Most of us in the modern world are given a name when we are born. You may like that name, or you may not like that name. You may feel like it fits you, or you may feel like it doesn’t fit you at all. You may change your name over the course of your life. You may be in the position at some point to name something or to name someone, whether that be a pet or a company or a child or something else. At some point, you may find yourself asking, what’s in a name? Names matter and they matter in so many ways. 

1. Names validate existence. They signal that a thing exists, that it is differentiated from every other thing around it, that it is relevant and that it matters.   
2. Names carry a vibratory frequency. They are like an energetic signature. And when you attach that vibratory frequency to someone or something, it effects that thing. The full picture of this vibratory frequency is quite complex. It involves things like thought forms associated with that name, stories attached to that name, past or future events, associations it conjures for yourself and others, the numerology associated with it, the impact of the specific tone, it’s timbre, it’s volume and intensity, its texture, its duration, its rhythm, tempo and meter, what qualities or things are energetically contained or included within it, the concepts that are associated with that name, its meaning etc. This vibratory frequency is constantly influencing you and those you come into contact with. It acts like a kind of blueprint, shaping how you manifest in the world, shaping how others experience and interact with you, and shaping how you interact with and experience life. A name is full of coded information. Given that you have a vibratory frequency before being named, the vibration of your name can do things like bridge, resonate with, enhance, clash with or diminish your non-physical vibratory frequency. 
3. A name is an anchor for identity. A name becomes entwined with a person’s sense of personhood. It acts as a steady point of reference that enables a person’s self-concept and self-image to remain steady and consistent throughout time.  
4. A name influences how you see yourself. Because a name is such a key part of identity, it is obvious that it would have an impact on how you see yourself. Imagine the difference in how you would see yourself if your name was Felony vs, if your name was Charity. This is also true of the why behind a name. Say that a little girl was born and her dad wanted a boy instead, so he was disappointed and looked at his wife and said, we’ll just name her after you. This little girl would struggle with a sense of importance, self-worth and also differentiation from her mother all her life. A name can both form and express self-concept.
5. A name influences how other people see you. There is no getting around the fact that names trigger immediate associations, thoughts, feelings, biases and impressions. And this absolutely effects how other people see a thing or a person. As well as how they behave around and treat that person. You can think of a name like a social badge, coded with all kinds of information for others.  
6. Given that a name is a very powerful vibration, it shapes your self concept and therefore how you behave in the world, as well as shapes how other people see you and therefore how they behave towards you. Names have the capacity to influence your personality, your life experience and therefore your life path. This has actually been well studied. Individuals often develop an appearance that matches their name over time, this is known as the "face-name matching effect". People tend to adopt behaviors, such as frequent smiling or certain grooming styles that fit the stereotypes associated with their name, changing their appearance (specifically hair and facial muscle structure) to mirror the social expectation of their name.  A person named "hope" may feel subtly urged to smile more or be more optimistic, while a name that implies strength, like Victor may lead to a more assertive self-image. If a person has a name with positive connotations, they are likely to receive more positive reinforcement from others, fostering high self-esteem. Conversely, a name seen as negative, unprofessional, difficult, or undesirable often results in negative attention, causing a person to develop lower self-esteem or feel insecure. Studies have shown that people with more common or traditional names have easier experiences in hiring, while those with distinctive, foreign, or stereotyped names often face discrimination. Teachers often subconsciously hold different academic expectations for students based on their names, which can influence a child's school performance. On dating apps, people with names perceived as "unfashionable" or "old-fashioned" are more likely to be rejected. Psychological research into "implicit egotism" suggests that people are subconsciously attracted to things that resemble them, including their own names. You may be subtly drawn to careers or locations that share your name's initials. For example, people named Dennis are statistically more likely to become dentists, and those named Baker might gravitate toward the baking industry. You will also be drawn to products you buy and brands you trust based off of their similarity to your own name. All this can influence serious life decisions, shape a person’s potential and dictate life path trajectory. In this way, a name can become like a self-fulfilling prophecy.      
7. Names are very powerful connectors, tying you to things. For example, a name that is associated with the ocean can tie you to the ocean. Or, an ancestral or cultural name can connect you and tie you to things like ancestry or culture. There is a heritage transmission in names of an ancestral nature that connect you to your roots, but also to things like a specific culture, family history, ancestral legacies, family values and individuals within a family line.
8. Names play a role in pre-birth intention. Obviously, because a name carries such a powerful vibrational signature that relates to your identity and the life you are ultimately going to live, before you come into this life, your name was a part of your pre-planning. But here is where it gets complicated. Your consciousness may pre select a name that carries a specific vibrational frequency that aligns with your consciousness or the intended purpose you have for this life experience. Or, you may choose into an experience where your name is out of alignment with you, because the desired effect that has, is a part of the expansion path you intended for this life. If it is the first scenario, your consciousness will influence your parents, often on a subconscious level (and more rarely in a conscious way) so that they experience the inspiration or pull towards a specific name that matches that pre-intended name. Just to give you two examples, beings who are coming into a life specifically to create ancestral lineage progression are likely to select the name of a specific ancestor or a name that vibrates as a kind of antidote to ancestral traumas. If a being has a pre-birth intention to be a healer, they are likely to select a name that holds very specific numerology, so as to be able to act as a conduit to specific energies. Sometimes, a name change in life is a part of a being’s pre-birth intention as well. Changing your name at a certain point in your life can signal a shift away from a karmic or familial chapter of soul progression over to a completely different chapter of soul progression, based on entirely different influencing factors.  
9. Logos, the word, is a powerful tool for creation. Logos is a bridge between the nonphysical and physical world. It forms potential energy into ordered form or manifestation. A person’s name is a word that brings order to their individual existence. It invokes specific qualities into the material, physical realm and they are expressed through the person’s temporal form. It is essentially, a statement of being.         

