A name used by millions as a symbol of their hope and purpose in life

AS I observed last week, names matter. Those of us who have agonised over naming our children know this only too well. My mother wanted to call me Martin. It was a name she liked and happened to be the name of her first boyfriend. However, as she had married a man called Joe, her sister-in-law suggested that this wasn’t the best idea. As I was due to make my entrance into the world on March 1st she had settled on David as an alternative. However, my tardiness meant that I arrived 10 days late and by that time, for reasons I never knew, she had settled on Malcolm.

For 15 years that is who I was, until a youth leader shortened it to “Malc’” and added the apostrophe that has, for almost 50 years, become an integral part of my signature.

Names come in and out of fashion. According to the Office of National Statistics, Malcolm was just one of the names that were not popular in the last year. Nigel, Gary, Katherine and Janet are all at risk of dying out. For fear of offending anyone, I should stress there is nothing wrong with any of these names. It is just a matter of changing tastes. Incidentally, if you are searching for a name right now then you might like to know that Olivia, Oliver, Noah and Lily were amongst the most popular in this country during 2021.

The early church had no collective name but came to be known as “Followers of the Way”. We are then told in the Book of Acts that in Antioch they were first called “Christians”. It is likely that this was used as an insult for people who were foolish enough to commit their lives to a crucified carpenter from an obscure Palestinian village. Yet somehow the name stuck and now millions of people around the world join millions more throughout history in using this name. It may have been initially intended as an insult but now is used by millions as a symbol of their hope and purpose in life.