名 A NEW NAME名

Some cultures by custom give new names to their children at set times in their lives.  A new name may mark a boy’s passage from childhood to adulthood, or an  adult’s passage to respected elder.  Buddhist cultures offer “new names” for the afterlife.
In the Bible Jesus Christ promises  new names for  his faithful ones who “win the victory” in the battle between good and evil (Revelation 2:17; 3:12; cf Isaiah 62:2-3).  The origin of the Chinese character for “name” 名mei, na  seems to include ideas central to the new names which Jesus promises.  It is made from夕shi , sacrificial meat,  and口sai., a container for written prayers.     These elements show that 名mei depicts a religious ceremony to formally install someone as a member of an ethnic family by bestowing a new name which bound the character and name to the recipient forever. 夕shi, the sacrificial meat offering, became a shared meal in the presence of deity.
In the time of Jesus Christ,  naming and dedication of the first born child in his Jewish culture included a sacrificial offering. In the case of Jesus, the naming ceremony and circumcision were on the eighth day, and dedication of the first born and sacrificial offerings a few weeks later at the temple in Jerusalem (Luke 2:21-22)..   The Bible teaches that because Jesus overcame ultimate evil by his sacrifice of himself and subsequent resurrection  that  “God raised him to the highest place above and gave him the name that is greater than any other name” (Philippians 2:9).
It is this Jesus of the ultimate new name who promises to those who win the victory “a white stone on which is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it” (Rev. 2:17).   Furthermore his promised  “new naming” bestows upon his victorious faithful “…the name of my God and…name of the city of my God, the new Jersusalem…out of heaven from my God. I will also write on him my new name” (Rev. 3:12).      –P. Dean