What's in a name?

Once upon a time, when I was a little girl, I had a different name. My parents considered several names for girls when they were pregnant with me, writing their brainstorm down on a list. My mother favored "Zoe," my dad thought that sounded to weird. As I grew up, I wasn't quite content with what the meaning of my given name did to describe who I was, or how common the name was, so I started seeking out an alternative. I tried a handful on for size from week to week, several of which came from the name-brainstorm list, which I discovered in a drawer in my room [the former library of the house]. When I came to Zoe, I discovered it was greek for "the God kind of life." Appreciating this sentiment much more than that of my given name, and with my father's concession that I had turned out to be weird enough to actually fit the name, I became "Zoe" and have been "Zoe" ever since.

Having gone through such a transition added an extra dose of pressure in selecting a name for my own child. Her name was going to have to live up to my own standards of significance, and yet I have to be prepared for having a daughter as independent and strong-willed as myself, who, no matter how much effort I put into naming her, may want to also name herself. Add into all that the fact that her father also cares a great deal about what we name her, a totally positive feature in a husband, but an added challenge for the process as it wasn't just my own picky opinion that mattered. So after months of considerations, at least 6 name books read cover to cover, at least 5 baby-name websites (including the social security administrations list of the top 1000 names), we finally made a decision. And as of Janurary 4, 2011, our own little "Sofía Arabella Reyes" is here with us in the flesh and out of the womb.

"Sofía," is the spanish spelling of the greek [sophia] word that means "wisdom," one of the key values Manny and I desire for our family. I think I may have been around the same age as my name change process when the story of Solomon choosing, above all other possible gifts, to request from God to have wisdom, became really important to me. 1 Kings 3:9 says "Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil: for who can govern this your great people?" Solomon leads up to his request with acknowledgment for how God has shown great love and faithfulness to his father, David, as well to Solomon for giving him the honor of ruling over God's people as king. In a sense, Solomon is asking God for the key tool required to best steward the gift God has given him already. If you've read my other posts, you may have picked up on the fact that stewardship is an important theme and value for me. Not only does Solomon lead up to his request for wisdom with an attitude of stewardship, but as God grants him wisdom, Solomon immediately puts it to use to administer justice in the well known story of the two women fighting over the baby [1 Kings 3:16-28]. So in naming Sofía, we're able to communicate to her how important we feel stewardship, wisdom, and justice are - all in one. My mom also found this beautiful verse [and proceeded to cross-stitch it into a beautiful piece that now hangs in Sofía's nursery] that goes on to talk about what the wisdom that comes from heaven includes:


James 3: 13, 17
"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."

And that's an important distinction for me - "the wisdom that comes from heaven." Because there are other passages in scripture that talk about the wisdom of man being foolishness, and in Colosians 2, Paul warns against the follies of seeking after "vain philosophies" [philo = love, sophia=wisdom, therefore, philosophy=love of wisdom]. So wisdom in and of itself isn't necessarily a good thing. Solomon himself, after exercising his wisdom for a while, stops spending so much time talking to God and taking His council in all his actions, and as he strays, he looses God's favor and the kingdom of Israel gradually plummets. So, to make sure our Sofía is always clear on this point that it is the wisdom from heaven she is to pursue, and that wisdom must always be submitted to the guidance of God - we gave her the middle name "Arabella," which means "yielding to prayer." Arabella is also a bit of an homage to my grandmother, who, if she has imbued in me no other lesson, it is that we must constantly go to the Lord in prayer.

As far as her name's uniqueness, I fear I failed. On January 4th, as I was in the hospital going into labor, an email came to my inbox announcing the rankings of the names given to babies in 2010. And sure enough, "Sophia" was number 1 - more popular than my birth name ever was. At least we can say we have a more unique spelling, and my father can never complain that we gave her a name that is "too weird."

So, little Sofía Arabella, I hope you like your name, but if you don't I have two things to say. 1) I hope you will still choose to seek the Lord, His wisdom, and His guidance in all that you do. 2) We kept the list of names we considered as we brainstormed, so if you want to try out some alternatives, you can consult that list just as I did. ;)