Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

Names in the mythic imagination of humankind has always conveyed something symbolic-even mystical-about the human drama. In the Garden of Eden, Adam is unique among the entities-both physical and spiritual-in his ability to name the animal kingdom (Gen. 2:19). Even the angels are said to be jealous of this power.

To be human, is to possess a name, be named, which serves as our bridge to the external world around us. When somebody forgets our name, we instinctively feel marginalized and unimportant. Yes, the name is our passport to interpersonal recognition. Throughout history, people died to preserve their names in history. In Babel (Gen. 10), humankind went to extreme measures to preserve their name, so they would not disappear from memory.

Many of us will even write a book or a diary on the hope that some ethereal part of ourselves will remain despite our mortality. Memorial funds operate also on the same principle. Most people are pretty conscious about preserving a sacred memory of a loved one.

In all human communities there is thought to be a close relationship between the name of a person or other phenomenon and its character, status, and very being.

Because of their mysterious nature, names serve to define the external world we live in. They help to navigate the stream of consciousness and even conscience. In the Nazi death-camps, the German henchmen did their best to strip the Jewish prisoners of their names by giving them a number instead. To have a name means that someone will have to deal with you as a concrete person. We name even our pets, much for the same reason.

Since there is power in names, they both participate both in the reality named and give definition and identity to that reality. Both the named and the name exist share an ontological mutuality.

In both Jewish and Christian tradition, the infant child who dies, cannot be buried without first receiving a name. The name defines status; in conversion ceremonies, they symbolize the birth of a new person, in a manner of speaking.

Even in primal societies where female infants are considered expendable, as we see with the Eskimo communities, once the infant has received a name, she must be dealt with as a living being.

In many faiths, naming an infant in honor of a deceased relative is a way of preserving identity in a transcendental way.

According to the ancient Pyramid Text of Pharaoh Pepi I (of the Old Kingdom), he believed that his continued existence could be ensured by the repetition of his name: “Thy name which is on earth lives; thy name which is on earth lasts; thou wilt not disappear; thou wilt not be destroyed in all eternity” (cited by Henri Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, Chicago, 1948, p. 113).

(More to follow)