in a distant city they couldn’t really afford. My marriage had fallen apart. I had no real career prospects.”

So, he illegally changed his name as a way of finding a fresh start. He purchased the birth certificate of a baby who’d died, then used that certificate to apply for a social security number.

Assistant U.S. attorney Ethan Knight said, “Every person is responsible for and owns their own history and really the shadow that that casts and the consequences that ultimately may bear out. The defendant’s choice in this case really is an abdication of that basic principle.”

The defendant intends to legally change his name to Roger A. Pearce Jr. and resume the remainder of his years under that name. He also has a chance to mend old fences with the family he left behind so many years ago. He said, “Perhaps paradoxically, this prosecution may give me the chance to recover some of what I’ve lost.”

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Identity in Christ - While the defendant sought to create a new identity for himself through deception, the Bible teaches that true identity and renewal come through faith in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17); 2) Forgiveness; Second Chance - The story suggests the possibility of forgiveness and a second chance (Lam. 3:23;1 John 1:9); 3) Accountability - The prosecutor's statement about owning one's history and facing consequences illustrates personal accountability (Rom.14:12).

Jacksonville Jaguars star linebacker Josh Allen has changed his name to Josh Hines-Allen, in tribute to his maternal family. His No. 41 jersey will feature the Hines-Allen name starting the 2024 NFL season. Hines-Allen said, “Legacy is forever, and I’m proud to carry that tradition on the back of my jersey, following in the footsteps of my family.” He aims to honor his family, many of whom are athletes, including his sister Myisha Hines-Allen of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and other relatives who played basketball at collegiate and professional levels.

Previously, Allen was often mistaken for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, notably sacking him in Week 9 of the 2021 NFL season. To mark his name change, Hines-Allen will host a jersey exchange in Jacksonville for fans with his previous "Allen 41" jerseys.

Hines-Allen has had a notable NFL career, tying for second in the league with 17.5 sacks in 2023. In his five seasons with the Jaguars, he has recorded 45 sacks, nine forced fumbles, and 251 tackles. Hines-Allen continues to make a significant impact on the field, now carrying a name that honors his family's legacy.

Possible Preaching Angle:

When we honor those who came before, we honor the God who sustained those ancestors through times of turmoil, trouble, and hardship.

Sportswriter Jason Gay wrote an article about a rare baseball card of the famous Babe Ruth.

At first glance, it looked like an ordinary, unexceptional, very old baseball card. It was not. It was a missing link. This was him, alright. The Babe. The most famous player baseball has ever produced … Even I knew this Ruth card was valuable, extraordinary, worth a visit. If I wanted confirmation, I needed only to look at the armed guard sitting on a stool next to its display case. This card was precious cargo, protected like a Picasso, making a brief pit stop at its former home, the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, before being auctioned off and sold to the highest bidder.

[Here’s why it] is such a big deal: One, it’s the first known card depicting the towering lefty slugger. The card … is extremely scarce: There are only 10 of them known, and one hasn’t hit the market in more than a decade. But also: It’s the Babe! This is a charismatic cultural figure with a reach far beyond sports; who once justified making a salary higher than President Hoover by saying, “Why not? I had a better year.”

The auction began November 16, 2023. Within hours, bidding had hit $5.25 million. It eventually sold for $7.2 million.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Jesus Christ - The card was so valuable because of the name on the card—Babe Ruth. The name means everything. But the name of Jesus is worth infinitely more than any name in heaven or on earth. 2) Christian - Christians are also valuable because we bear the name of Christ on us.

In 1907, the American Thermos Bottle Company launched a marketing campaign to popularize its vacuum-insulated bottles. They succeeded so spectacularly that “thermos” became a household word. The problem was, by the early 1920s, competitors were using the term “thermos” to describe their vacuum-insulated bottles as well. And so began the battle for the trademark, which included multiple lawsuits, changing the name of the business to the American Thermos Products Company, and launching Thermos-branded tents and stoves in an effort to prove that “thermos” was not a generic word for vacuum bottles. But it was too late. In 1963 a court deemed that the term “had entered the public domain beyond recall.”

Thermos is not the only corporate brand to fall victim to its own success. “Escalator,” “laundromat,” and “zipper” all used to be trademarks. Believe it or not, a company called Sealed Air Corporation still holds the rights to “Bubble Wrap,” Wham-O Inc. owns “Hula Hoop,” and Sony is hanging on to “Memory Stick.” Velcro went as far as producing a music video urging us to refer to generic versions of their product as “hook and loop,” but that’s not going to catch on.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Positive spin: Many words in Christianity have also taken on a “life of their own.” We commonly hear phrases like “it’s the gospel truth,” “it is the company’s mission statement,” and it is “their cross to bear.” This can be an aid to preaching, if we are careful to define what the Bible means by these now familiar words.

