What's in a name?

1 Samuel 25 tells the story of Nabal and his wife, Abigail, who lived prosperously in the land of Carmel. In short, David traveled to Carmel and sent some of his men up to greet Nabal and ask for food and water. Nabal refused saying, "Who is David?" (v10). Once David got the message of this blatant disrespect, he gathered his army to go and confront Nabal. Abigail heard that her husband had refused David's men and they were now headed there for confrontation. Thinking quickly, Abigail took loaves, sheep, corn, raisins, etc. to David and his men. She apologized saying, "Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means fool, and folly goes with him." (v25 NIV).

Now, to my memory, I had never read this story before. And if I had, it definitely did not resonate with me as it did this past week. For me, it really drove home the point of naming your child intentionally. So, with that in mind, Nick and I decided to research the origin and meanings of names that we were familiar with, mostly family and friends. We used www.behindthename.com and cross referenced with www.babynames.com

Here's what we found:
Nicholas - Hebrew origin meaning "Victory of the people"
Elisa - Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath"
Jonathan - Hebrew origin meaning "God has given"
Chandler - English origin meaning "Candle maker"
Herman - German origin meaning "Army man"
Sada - Japanese origin meaning "Pure one"
Chelsea - Old English origin meaning "Landing place for chalk or limestone"
Campbell - Scottish origin meaning "Crooked mouth"
Amelia - German origin meaning "To work, excel, and strive"

I'm sure it will be interesting deciding on a name for our new family addition. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to send them to us. Until next time....