Those who know me know that names are one of my favorite things. I love names. I love what they mean, what they signify, and how people seem to “grow into” their names. I have always loved my name in particular. I remember in first grade, my teacher made these beautiful silhouettes of each student by having us sit in front of an overhead projector light and tracing our profiles onto black paper and cutting them out. Then she wrote our names and their meanings underneath. Arielle, “lion of God.” After studying Hebrew, it was apparent how literal the name is - “Ari” - lion. “El” - God. I have always felt that my name was something to live up to.

I especially love the meanings of names, and often look up the meanings of the names of people I meet. I’m often surprised at how well their name suits them. I’ve also looked up probably hundreds of names for future children (don’t worry, I won’t use them all!), always thinking of what I would be “bestowing” on a child with a particular name.

Since becoming Orthodox, naming a child has taken on even more significance, as we follow the custom of the earliest Christians to bestow the name of a beloved saint on Christian children, thereby entrusting the child to the prayers and intercessions of a particular saint throughout their whole lives. The priest “names” them on the eighth day after their birth with a prayer at the family’s home, and this is the name they are called as they receive the Holy Mysteries throughout their life - at baptism and chrismation, as they partake of the Eucharist, at marriage and the anointing of the sick, at their ordinations should they be ordained, and at their funeral. Many of you may remember that at our wedding, because Paul and I have both given names and “Christian” names, we were called Paul Timothy and Arielle Juliana. This is because Timothy and Juliana are our names in the Church. Our children, being born into the church, will be given Christian names at birth. Our children will be brought up knowing their saint as an integral part of their Christian family, knowing about their life and asking for their prayers. I know my own patron saint, St. Juliana of Lazarevo, has become a very important part of my life, and someone who I turn to for her intercessions often, especially now that I am becoming a mother, as she was the mother of thirteen and and STILL managed to become a very blessed saint!

This morning I read the reflections on naming a child by Kathryn, whose beautiful blog I just love. She tells the wonderful story of how her last baby, Gregory John, received his name (and please read the story - she is much better at explaining the importance of a Christian name than I am!), and this story reminded both Kathryn (who is due with number six in six weeks!) and myself about how we should go about choosing names for our children. People who are entering the Orthodox Church and therefore choosing a Christian name and a patron saint are often told, “you do not choose a saint, but a saint chooses you” meaning that the saints will often make it clear to you who is meant to be your patron. I have been thinking and thinking about what our child’s name should be, and of course it is a joint decision between Paul and I, but Kathryn’s post reminded me that it is much more important to pray that God would make it clear to us what our children’s names should be and who they should be named after. It has become less and less important to me to have our baby’s name picked out ahead of time (and of course, we would need at least two anyway!), but more important to me to wait and listen.