Negative spin: We must be careful that the gospel, the cross, and our mission not be watered down by the world hijacking biblical words, redefining them, and robbing them of their original unique spiritual meaning.

Do impressive-sounding, inspirational job titles make us feel better about ourselves? Can they change our behavior? Research suggests that job titles have the power to improve our well-being and sense of control, and shield us from feeling socially snubbed. They might even encourage us to apply for a job in the first place.

Since a powerful-sounding job title can signify social status, it’s not surprising workers aspire to them. But a fancy title isn’t always about status. Simply making a title more fun can influence behavior. After attending a conference at Disneyland and upon discovering that employees there were called “cast members,” Susan Fenters Lerch felt inspired.

The former CEO of Make-A-Wish Foundation returned to her office and told employees they could create their own “fun” job title, in addition to their official one, to reflect “their most important roles and identities in the organization.”

Researchers interviewed these employees a year and a half after Lerch’s decision. They found that their “self-reflective” job titles reduced workers’ emotional exhaustion, helped them cope with emotional challenges, and let them affirm their identity at work. Researcher Daniel Cable said, “The titles opened the door for colleagues to view one another as human beings, not merely job-holders.”

Researchers have also found that giving an employee a more senior-sounding title can make them act more responsibly by making them feel happier at work. Sociology professor Jeffrey Lucas found that giving high-performing employees a high-status job title could stop them from leaving. He carried out two experiments and discovered that workers with important-sounding job titles “displayed greater satisfaction, commitment, and performance and lower turnover intentions” than those who didn’t.

“However, as far as job titles go, it's important that people actually perceive the titles as conferring status. In other words, fancy titles that people perceive as being nothing more than just that would be unlikely to have positive consequences.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

This attitude could apply to valuing church staff, elected church officers, and volunteers. Do we follow Paul’s example in giving affirming titles those who serve with us? He publicly appreciated them and called them “fellow workers,” “beloved brothers,” “faithful ministers,” and “true partners” (Phil. 4:3; Col 4:7).

Pastor Bryan Chapell writes in his recent book Grace at Work:

I have a friend who's a marathon runner. He was in a race a few years ago that he knew would be tough, particularly at the end. And knowing what happens at the ends of races, how people call out encouragement, he didn't put his own name on his racing bib but actually wrote the word “Christian.” He knew that when he got to that final mile, and all the people were cheering, they wouldn't call out his name but would say, "Go get `em, Christian!" "You can do it, Christian!" "Hang in there, Christian!" He ran to represent the name of Christ that he bore.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Colossians 3:17 tells us: "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus." Everything you do should be in the name of Christ. When we are in the workplace, we bear the name of our Savior. Because we represent Christ, we don't cheat the boss on our timecards or on expense reports, even if others do. We don't lie to the IRS. Why? Because our Lord has written his name on us so that others can see him.

In 2018 Rosalind Picard, an MIT professor and follower of Jesus, helped invent a simple life-saving device that can be used by persons with epilepsy. It looks like a smart watch, and it is sold under the name Embrace.

Epileptic seizures take 3,000 lives per year in the United States. Most epileptic seizures pose a risk of asphyxiation. This can be prevented if somebody nearby ensures that the person’s airway remain open and the person is resting safely. But some seizures are so deep that the person’s body can completely shut down for lack of signals from the brain.

There is one noninvasive intervention that works far better than any other. It can interrupt the misfiring neurons and establish normal brain function within a few minutes. Another person needs to speak to you and gently touch you, ideally calling you by name.

This intervention must happen within a matter of minutes for the person to survive such a seizure. This means that the only person who can come to the rescue is someone nearby. The Embrace device is designed to alert the nearest person on a list of people the user trusts, ideally including close neighbors. People often cling to their cell phones in case a loved one should call with an emergency, but for this kind of emergency, a cell phone is of no use. Only the nearest person can do anything about it.

Surviving this kind of episode is possible if you have a neighbor you trust to speak to you and touch you and call you by name. It is possible, that is, if you and your neighbor are living a fully personal life. If you’re willing to know and be known by your neighbors and depend on them at the moment of profound vulnerability.

