How to Find the Meaning of Your Name

My family is big on symbolism. One of our traditions is to give names with special meaning to our children. My 104 year old grandmother was named Lily, which means “life-giving”. My mother is named Sara, which means “God’s princess”. Like most parents and grandparents, they spent a lot of time thinking about the special and unique name I would be given when I was born (Althea – “healer”). Since they were also praying women, I’m sure they asked God to guide them in picking names for all of their children and grandchildren. And so, the tradition has continued throughout the generations to my grandchildren whose names mean “Consecrated to God” and “God is my strength”. Your name sets you apart from others. It’s an important clue to your character and nature. Great honor or dishonor can be attached to a name. In Bible times, people tended to live out their names as self-fulfilling prophecies, making it their lifelong goals to realize what their names meant. What about your name? Take these steps to find its meaning.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Baby Books
• Computer
• Internet Connection
• Family History

1. Baby Names Book Visit a bookstore or the public library and look through the baby name books. Two excellent resources are “The Everything Baby Names Book” by Lisa Shaw that contains over 25,000 names, and “A World of Baby Names” by Teresa Norman, which is a rich and diverse collection of names from around the world.
2. Look up the meaning of your name on the internet. I have included 3 sites in the Resources section.
3. Ask a family member if they know why your name was chosen. Was it to describe something distinctive about you, to express a hope for your future, to describe a quality your parents hoped you would possess, or to dedicate you to God?
4. After you have discovered your name’s meaning, list some synonyms and keywords from the meaning that give clues to your character.
5. Reflect on how you have “lived-out” your name. What, if anything, would you change about your actions thus far? How will you use the newly discovered information about your name and character in the future?