By Fr. Thom Hennen
Question Box
Q: Where did the tradition of religious sisters and brothers receiving new names come from?
A: What’s in a name? Names are highly significant. Before we consider this question about religious names, we might recap the importance of names in the Bible and in our tradition.
The Bible is full of wordplay, especially when it comes to names. A lot of this is lost on us when reading translations of the Bible from the original Hebrew or Greek. For example, the name “Adam” comes from the Hebrew word adamah, which means “earth” or “soil.” Fitting, given the story in Genesis of Adam being formed by God from the clay.
Abram is renamed by God “Abraham,” which literally means “father of many,” which he would become. Isaac means “one who laughs,” after the fact that Sarah laughed when she was told that she would conceive a son in her old age. The name of Isaac’s son, “Jacob,” comes from the root word to supplant or circumvent, as Jacob did in securing his (older) brother Esau’s birthright.
The name “Moses” means “drawn from water.” Again, this is appropriate, as Moses’ life was spared by his mother by placing him in a basket and floating him down the river, where Pharoah’s daughter discovered him.
The New Testament also has it’s share of significant names and name changes. For starters, the name Jesus (from Yeshua or Joshua) means “God saves.” Simon’s name is changed by Jesus to “Peter” (Petros in Greek, Petrus in Latin, Cephas in Aramaic), meaning “rock.” Saul becomes “Paul” after his conversion. Such name changes seem to accompany a radical change in a person’s life or mission.
One of my favorite name “puns” in the Bible is the name “Onesimus.” In the letter to Philemon, St. Paul writes, “I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment, who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and me” (Philemon 10-11). The name Onesimus literally means “useful.” If the wink emoji had been invented, Paul would have put it at the end of the sentence.
While not strictly required, those receiving the sacrament of confirmation in the Catholic Church are encouraged to choose a saint’s name. This is someone they connect with, look up to or want to imitate as they embrace more fully their Christian faith.
When a man is elected pope, he chooses a new name. The name he chooses is either a nod to his predecessors or signals the kind of style and priorities he might adopt as the successor of Peter.
So what about names of religious sisters and brothers? My understanding is that the change of names was much more widely practiced prior to Vatican II, though it is practiced by religious orders today. It may be assigned by the superior of the community or chosen by the sister or brother when they enter or upon making vows. If, when and how can vary among orders. I am sure the idea is that a “new life” is beginning for the person and, hence, a new name.
It was also not uncommon (as it is among some orders today) to give male names even to religious sisters. I don’t know that this was required, but I’m sure the idea was that the saints (and their virtues) belong to everyone.
Also, people may not realize that in some places and times it was common to give the name “Mary” as a middle name to boys. For example, St. John Marie Vianney and St. Josemaría Escrivá. And then there’s the famous song about a boy named “Sue” (insert wink emoji).
(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport. Send questions to messenger@davenportdiocese.org)