As the Russian invasion into Ukraine drags onward, international approval ratings of Russian president Vladimir Putin have been, pardon the term, tanking. But for a certain subset of Canadians, the anti-Putin sentiment adds unacceptable insult to Ukrainian injury. And like other more serious international incidents, people are somehow blaming the French.

That’s because the French spelling of the Russian president’s name is “Poutine,” which is also the name of a French-Canadian diner staple: fried potatoes topped with gravy and cheese curds. This is why French restaurant Maison de la Poutine was subject to rude, harassing, and insulting phone calls throughout February and March. This is because people read the name of its signature dish – often called the national dish of Canada – and misinterpreted it as support for the Russian leader.

On its Twitter account, the restaurant was forced to issue a clarification, which included the following affirmation:

Poutine was created by passionate cooks who wanted to bring joy and comfort to their customers. La Maison de la Poutine has worked since its first day to carry on these values. Today it brings its most sincere support to the Ukrainian people who are courageously fighting for their freedom against the tyrannical Russian regime.

Another popular French-Canadian restaurant Le Roy Jucep, went even further, renaming the popular dish as “la frite fromage” (literally “the cheese potato”), so as to dissuade any presumed affiliation with Putin.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Names are important because they bestow honor. When someone behaves dishonorably, we besmirch the names we are given and others see those names as disgraceful.

Women and girls across the nation are lamenting the notoriety of their name being associated with virtual assistants. Since the release of Amazon’s voice assistant in 2014, anyone named Alexa has been subject to an uptick of joking and teasing about their name.

When The Washington Post did an analysis of data from the Social Security Administration, they found that approximately 6,000 baby girls were named Alexa in 2015, bringing the total number of American citizens with the name to about 130,000. But in the years since, the popularity of the name has plummeted.

Alexa Morales was contacted by The Washington Post about her predicament. Says Morales, “When I hear my name now, it’s not good thoughts … it’s like, tensing.” Morales eventually started going by “Lex,” as a way to distance herself from the Amazon product. “It was like, you guys have so much money and so many people working for you and not one person thought to be like, ‘Listen, Alexa is a name that people use.’”

Alexa Smith said, “I’ve heard all the jokes at this point. Somebody thought it was funny at work to just call me Siri.”

When contacted, Amazon offered the following statement:

Bullying of any kind is unacceptable, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. We designed our voice assistant to reflect qualities we value in people — being smart, considerate, empathetic, and inclusive. As an alternative to Alexa, we offer several other wake words customers can choose from, including Echo, Computer, Amazon and Ziggy.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Servanthood - No one wants to be called a name that's associated with subservience, but that's exactly what Jesus did by emptying himself and taking on the form of a servant. 2) Mocking – It is never acceptable to mock or put someone else down to showcase our own “humor.” We should be considerate of the feelings of others and stand with them.

22-year-old Apu Sarker lives with his family in a village in northern Bangladesh. His father and his grandfather were farmers. The men in Apu's family appear to share a very rare genetic mutation: they have no fingerprints.

Back in the day of Apu's grandfather, having no fingerprints was no big deal. But over the decades, the tiny grooves that swirl around our fingertips have become the world's most collected biometric data. We use them for everything from passing through airports to voting to opening our smartphones.

When Apu was still a boy, Bangladesh introduced National ID cards for all adults, and the database required a thumbprint. The baffled employees did not know how to issue a card to Apu's father. Finally, he received a card with "NO FINGERPRINT" stamped on it.

In 2016, the government made it mandatory to match a fingerprint with the national database in order to purchase a Sim card for a mobile phone. Apu said, "They seemed confused when I went to buy a Sim, their software kept freezing every time I put my finger on the sensor.” Apu was denied the purchase, and he now uses Sim cards issued in his mother's name.

Apu recently got a new kind of national ID card being issued by the Bangladeshi government, after presenting a medical certificate. The card uses other biometric data, a retina scan and facial recognition. But he still can't buy a Sim card or obtain a driver's license. But he hopes he will be able to get a passport. He would love to travel outside Bangladesh. He just needs to start his application.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Identity; Identity in Christ – Our entry into heaven is not based on fingerprints or biometric data, but on our identity in Christ. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and are guaranteed full access to our heavenly home since our names are written in the Book of Life.

God blessed actor Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila Alves, with a little boy. As his son’s birthday approached, the star opened up about how the Bible inspired him to choose the name Levi.

Matthew is pretty outspoken about his Christian faith. But it wasn’t always that way. The star admits he drifted away from faith when he first became famous. He stopped going to church all together, caught up in life as a Hollywood superstar.

