Brayden Israel
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
What's in a name...
There is so much in a name. When we speak the name of someone we love or know, all that they are passes before our hearts and minds, as if it is a container of thoughts and memories we have of that person. Emotion, humor, longing, and sometimes pain and disappointment can follow a name long after the person is gone. It is plain to see that a name is a powerful thing.
In the time of the Old and New Testament, a name was given that defined who that person was. Each name had a meaning, stemming from a circumstance or even a prophetic foresight into who that person was, or was to become. Jacob (heel-catcher), making his own way, wrestled with God, and after a dislocated hip, became dependent on God for the rest of his life, and became Israel (He will rule as God). Simon, known for his boldness in answering the Lord in Mt. 16:16, and then being rebuked in verse 22 and 23 because of his proud confidence, and again telling the Lord he would die for Him, and being corrected again for a prideful answer in Lk. 22:33-34 became Peter (Greek form of the Aramaic surname Cephas, meaning "Rock"), a quality displayed at the day of pentecost in Acts 2. Saul of Tarsus, a Hebrew of Hebrews (Philippians 3:4-6) and a Pharasee became Paul (little), brought low by the Lord, and as a result, used in powerful ways. Their names matched who they were, and reflected who they would become.
Defining a life...
With all this in mind, the thought of coming up with a name for our baby boy became a weighty task. When we thought the baby was a girl, the name was predetermined by Nikki to be "Lillian Nicole," after her great grandmother; a woman with a heritage of loving the Lord. Now, knowing we were going to have a boy, I wanted to take it upon myself to find a name that would both speak into the future life of our son, and have a powerful witness to those who would hear his name. I wanted it to be unique enough that it would not compete with the other "John Doe" names that have become to common to strike any interest.
Diving right in, Nikki started researching names and printed off over 1,000 names, which she read to me one by one, telling me her top 10 or so choices. After reviewing the list, and considering her top choices, Brayden seemed to linger in my mind, which shocked Nikki, thinking I would have gone for something different. It was one of those moments where the name just lingers and doesn't get replaced in your head by another, so we chose to put it on the "contender" list, which at this point, only consisted of Brayden. What about the middle name? Other names were ok, but none of them had the same lingering quality Brayden had. The name Israel stirred my thoughts for some reason, and pairing the two together, I mentioned it to Nikki, who admitted she liked it. We ran through the usual routine of imagining what nicknames might arise out of it, and whether it would be an object of teasing later on in life, and we seemed to come up dry there. Also, the meaning of the names was of importance to me, and the meaning the list gave of Brayden was "from the wide valley." The meaning we found on the list for the name Israel was "governed by God." The names had a complex meaning that rang in my mind; "from the wide valley, governed by God." Wanting to verify the meaning and get a true picture of these names that were beginning to be the only label me and Nikki were giving to our son-to-be, I decided to dig further and understand the full meaning of the words "Brayden Israel."
Brayden:
Brayden had many different variations, all with slightly different meanings. Braden was the name which meant "from the wide valley.' All the variations were English, Irish, or Scottish in origin. So I broke the name down into its root words, 'bray' and "den." Also, because the name was old in origin, I wanted to use resources that would give me an older, non-contemporary definition of the words, so I looked in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary and other dictionary's of similar age. Here is what I found...
Bray, verb
* To pound, beat or grind small; as, to bray a fool in a mortar. Prov. 27
* To utter a loud and harsh cry (Celtic origin)
Bray, noun
* A bank or mound of earth used for fortification; specifically, a wall or other work in advance of and covering the gate of a fortress.
* Part of a river confined between dikes to facilitate the catching of fish.
* The upper part of any thing or place.
* Top, summit, hill, peak, or mound.
* A piece of sloping ground, an acclivity or declivity.
Brayde, see braid.
Braid, verb (early modern English)
* Move to and fro, vibrate, brandish, draw, weave, braid, turn, change, etc. (ME. Brayden)
Braid, a. (Scotch)
* Broad
Den, noun
* A cave or hollow place in the earth; usually applied to a cave, pit, or subterraneous recess, used for concealment, shelter, protection or security; as a lions den; a den of robbers or thieves. The beasts go into dens. The children of Israel made themselves dens. Job 37. Judges 6.
* As a termination, in names of places, it denotes the place to be in a valley or near a wood.
* A valley, floor, deck.
* A hollow place in the earth or in a rock.
* A narrow valley, a glen, a dell. (chiefly Scotch)
Den, verb
* To dwell in, or as if in a den.
Israel:
There are two different possibilities here.
Yisra'el- He will rule (as) God. From the words...
* sarah- to prevail, have power (as a prince)
* el- Mighty one, the Almighty, God.
or
* Sareta- you have wrestled
* el- God
So, there is some insight into the name, and maybe the future, of our son-to-come... Brayden Israel Brendel!
Now that daddy's done, here's more pictures of me! Bye!
Daddy got to play with me while me and mommy were in recovery!
Mommy's happy I get to go home!
I'm Tired!
