Naming a Soul

4ᵗʰ of 6ᵗʰ mo., 2026

When one bequeaths a name to a child, one chooſes what is, more or leſs, the everlaſting token of a ſoul. It ought not be a light burden. However, I have witneſſed the deed grow ever minlier. One friend looked to a crafted mind; another friend was herſelf named for a ſouling in a 1990s keygame. A kinſwoman to me of ſcant Iriſh blood was given an Iriſh name meaning “ſon of the fiery one”, miſ-ſpelled; another bears a miſ-ſpelled Engliſh ſteadname. Such are the names of these ſouls unto the end of time! These namings, ſwiftly undertaken only for their look and loud with no thought for meaning, ſeem to ſhow that meaning is being driven from the great halls of life; theſe eechly names are now afforded the ſame breadth of thought given to the drawing up of a Pintereſt board.

“But why,” one might aſk, “do you beſwear crafted minds? Soothly, child-names have been drawn from baby-books and webſteads in years gone.” But, in truth, I beſwear theſe things too. If a name was unknown to or unloved by ſomeone before the birth of their child, it does not have meaning enough to formark the ſoul of that child. If the read of an outſider is needed to bring a name to mind, the name did not earn its ſtead in that mind.

I do not mean to thray anyone who has named a child ſo. It is a buſy world, and there are far greater ſins than this. Beſides, theſe are only the little thoughts of one man, whoſe thinking does not and ought not lord over anyone elſe’s. Nonetheleſs, I feel that we have many openings for the growth of good, full-minded naming, and that whether we are nemning a baby, houſe, thorp, or deer, we may do ſo with ſuttle foresight and minds heedſome of the abiding meanings therein. We might ore a forebear or heleth, draw upon the words for fair bloſſoms or ſteadfaſt trees, or ayencleep old tales and lore. What winſome names may we give in love and care!