But Camila’s devotion to Christ reminded him of what really matters. He was inspired to return to his faith, and even had his favorite Bible verse (Matt. 6:22) engraved on his wedding band as a way of honoring the person who brought him back to Christ. “The light of the body is the eye; if then your eye is true, all your body will be full of light.”

That same verse played a huge role in Matthew’s life while he and Camila were expecting. The couple decided against finding out the gender of their baby. So, they had a list of seven names to choose from. He said, "Levi’s another name for Matthew in the Bible. We had talked about possibly Matthew, Jr. if he was a boy.”

But soon after the doctor announced to the couple they’d had a boy it became clear Levi was the perfect fit. After spending some time cuddling with their precious baby boy, the doctor handed them a card to fill out with the boy’s chosen name. Listed on the card was their son’s birth time—exactly 6:22pm. And with the time perfectly matching his favorite verse, the Bible inspired Matthew McConaughey to decide on Levi!

The pandemic has done a lot of strange things to the global economy over the last 14 months, from creating a massive shortage of semiconductor chips to a ballooning supply of hand sanitizer.

The US housing market has gone haywire too, as urbanites took advantage of remote work to leave expensive cities and resettle in smaller towns across the US. But it's not all that simple. Glenn Kelman, the chief executive of Redfin, broke down some of his observations of just how unusual the current US housing market is in a Tuesday Twitter thread:

Inventory is down 37% year over year to a record low. The typical home sells in 17 days, a record low. Home prices are up a record amount, 24% year over year, to a record high. And still homes sell on average for 1.7% higher than the asking price, another record.

It has been hard to convey how bizarre the US housing market has become. For example, a Bethesda, Maryland homebuyer included in her written offer a pledge to name her first-born child after the seller. She lost.

Possible Preaching Angle:

God’s people have no such worry. We have a guaranteed home in heaven, personally prepared by Christ, reserved in heaven for us. And, we should mention, it is fully paid for.

Terry Wogan was a veteran BBC broadcaster on the Radio 2 breakfast show for nearly 40 years. When Wogan was asked how many listeners he had, he said, “Only one.” In reality, he had over nine million. But in Wogan’s mind, he wanted every listener to feel like he was speaking directly to them.

Possible Preaching Angle:

God is like that. When you pray, you join with billions of other sometimes desperate and needy people--asking for his help. But he hears you as if you were the only one speaking. He speaks to you as if you were his only listener.

Within its first year, a dolphin develops a unique signature whistle which is the equivalent of its name; it uses this to identify itself to other dolphins. Adults are adept at copying the cries of other dolphins as if calling them by name. This is a fact backed up by a research study in Scotland which concluded that dolphins respond when another dolphin calls out their name.

An American research study concluded that dolphins recognize other dolphins even if they lost contact many years previously. One experiment proved that they could still remember each other’s whistle even after being apart for twenty years. Dolphins are socially complex mammals, and their social bonds with family and friends are very important.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The Bible says that God knows each one of us by name … that we belong to him. We are each unique individuals in God’s sight.

Country music star Merle Haggard wrote the following lyrics after spending years in and out of prison:

When they let me out of prison, I held my head up high,

Determined I would rise above the shame.

But no matter where I’m living, the black mark follows me,

I'm branded with a number on my name.

The lyrics are the reflections in a hit song recorded by Merle Haggard, titled “Branded Man.”

Devastated by his father’s death when he was still a child, Merle soon got into trouble and stepped into petty crime. He therefore found himself in prison many times, eventually ending up in the dreaded San Quentin Prison.

Through a series of events while in prison, Merle decided to change his lifestyle and took to music. He attributes this decision to a concert held by Johnny Cash at the prison. On being paroled, he took to country music and began to find success.

In 1972, Merle Haggard was granted a full pardon by then Governor of California, Ronald Reagan, and never looked back. He went on to become a legend in Country Music.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Sadly, we often accept the unkind labels put on us by others and live our lives believing that we have no worth! Whatever people say or think of us, however, what really matters is what God thinks of us. Thankfully, the scriptures show us that God places great value on us, and we need to believe what God says.

The South West Africa People’s Organization party (SWAPO) made headlines when their candidate was elected to parliament. That a SWAPO candidate won was not news, as the party’s had a stronghold in the area for years. What caught everyone’s attention was his name; Adolf Uunona, whose legal name includes the middle name “Hitler.”

