Have you ever had someone forget your name?

A friend of ours, when we first knew each other, was talking to his wife and couldn’t remember my name. Fumbling to remember it, he called me Tatiana. None of us know where it came from, but it stuck, and to this day, that is what they call me. I love it.

My name is Patricia, but people often shorten it to Pat. I don’t like that. My brother is called Pat. I know. It’s a long story.

But as Shakespeare asked, “What’s in a name?” 

Do you know what your name means or why you got it? Have you researched it or asked your family why they picked that name?

My name means “of noble birth”. Ha! It was anything but. Yet I liked the idea, as a young girl, that maybe I really was a princess, swapped at birth. I dreamed of being restored to my birthright.

In biblical times, a name carried meaning. People received a name because of a character trait or an event surrounding the birth. It was a family name or given as a prophetic type of blessing. Names were important.

Adam called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living.

Moses’ name meant drawn out of the water.

Naomi meant pleasant, but she changed it to Mara, which meant bitter.

Even the LORD placed importance on names.

God called the first man Adam, which is Hebrew for man and similar to the word for ground. With Abram, the patriarch of the Israelite nation, God changed his name to Abraham, which means Father of many. Sarai became Sarah, Jacob became Israel, Simon became Peter, and Saul became Paul.

Sometimes, the LORD told people what to call their sons. He told Zachariah to call his son John, Johanan in Hebrew, meaning gracious or the grace of the LORD. Mary was to call her son Jesus, which means the LORD is salvation.

The most important name we learn is the name Moses received for God in Exodus 3:14. I AM. Simple and succinct. The LORD’s initial phrase was, “I AM WHO I AM.”

I love this! It says it all. God IS. Plain and simple. He encompasses everything, owns everything, and is in control of everything. It is a name of power and majesty.

Jesus Christ also claimed to be I AM in John 8:58. And so the name of Jesus carries all the same power and majesty.

In Revelation 2:17, the Lord says we will get a new name in Heaven, known only to us. In Isaiah 49:16, the Lord says He has engraved us on the palms of His hands! No matter what we are called on earth or if people forget it, the Lord will never forget our name. It is there in His nail-scarred hands as a continual reminder of the price He paid for us. A price we will never fully comprehend, through a love we will never fully grasp.

Amazing love, how can it be?

Because of those scars, we are princesses, daughters of the ultimate King, precious, chosen, and loved. Our birthright restored. Forever.

Nothing anyone calls you, or any name placed on you, can change who you belong to. The LORD holds you in His hand, and NOTHING can take you out of his grasp!

Stand tall, Sisters, and straighten your crown! You are of noble birth.

Be well!

Patricia