having legal names treated by authorities as "real" names has convinced so many people that its bizarre to have more than one name throughout one's life, when the opposite is true.

names are gifts. we receive many throughout our lives. we always give ourself this gift (though many of us lie to ourselves about it). and sometimes we share that gift to ourselves with others.

a name has power given the social world that carries it. remember this every time youre given a name, every time you gift others a name, and every time you share the gift of your name with others.

@exiliaex i can’t find the relevant liturgy for it in my siddur, but there’s a custom among jews of changing your name when grievously ill. i’m not sure how widely practiced it is, just know of it from my family + etc, so it came to mind

@roundtit oh that sounds really interesting, if you find it let me know, i might do a little searching myself

@exiliaex i’ll dig it up tmrw once i wake back up ^^
i know it’s in there somewhere - probably some variation of מי שברך, if i had to guess