WHAT’S IN A NAME?
I was born at a very early age - two, in fact - it was an elderly stork and the wind was against it… That was at 2am on a snowy Christmas Day in 1949. Mum and dad couldn’t decide whether to call me Noel or Nicholas. They plumped for the good bishop of Myra, Saint Nicolas, Santa Claus. My big sister is curiously called Santa, apparently after an aunty Santa Verdi. And I had a member of my church in Torquay born exactly 50 years before me whose name was Yule. So I should be grateful I wasn’t called Mistletoe, or even Turkey…
Do you remember how Sir Gareth of Orkney (son of King Lot) came to King Arthur’s court and wouldn’t tell anyone who he was or what his name was? He worked in the kitchens for a year and got the sarcastic nickname ‘Beaumaines’ - ‘Beautiful Hands’. Then he went on Great Quests and Did Exploits to prove his suitability to be a Knight of the Round Table. (It’s all in Malory’s King Arthur). Only then, when he had earned his name, would he tell the Court his real name and that he was a prince.
For mere mortals, the name is not necessarily the destiny (Nicholas means ‘leader’ and I’m still only Assistant Principal!) But God’s human name and human destiny were one and the same. The name of Mary’s Son was to be the most significant name in history. “And you shall call his name Jesus (‘Salvation’) for he will save his people from their sins.”
Woman Alive monthly column