Names matter. Family names matter because they tell a rich history and point to the deep bonds between parents and children. But first names point to an even deeper truth.
As German Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper argued in his essay What is My Real Name? that explores the concept of identity and the relationship between a person’s name and their fundamental selfhood:
“The Church appears to regard a person’s first name, which he receives at baptism and which in English is known as his ‘Christian name’, as a more essential name, a name which designates the person more profoundly, than his family name.”
