BBC: How names can tell painful stories

In every language, there's one world which has special power over us: our name. Our senses, feelings and whole identity are closely linked to our name. Yet strangely, our name isn't usually something we choose- it's given to us by our parents. 

But what if the name you were given at birth doesn't fit? Maybe you simply don't like it, or maybe there are bigger reasons for wanting to change your name, reasons connected with historical injustices, or unfair events in the past. In this programme, we'll be meeting two people whose family history has caused them to consider changing their name. And, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. 

Sounds good, Beth, but first I have a question for you. My name- Neil - is British name and was given to me at birth. But names change a lot between culture and religions. Many Muslim boys are named Mohanned, Indian boys are often called Ram or Krishna, and in Mexico, some boys are named Jesus. So according to a recent global survey, what's currently the world's most popular boys' name? Is it:

a) Jesus b) Mohammed or , c) Noah?

Hmm, I guess it's Mohammed.

OK, Beth, I'll reveal the answer at the end of the programme. In British, a person's first name is also called their Christian name, and in Christianity, many names have a religious meaning. The name John, for example, means  'Godis good'. Anderson Jeremiah is the Bishop of Edmonton. He was born in South India, but the doesn't have a traditional Indian sounding name. Here, Bishop Jeremiah explains the roots of his name to BBC World Service programme, Heart and Soul. 

It was the name of one John Anderson. He was the first educational missionary who came and worked and set up several schools in South India, who had very noble ambitions, but also as with any missionaries, he was a big collaborator of the colonial establishment at that point in time, so he has a very a strong baggage that goes with it. So, Anderson is my Christian name, and Jeremiah is my dad's name. 

Bishop Anderson Jeremiah's name comes from another name, John Anderson, a Christian missionary during the British empire. The history of the British empire in India is controversial with many views on all sides. Bishop Jeremiah thinks that some of the empire's missonaries were noble, meaning admirable or morally good. 

But nevertheless, John Anderson was part of a violent and exploitative empire. 착취하는 Bishop Jeremiah uses the word baggage to describe the beliefs, especiall outdated or unhelpful beliefs, which influence how people think. Emotional baggage tend to influence the feelings of one individual, while historical baggage can affect whole societies. 

In India, names serve an important purpose: to signify social status. Low- status Indians, including Bishop Anderson's grandparents, escaped social discrimination by converting to Christianity and taking another, Christian, name. But elsewhere in the British Empire, names were connected with something completely unchristian: slavery.

Black British writer, Professor Robert Beckford, is an activist theologian at the University of Winchester. His surname- Beckford- is a slave name, passed down from his enslaved African ancestors in

-18th century Jamaica. Here, Professor Beckford talks to BBC World Service programme, Heart and Soul, about his decison to name his son, Micah:

My son is named Micah, Micah Beckford, after one of the prophets, so I do like the idea of people in the Biblical tradition who speak truth to power, who ruffle people's feathers, who challenge the injustice. I haven't thought of giving myself a biblical name.  성질으 건드리다 I could never find a name that really resonated with me. 공명하다

The phrase to speak truth to power describes times when people non-violently resist an oppressive force, such as a government for corporation, by telling the truth. And if you ruffle someone's feathers, you upset or annoy them.