What's In A Name?

I was shocked the other day to see a person in the entertainment industry whose name was spelled Jorja. I don't know whether to blame her for choosing a name for her work or to blame her parents for giving her a name with the wrong spelling. If we spell a name phonetically there is a potential for losing its meaning. Georgia, of course, is named after King George II of England, and it is the last of the thirteen original colonies. And implicit in the name Georgia is a wonderful array of facts about the place and its people, their accomplishments and attributes. All of these are lost on us when a name is reduced to a couple of phonetic syllables.

In some ways I see this commentary as rather curmudgeonly, but such discussions on naming have been going on since the beginning. And I take this opportunity to point out a few facts that are intended to persuade others to name their children for ANY reason other than "it sounds good."

Speaking of beginnings, it was Adam who was given the chore of naming everything the first time around.¹ Even in those days names were intended to mean something. The entire description of the events of the Garden of Eden and the decision to partake of the forbidden fruit etc. is given referring to Adam's wife only as "the woman". And only when the deed is done and Adam and his wife are driven from the Garden to begin their new life outside it does the scripture mention that he has given her a name. And that name is "Eve". Here is a significant statement:

"And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living."²

Now what did this really mean? She was to be the mother of his children and therefor all of us? No. The Hebrew meaning of "all living" refers to all living things.

Eve was at that moment the "mother" of every living creature, even Adam, because she had triggered the series of events where they all began a mortal life together. To study the etymology of the word Eve is a little trickier than just going to Hebrew. Some would suggest that Eve in Hebrew is hawwah or 'hava' which is related to 'breathe' or 'life'. But Eve is the oldest name other than Adam. It is older than Hebrew. If we study the origins of the word Eve, going beyond Hebrew, we see that one of its possible meanings is "a beginning". This is the meaning I prefer because I think that neither Adam nor Eve were quite as "in the dark" as we have been led to believe. As I ponder what Eve knew and what she desired (to know good and evil for herself and her posterity), I give honor to the term The Woman. For only she had the sense to get out of that lovely place so that we could all come along and suffer with her and her husband. And she was indeed the Beginning.

In fact, the fall of Adam and Eve was a requisite first step for the redemption of all of the children of God. And this is part of the plan which God put forth before the world was³, which is called by the prophets the plan of happiness⁴. The second part of the great plan was to send to Earth a Redeemer. And this Redeemer had a forerunner⁵ whose name was John.

Let us pause the discussion of the plan of happiness long enough to talk about John. His parents, Zacharias and Elisabeth, were very old and Elisabeth was barren⁶. Zacharias was a priest after the order of Aaron and he could only pass this profession to a son. When he was chosen to serve at the temple it was a great privilege, but he and Elisabeth were alone. As Zacharias was serving in the House of the Lord the angel appeared and told him he would have a son⁷. Not thinking he said, "But Elisabeth is old."⁸ Never say "but" to an angel of the Lord. He was struck deaf and dumb. And it was like that for most of the next nine months. When it came time to name the child Elisabeth said his name was going to be John⁹ (meaning "gift of God"), but the relatives all said, "What? No one in the family is named 'gift of God'.¹⁰" They wanted him to be called, Zacharias, after his father. But Zacharias stretched forth his hand (meaning to write what he had to communicate, being still unable to speak)and wrote"His name is John." Only then was his tongue loosed.¹¹

Two principles come to mind. First, name your kid after someone who you are related to if they are an example of how to live a good life. Don't honor someone just because you might inherit something from him or her. Second, do what the angel says and give your kid a name that has a meaning.

At my grandmother's funeral, I was privileged to give the eulogy. At that time I asked for those women who had been named after this great example of love and self-sacrifice to stand. There was a daughter, a granddaughter, and my own daughter who stood. What greater witness could be given? Her posterity will carry this name always, because she was true to what we call the Christian ideal.

Let's return to the plan of happiness. Man, being a fallen creature, needed a Redeemer in order to come through this life having learned good and evil and still to return to God. Before life began for Adam and Eve, and before there was an earth formed to put them on, there was a great council in Heaven. (See Abraham 3:22-28) In that council, our Heavenly Father presented His plan whereby His children would come to a place to live a life in mortality, receiving a mortal body patterned after His own glorious and immortal body. And this plan involved sending an Adam and an Eve to live in a place where they would be tempted to partake of a forbidden fruit. And if they did partake of that fruit they would be subject unto death. And they would have posterity while in this state of mortality which would allow all of us to come to Earth to likewise receive a body like that of our Father. But the plan requires a Redeemer. And one came forward like unto the Son of Man and volunteered to come to Earth, to suffer pains and temptations of every kind¹² and then give up His life as a sacrifice for all of the rest of us. His own resurrection would establish the precedent for returning us to the Father with our bodies raised to an immortal state and a knowledge of good and evil just as Eve had hoped¹³.

But there was a second volunteer. Lucifer, son of the morning, offered to go down and redeem ALL mankind in exchange for God's own glory¹⁴. Not only was this not possible, it was contrary to the will of Him who had presented the plan. So the first Volunteer was chosen and the second lost his place and was cast down to become the Devil.

At that time a name was given for the Son of Man by which all mankind would be able to look forward to Redemption¹⁵. This name was "anointed savior". Many have offered to be our savior, but only One was approved to be THE savior of the world and anointed to become such before this world was formed. That's right, in Hebrew, the word is Messiah, in Greek it is Christ. But regardless of the language its meaning is the one who was anointed and SENT to save us. And the name Joshua (in Hebrew) or Jesus (in Greek) was the name given to the child born in a manger. Jesus Christ and all of its variants is the name which means "anointed savior". Of course, it is this name we invoke when we pray to our Father, when we say that we act in his stead or cast out Lucifer and his followers. How important is it to get right? The Son of Man carried this name with Him throughout His life to remind Him how important His mission was and to have that goal ever before Him.

Each of us has a mission to perform while on this Earth. And each of us deserves a name that will remind us of the importance of that mission. It's true nature is not known until we get to the end of the road. But we know that it is true that we were there to shout for joy¹⁶ at the approval of the great plan of happiness and the selection of one who would go for us, to lead through the dark, to take us by the hand, and to remind us who we are¹⁷. May we give our children this gift. That they may know who they are and why they have come. And let them receive a name that holds before them the goal of returning to our Father through the grace of His Son.

1 See Genesis 2:19

2 Genesis 3:20

3 See Abraham 3:22-28

4 See Alma 42:8-9

5 See Joseph Smith Translation: Matthew 11:13-15

6 See Luke 1:7

7 See Luke 1:8-13

8 See Luke 1:18-20

9 See Luke 1:57-60

10 See Luke 1:61

11 See Luke 1:62-64

12 See Alma 7:11, also Mosiah 3:7-10

13 See Moses 5:10-12

14 See Moses 4:1-4

15 See Mosiah 4:2-7

16 See Job 38:4-7

17 See Doctrine and Covenants 84:88