On January 13, 2010, my grandson, David Isaac Hernandez, was born. What a blessing! Trudi and I are so excited to meet this little guy and to watch him as he grows. Here’s a pic of the family:
I couldn’t help but think: I bet he’ll like his name. No, not because he has my name, though I will endeavor to live in a way that makes him proud of that fact. It’s because I recall so vividly my mother telling me that my name meant “beloved.” I don’t recall where it was or exactly when, but I was just a little guy. It made a huge impression on me. I’m loved. I’m special.
Now, I’m not saying that people should always give their children names that have meaning. If that were the case, we’d all have biblical names or Puritan names like Faith, Hope and Charity (yikes!).
What I am saying is that it can be a real blessing to a child to know why their parents chose the name they did. For example:
“We named you after my great aunt. She was the most loving person, who always had a kind word to say. She was a woman of great faith.”
“We chose your name because it has always been a favorite of ours. To us it says strong, trustworthy and noble.”
For those more obscure names, stories can help. My middle name is Browning, and I didn’t like the name as a kid. Everybody else had "normal" names as middle names. But I’ve since learned more about the family history and I’ve come to love my middle name. The Brownings were rugged individuals. My namesake, David Milton Browning, was. My two great aunts, born around 1900, were as well: one became a lawyer and one became a doctor at time when women almost never did. William Browning, who came to the U.S. in 1619 and was a prominent figure in the Jamestown colony, certainly was.
So... David Isaac Hernandez, Wyatt Browning Smith and Loretta Joy Hernandez... you are blessed indeed!
I couldn’t help but think: I bet he’ll like his name. No, not because he has my name, though I will endeavor to live in a way that makes him proud of that fact. It’s because I recall so vividly my mother telling me that my name meant “beloved.” I don’t recall where it was or exactly when, but I was just a little guy. It made a huge impression on me. I’m loved. I’m special.Now, I’m not saying that people should always give their children names that have meaning. If that were the case, we’d all have biblical names or Puritan names like Faith, Hope and Charity (yikes!).
What I am saying is that it can be a real blessing to a child to know why their parents chose the name they did. For example:
“We named you after my great aunt. She was the most loving person, who always had a kind word to say. She was a woman of great faith.”
“We chose your name because it has always been a favorite of ours. To us it says strong, trustworthy and noble.”
For those more obscure names, stories can help. My middle name is Browning, and I didn’t like the name as a kid. Everybody else had "normal" names as middle names. But I’ve since learned more about the family history and I’ve come to love my middle name. The Brownings were rugged individuals. My namesake, David Milton Browning, was. My two great aunts, born around 1900, were as well: one became a lawyer and one became a doctor at time when women almost never did. William Browning, who came to the U.S. in 1619 and was a prominent figure in the Jamestown colony, certainly was.
So... David Isaac Hernandez, Wyatt Browning Smith and Loretta Joy Hernandez... you are blessed indeed!
