The Importance of "Names" in the Scriptures

W. John Welsh explains the significance and the meaning of The New Name. In this excerpt he says:

"In connection with the Endowment ordinance, Latter-day Saints receive a new name. Elder Charles C. Rich noted:

"Joseph [Smith] tells us that this new name is a key-word, which can only be obtained through the endowments."

The concept of getting a new name is symbolic of many things including "a new identity, ...a new life, a new beginning. It's a refreshing of things..."  It can mean that you have been "extended a special call, marked by the reception of [the] new name, which in Jewish tradition 'denoted the conferring of a special divine mission.'"

Isaiah 56:5 “A Hand and a Name”
By The Monk

Isaiah 56:4-6 (particularly v. 5) NRSV

“For thus says the LORD: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, 5 I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. 6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant…”

Verse 5 literally reads in Hebrew, “and I will give to them in my house, within my walls a hand and a name, (which is) better than (having) sons or daughters. I will give them an eternal name, that shall not be cut off.” Modern translations tend to follow something like the NRSV (“a monument and a name” instead of “a hand and a name”) on the basis of 1 Samuel 15:12 and 2 Sam. 18:18.

However, the idea of receiving a hand and an eternal name is quite familiar and comfortable to LDS. Several LDS commentators have made mention of this- Donald Parry, Victor Ludlow, and Avraham Gileadi, who gives a heavily-LDS translation “I will give a handclasp and a name within the walls of my house that is better than sons and daughters; I will endow them with an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”

Without doubt, Hugh Nibley believed the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. Without correct translation we have only “zeal without knowledge.” Nibley taught us to read the Greek New Testament with our LDS eyes wide open. According to the King James Version, John 17:11, in the great high priestly prayer, simply reads, “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me”; but to Hugh Nibley, who rightly sees this as a temple text, it is better translated instrumentally, “Holy Father, test them on the name with which you endowed me,” a much different reading, for those who wish to enter into the presence of God. (Hugh Nibley’s Articles of Faith; by John W. Welch)

John A. Tvedtnes in his article, Early Christian and Jewish Rituals Related to Temple Practices, he shares how, "In early Christianity, following the apostasy, temple initiation eventually merged with the baptismal initiation, which included both washing and anointing with oil, along with donning of white clothing and sometimes the reception of a new name. (Though he does not discuss baptism as part of the initiation, see William J. Hamblin, “Aspects of an Early Christian Initiation Ritual,” in John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks, eds., By Study and Also By Faith (Salt Lake City: FARMS and Deseret Book Company, 1990), volume 1.)

"The initiation as king and priest (or bishop), even in our century, also involves receiving a new name. Indeed, the giving of a new name during initiation rites is common in many cultures, as I learned while working on my BA in anthropology. Though much additional information could be added to what has already been published, I refer you to the excellent study by Bruce H. Porter and Stephen D. Ricks on this topic. (Bruce H. Porter and Stephen D. Ricks, “Names in Antiquity: Old, New, and Hidden,” By Study and Also By Faith, edited by John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks (Salt Lake City: FARMS and Deseret Book Company, 1990), 1:501-522.)  I shall add just one reference from the Mandaeans, a religious community of Iraq and Iran who claim to be descendants of the disciples of John the Baptist. Here we quote from the document known as Diwan Masbuta d Hibil Ziwa (“The Scroll of the Baptism of Hibil Ziwa”), which refers to seals, handclasps (called kuöta in Mandaean), and names:

"And the kings (spirits) took kuöta with him and (each) conferred on him some of his own glory. They gave him seven coverings and sealed him with a first seal; its name, a secret name, was graven thereon. Then (they sealed him with) a second seal, “the-seal-Maköiel” was graven thereon. (Then) a third; its name was “Zarziel-that-guardeth-him” and a secret name was engraven thereon. The fourth seal, “Great-Light” was graven thereon, a secret name. The fifth seal, “Light” was graven thereon, a secret name. The seventh seal, “Name-of-the-Life” was graven thereon (and?) “Radiance,” a secret name. Such were the sealings daily.  (E.S. Drower, The Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-Ziwa (Vatican: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1953), 32.)"

Great significance is given to names in the scriptures.

Also see:
Who Wants to Be Jewish?
Putting on the Names: A Jewish-Christian Legacy
Biblical Baby Names
List of Biblical Names
A Hidden Message (in the names of Genesis Chapter 5)
Christian Names - Catholic Encyclopedia