Because of all of this, obviously changing your name can have a serious effect on you and your life. For example, dropping your family name and taking on someone else’s family name obviously impacts belonging and unity. On an energetic level, it can literally mean you are being claimed by and are becoming one with that family line. And this implies you are taking it and all that is contained within it (good and bad) onto yourself. To the flip side, it can mean that you are disconnecting yourself from the family line you were born into. Releasing it and all that is contained within it (both good and bad). Not completely of course, because you opted into the genetics associated with that family line and were shaped by those ancestral gifts and traumas that were transferred either directly or indirectly. But you are disconnecting yourself from it significantly.   

Changing the name that you go by (usually this is a person’s first name) is usually what has the most impact. It will drastically alter your personal frequency; drastically alter the way you see yourself and the way other people see you. It is very likely to change your life path. Changing the name that a person goes by, helps a person to create a distinct persona. It often allows them to align their persona with their inner truth. It can signify a fresh start, helping individuals to reclaim power and positivity after trauma or distance themselves from a traumatic past. It is a wildly transformative act. One that has the power to do so much good for a person. It is a move to take ownership over one’s own identity.   

Some things that you need to be very conscious of when you are changing your name is that doing so is a big deal because of everything that is in a name. You need to be very conscious about whether changing your name is an act of rejection, especially self-rejection. Or an act of separation. The choice to separate from something is a very serious choice, not to be taken lightly. You also need to be conscious of whether it is an act of discontinuation. The choice to discontinue a name, such as a family name can also have serious implications, because it is a chosen ended-ness or death sentence to a specific frequency and all that is coded within it. 

The intention you have behind a name change matters a lot. Because this can either make it in alignment to change your name or out of alignment to do so. On top of this, changing your name can be a logistical nightmare. It can create legal problems. It can lead to you being flagged as a threat by certain bureaucracies. Changing your name can create issues for you and other people because they associate you with your old name and may continue to use it, which may create frustration, conflicts and identity dissonance in you. Every interaction with people who know you already may feel like an identity negotiation. And they may be upset that they have the pressure of changing you in their heads and remembering to call you by this different, new name. The entire social dynamic between you and others may be laced with a kind of friction, at least for a time. If you have established success under your name, changing your name can lead to a lot of professional problems and potentially professional losses. Changing your name can lead to a kind of unexpected existential crisis as well. Your old name links you to everything you have experienced in the past. For some people, changing their name feels like they have killed off the person that lived those experiences. Essentially that they have killed off themselves. Taking the new name can also make you feel like an imposter. Dropping a family name can enhance the feeling of being orphaned and can generate serious guilt. And a person may change their name believing that it will magically fix all their issues, only to realize that this didn’t happen. It didn’t magically make it so you don’t have a drinking problem, like dad did. It didn’t magically make it so you have confidence. It didn’t give you the fresh start you wanted.    

The more conscious you are about your name(s) and about any name you may be considering, the better. Becoming conscious about a name implies perceiving the energetic signature it holds, discovering its etymology and meaning, researching its origins, being aware of what it is associated with (across all cultures). Being conscious of what it is tied to and all the implications of that. What it connects a person to. Really reflecting on its impact on identity, how it will cause someone to perceive themselves and how it will impact the way that others will see them. The thought forms, associations and stories that are part of that name vibrationally. What it symbolizes. What it will influence a being to become. Its phonetic personality. Its numerology. Its prophetic implications. It’s sound and flow, pronunciation, and spelling. The WHY behind it (the why has to be aligned and a there has to be a good why). 

A name is not just a label. Contrary to Juliet’s speech in the wildly popular play of Romeo and Juliet, a rose by any other name, may not actually smell as sweet.