Name Significance

You know what I find incredible? (I’ll let you ponder on this question a bit) . . . That names are significant to God. I guess you could have guessed from the title. I didn’t do a good job of creating suspense.

We see name significance all throughout the Bible:  God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, which means “father of many.” Jacob was grabbing at Esau’s heel at his birth and was named Jacob for that reason. However, his name changed to Israel meaning “God contended.” Isaac means “he laughs,” and his mother, Sarah, laughed when she heard God was going to give her a baby in her old age. (If you want to view more name meanings, here’s the website I used: http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/bibl2.php. Maybe this isn’t the best website to use, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t do a large amount of research and double-checking.)

At work today I saw a book about the biblical meanings of names. I glanced through it to see what my name meant. I always knew it meant “From the White Island.” If I remember correctly, I read in another place that that phrase has to do with peace. The next line in the book was a spiritual connotation to my name. My spiritual connotation: “Protected.” That blew me away. I have such a fearful heart and a verse I often find comfort in in my fearful moments is Psalm 91: 11. It states: “For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” I am named Whitney and in my fear the only comfort is to know that God protects and loves me. I know God protects and loves all His people, absolutely does He protect and love all His people with a love we can’t fully understand until we see Him and He gives us an understanding. But I love that God uses a name to describe us and that He understands our hearts, our struggles.

I do not think that if you find your name meaning and you’re like, “Um, I don’t really think that’s me,” that you’re parents gave you the wrong name. Or that it’s the most important thing to discover what your name means, but I would like to encourage you to find your name meaning and spiritual connotation. It’s a fun reminder of how God is constantly working in each of our lives.

So, from the White Island, peace.