The naming ceremony of a child must begin to mean more than just a day of celebration. Too often, we give our newborns cute names, eat jollof rice and goat meat, party, and rejoice; but we must see it for what it truly is and what God intends it to be: a sacred day of dedication. If skipping rice would help you take this ceremony more seriously, then go ahead. I have nothing against celebrating a child’s birth with a party, but what I’m speaking against is treating it like just another religious tradition to check off the list. This is a sacred moment and should be approached with the reverence it deserves.
It should be the day we publicly declare that this child belongs to the Lord alone, yielding them entirely to God for His divine purpose. It is the day we set them on the right path, choosing a name that carries heaven’s approval, a name that aligns with God’s will, ensuring His protection, guidance, and favor over their lives.
We see this principle in Scripture. When Hannah dedicated Samuel to the Lord, she didn’t just give him a name; she gave him a destiny in God. She declared, “So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life, he will be given over to the Lord”(1 Samuel 1:28). Indeed, Samuel lived his life in complete service to God. He became one of the greatest prophets who ever lived, a man whose words never fell to the ground because the Lord was with him (1 Samuel 3:19-20).
We must resist the temptation to name our children sentimentally, as the mother of Jabez did (1 Chronicles 4:9-10) or as Rachel almost did when she sought to name her son Ben-Oni (son of my sorrow), but Jacob, understanding the weight of a name, renamed him Benjamin (son of my right hand) (Genesis 35:18).
A name is more than just an identity; it carries spiritual weight. Names that carry spiritual bondage, like Esugbemi or Oguntuase, should not be given to a child in any form; whether as a first, middle, or last name. Naming a child this way is, in truth, a form of crippling them before they even begin their journey, placing them at a spiritual disadvantage.
Let me give you a little backstory. Back in secondary school, I had this not-so-little journal where I wrote down about a thousand names I absolutely loved and imagined giving to my children. I would have loved to share a few, but let’s not get our mamas riled up…
Ironically, when God spoke to me about the names I was to give my children, not a single one from that list made the cut! Can you believe that? And then God gave me names like Ezekiel and John; could they be any more biblical?
In 2016, I was sitting at a 90-day prayer retreat, completely puzzled and unsure how I was supposed to pray for 90 days straight. Then, out of nowhere, I started hearing God speak to me; not just about my children’s names but also the number of children I would have, their gender, and the exact order in which they would come!
I could have easily brushed it off because it came to me so naturally, almost like my own thoughts. But God was gracious enough to remind me that I wasn’t capable of planning my life with such precision, let alone imagining such goodness for myself. You’d be surprised how little credit we sometimes give God for His kindness.
As if to erase any doubt that I was merely imagining things, almost immediately after I got up from my seat, God sent a dear friend, who is also a minister, to confirm it. He walked up to me and said, “God said you are His handmaiden.” He then added that I would only find true joy and fulfillment in serving as His handmaiden and that the emptiness I felt would persist until God Himself filled me.
Deep down, I also knew this wasn’t just my imagination. This was God speaking to me. I quickly wrote down everything I heard at the back of my Bible so I would never forget. Not that I could forget anyway; it echoed in my heart from that day on.
What I have come to learn about God’s voice is that it doesn’t always come with a bang. Your roof won’t necessarily fly off, and your doors won’t always swing open dramatically. If you ask me, I think God actually prefers to be less dramatic.
As His child, the primary way God wants to speak to you is through His Spirit, the Holy Spirit in you. The Holy Spirit is your advantage. Think about Elijah, that fiery prophet, when he was on the run from Jezebel. He climbed up the mountain, waiting for God just as he had been instructed. While he waited, there was a mighty wind that tore through the mountains, an earthquake, and even fire, but God wasn’t in any of those. Instead, He made His presence known in a still, small voice.
I won’t take away the full experience of that story, go ahead and read 1 Kings 19 for yourself. You’ll love it!
In 2019, after losing a pregnancy and enduring months of waiting, I finally conceived. As a new wife longing for a child, every month of infertility felt like a year, so you can imagine the overwhelming relief and joy I felt when I realized I was pregnant.
I remember struggling, even if briefly, with the idea, or more accurately, the instruction that my son was to be named Ezekiel. It sounded too biblical, too archaic, and honestly, not exactly what I would call cute. But I quickly realized that being guided so clearly in matters concerning your child, even down to their name, is a privilege. To know what they are to be called, to have a glimpse into their purpose, their future, and what God intends for them to accomplish in their time is a rare gift.
But what if you do not receive a specific name or hear clearly from God? Then, search your spirit and trust the Holy Spirit to guide your heart in naming the child according to God’s will. That is exactly what He does. He takes from the mind of the Father and reveals it to us (1 Corinthians 2:10-12, John 16:13-15).
In His mercy, God, through the Holy Spirit, began to flood my heart and spirit with examples of how some of the great heroes of faith were named. These were elect men, strategically born to represent a divine phenomenon in their generation. Even our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was named by divine instruction.
All through Scripture, you see phrases like, “And you shall call his name…” Jesus (Matthew 1:21), John the Baptist (Luke 1:13), Ishmael (Genesis 16:11), Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Solomon (1 Chronicles 22:9), and Josiah (1 Kings 13:2, 2 Kings 22:1).
And for some, even though they were not given a divine name at birth, they had the rare privilege of being renamed by God Himself! Abram became Abraham, and Sarai became Sarah (Genesis 17:5, 15). That alone tells me that a person’s name truly matters to God, that it plays a role in their destiny, and that it is instrumental in living a life of true fulfillment, at least by God’s standard of a fulfilled life.
In 1 Chronicles 4:9-10, we read about Jabez, a man whose life could have taken an entirely different path simply because of the name his mother gave him. Her painful experience during childbirth caused her to name her son in a way that programmed him to carry pain, sorrow, and misery. But thank God for His prevailing mercy when we call upon Him! “Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, saying, ‘Oh, that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my territory! Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.”
If you or anyone you know bears a name that carries spiritual weight in a negative way, especially names that begin with Esu, Ogun, or similar prefixes, please take this as a call to reflect deeply and consider a change of name. A name is tied to destiny; have you chosen yours wisely?
