[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 05/Jul/2020]
Do you like your names? As a child, mine led to a lot of teasing. Oddly enough, it was the shouts of Helen Shapiro and the shortening to Hell which I minded more than the endless comments over my surname. The teasing over the latter largely stopped after I told the bullies defiantly “I like having an unusual name!” My sister became Mrs Hook on her marriage, but even this ordinary and easy to spell name had its drawbacks as it meant she and her husband felt they couldn’t call their son Robin, a name they really liked.
Naming a child is a privilege of parenthood and one that is generally denied to adoptive parents nowadays, especially if the child is old enough to know their name. Fortunately for me David’s birth parents chose my favourite boy’s name for their son, which felt like a sign that he was meant for me. I was able to add my father’s name as a second name when I adopted him at age 13 months, as well as my surname. When Michael came at 6 months he was young enough for me to choose a new first name, keeping his original one as a second name.
The Bible tells us that God also gives us a new name when he adopts us (Isaiah 62 v 2, Revelation 2 v 17). We may not like the name our birth parents gave us or the surname we inherited, but we can trust our adoptive Father to give us a name of which we will never be ashamed.
Just for fun, here are some anagrams of names of people from this church.
| A dry stunner | Bald devil | Bent spinney | Big nan war |
| Classy ore | Clean and dry | Dear Bride | Din or pray |
| Don jazzes | Gnat paw | Half fed tum | Ham bell ringer band |
| I angry lad | Is clever alas | Jokes in tea | Lab on train |
| Maiden ran jig | Misery at Horn | Real men park | Sane men jog |
| Sinner on boil | Thaw jet ring | User bit leg | Vast men tire |
| Why bond rooted | Win best ore | Ye address well | Yeah jeans |
Article written by: Feel fur hen had
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Contributed by Helen Ruffhead; © the Author
