The Naming of Hosea Michael Belcher
When it comes to being a parent, there are no shortage of pressure packed moments and it honestly starts before your little bundle of joy makes his or her grand entrance into the world.
The reality of having a baby hits a different times for different people. For some its when they first see that positive pregnancy test. For others it is the first time they see the little blob on the ultrasound screen and here the heart beating. Regardless of when it hits you, you will also soon after be hit with the realization that you will have to select a baby name for this little blob.
A name that will follow them around for the rest of their life.
What’s in a Name?
“What’s in a name? That which we call as rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” Now I get what Juliet is trying to say here. Names are essentially meaningless. The rose smells sweet by virtue of being a rose not because it is called rose.
Certainly there are many views on gender and what that means or doesn’t mean; however, a person’s biological sex does play a role in the naming of a child. Johnny Cash taught us what happens when you name your son Sue. By the time we began the process of choosing a name, we already knew the sex of the baby, so we did not have to worry about that.
Certain names may have at one point may have been fine names but due to infamous people of the past these names are now unacceptable to name your child.
So names are important. They do carry meaning. While it is true that a person is who they are regardless of what you call them, perception of them may differ based on what their name is.
So what did the name selection process look life for us?
How Did We Select a Baby Name?
In choosing a name, we came up with a few criteria that were important to us. First, we wanted a name that carried meaning, specifically meaning that was biblically important. As you read through scripture, you come across a myriad of people whose name’s meaning was important to who they were or what they did. Second, we wanted a name that was neither too unique, nor too popular. In my tiny school, between my class and the class that graduated a year before mine, there were 3 Ryans. Out of barely 30 people, 3 of us had the same first name. Third, we wanted to figure out a way to honor family in the name that we chose.
The process of choosing the name was rather simple. I made a list of names I liked. My wife made a list of names she liked. We compared out lists to see what names showed up on both.
This allowed to us to make a list of names that we both thought would work for us.
What Did We Choose?
First name: Hosea (“Salvation”)
The Bible, particularly the Old Testament, is full of wonderful names with beautiful meanings. Many of the most popular and common names in our society come from the pages of Scripture (think Aaron, David, or Joshua). As I have already mentioned, our desire was to find a name that was not among the most common. There are also a good deal of names that while they may have an incredible meaning, they are just a bit too unique (names such as Melchizedek or Ajaib).
After a good bit of consideration, we settled on Hosea. The name Hosea comes from the Hebrew word meaning “salvation.” In Scripture, Hosea was one of the minor prophets and was the author of the book that bears his name. An interesting fact is that Joshua (son of Nun) was originally named Hosea until Moses changed his name in Numbers 13:16.
If you’ve never read the book of Hosea, or if its been a while since you have read it, I would commend it to you. The prophet uses the experiences in his own life to represent what was happening between God and Israel at the time. Hosea’s wife, Gomer, is unfaithful to their marriage and has intimate relations with another man. Nonetheless, Hosea forgives her and continues to love her, despite her unfaithfulness.
Just as Israel was unfaithful to God and followed after the false gods around them, God was still faithful to His covenant with them. We also see in this book New Testament parallels— Christ and the Church as His bride and just as Hosea redeems Gomer, so Christ redeems His people (aka His bride).
Middle name: Michael (“Who is like God?”)
Michael is the name we went with to honor family. My father’s name is Michael and my middle name is Michael. And my wife’s mother’s name is Michelle which is the feminine version of Michael.
In Scripture, Michael is the name of one of the archangels. In Revelation 12, Michael and his angels do battle with Satan casting him out of heaven to earth so that he no longer has access to God to be the accuser.
Conclusion
Choosing a name can be a rather daunting task. There are numerous considerations when choosing, but ultimately it is the personal choice of the parents. What it came down to for us was choosing a name that was carried significance both for what we believe and who we are as a family. The name Hosea Michael reminds us that we have a God who does not forsake his covenants and a God who is unlike any other. It also links our son to the generations before him, hopefully to remind him of family members who love him and have prayed for him since before he was born.
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