Uunona said in an interview, “As a child I saw it as a totally normal name.” Given Germany’s colonial influence, the name Adolf is not uncommon in the region. Still, he’s uncertain why his father included the infamous Hitler name as a middle name. Uunona said, “I didn't have a choice. I don't know what was going on. I was a baby when my father gave me that name. It wasn’t until I was growing up that I realized this man wanted to subjugate the whole world. I have nothing to do with any of these things.”

Aram Martin, councilor for a neighboring constituency, said Uunona is a good person who possesses a good character. “He is a good person. He is a very hard-working person with a rare personality.” Uunona has worked hard to disassociate himself from the notoriety of his namesake. Still, the responses from social media indicate a wary, cynical public response. Uunona said, “I’m not striving for world domination.” A Twitter user responded, “This seems like the sort of thing Adolf Hitler would say.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Though names are important because they convey a sense of character, we are not chained to the reputations or heritage of our family names. All who have accepted the gift of salvation have access to the glory and authority conferred to Jesus, the name above all names.

In the Indian village of Kongthong, not far from the border with Bangladesh, Shidiap Khongsti sings a soft, melodic tune. It sounds like a lullaby a mother would sing to a crying baby. Seconds later, she hears a tune in reply, and her nephew comes running toward her. The tune is much more than an idle melody: For centuries, villagers have used tunes as their names. Mothers give each newborn a distinctive melody within a week of birth.

The Indian village encompasses about 130 households in a small area. Locals never reuse the same tunes, even after a person dies. Shidiap said, “We don’t know how it began. Our forefathers used these tunes when they went hunting. But it’s highly likely the tradition has practical roots. Tunes carry over distances better than names.”

Opposite Shidiap’s house, a 50-year-old mother of seven, runs a grocery shop. In the article she says, “I know most people’s tunes.” When little children run past her shop, she sings their tune, lovingly. The village has a population of about 700, and she believes she knows about 500 melodies.

Shidiap concluded with this about her four children: “When they were babies, I sang a tune to send them to sleep, and that became their name. Only mothers can give their children these tunes. It’s out of mother’s love.”

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Fatherhood of God; Love of God – In his deep love for us God our Father also sings a song to his children (Zeph. 3:17) and gives each one a unique name (Rev. 2:17); 2) Motherhood; Mother’s Day – A mother loves each of her children in a unique way and gives special thought to the name that each one is given.

Hart Island is found a little way off the coast of Long Island. Nobody lives on Hart Island. It is the home, though, of a million bodies—bodies that have been buried there. It’s a place that’s known as a potter’s field. It’s a place meant for the homeless, the stillborn, poor immigrants, poets, and artists who died penniless. It’s a wasteland for the forgotten dead.

But its newest additions are those who have died from the coronavirus. (During the Covid-19 crisis they dug) … a mass grave on Hart Island. All of these bodies are placed in cheap, crate-like coffins, set side-by-side, as backhoes and men in hazmat suits cover them over with dirt. People dying without dignity, dying with disease, being buried, and being buried safely so as to contain the disease that still resides in their decaying skin.

On Hart Island, in the very middle of the island, there is a large, white cross, with black letters inscribed on the horizontal beam. Those letters read out this way: HE KNOWS US ALL BY NAME. The Risen Christ never forgets a name. He remembers. The stainless white cross that stands in the middle of Hart Island stands as the definitive public witness: He knows us all by name.

New parents are having a tough time naming their offspring. For starters, the baby’s name has to be freely available on social media. Before the advent of social media, when it was time to name the baby, soon-to-be parents dug into their family history or cracked open a baby names book. Not anymore. Names are big business.

When a child is born parents formerly purchase the name as a domain so they’d always have it. That’s not good enough. Parents are now relying on available Snapchat, X, and Instagram handles to name their kids. The reason: Many parents want their kids to have a social media presence before they’re born. After birth, social media might help them in business.

For example, according to an article on Business Insider, “The highest-earning YouTube star in the world is an elementary-school kid who makes millions reviewing toys. Ryan, the 7-year-old ‘host’ of Ryan Toys Review, a popular toy-review channel on YouTube, jumped from No. 8 to No. 1 on Forbes' annual list of YouTube stars who are making the most money.”

Possible Preaching Angle: Choosing a child’s name is also important in Scripture. At times God chose and announced the name of the baby before birth (Isaac - Gen. 17:19; Cyrus – Isa. 44:28; John the Baptist – Luke 1:13; Jesus – Matt. 1:21). Scripture also assures us that God our Father know us by name and that we are unique in his sight (John 10:3).