ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DECISIONS expectant parents have to make is what to name their child. Sometimes, names follow what’s popular at the time. For girls born in the 1980s, for example, the most popular names were Jessica, Jennifer, and Amanda; for boys, it was Michael, Christopher, and Matthew. And of course, fashions change. According to the Social Security Administration, the most popular names for baby girls born in the United States in 2025 were Olivia, Charlotte, and Emma, whereas the frontrunners for baby boys were Liam, Noah, and Oliver.

Hmm. I wonder how many Olivias are going to end up marrying Olivers?

Of course, some parents decide on some rather, well…unconventional names. A woman in Wales once tried to name her daughter Cyanide, but thankfully was prevented from doing so. Another girl was bullied for the strange name her mother gave her, but she eventually embraced it and went on to earn her PhD. Her dissertation topic? Unusual baby names. And in New Zealand, one family named their daughter… wait for it… “Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii.” The unfortunate child refused to tell other kids her real name, and was made a ward of the court at the age of 9 so she could change it.

In Scripture, some parents gave their children specific names in response to the command of God. This was the case with both Ishmael and Isaac (Gen 16:11 and 17:19), for example, whose names mean “God hears” and “he laughs” respectively. The names were reminders of God’s grace to Hagar, Abraham, and Sarah. Names could also have prophetic significance, as a sign of God’s impending judgment. Isaiah, for example, was instructed to name his son Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (Isa 8:3), a name pointing forward to the disastrous invasion of Israel by Assyria and how the Assyrians would completely plunder the kingdom.

We’re not told anything about how that boy grew up, but personally, that’s not a name I would have wanted.

. . .

EARLY IN CHAPTER 1 of Luke’s gospel, the angel Gabriel appeared to the priest Zechariah in the temple, giving him the good news that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a son, even in their old age. Zechariah responded with doubt, perhaps not daring to believe that the angel’s words could be true. Gabriel rendered him unable to speak until the child, who was to be named John, was born.

Luke only devotes two verses to the birth itself, and hurries on to what for him is the more significant episode:

On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” (Luke 1:59-60, NIV)

Centuries earlier, as a sign of the covenant between them, God had commanded Abraham to be circumcised and to circumcise all his male descendants in turn, on their eighth day of life (Gen 17:10-12). Later, the commandment would be enshrined in the Law of Moses (Lev 12:3). Zechariah and Elizabeth, therefore, as righteous and obedient people, prepared to circumcise their newborn son as commanded. Zechariah may have done it himself, or it may have been done by a specialist. Either way, it was a socially and culturally significant moment, and other people would have been present.

There is a puzzle here, though: a child was typically named when the child was born, not at the time of circumcision. Is Luke describing a change in practice? It’s impossible to say. And while it’s perfectly natural to want to name a son after his father, there’s no evidence that this was ever a set custom. Perhaps, as one Bible scholar has suggested, the neighbors or relatives who were present pushed to have the boy named Zechariah because the father was now a local celebrity. But again, it’s impossible to say.

Elizabeth, however, knew that the angel had commanded that the boy be named John. Luke doesn’t tell us how she knew, but surely Zechariah would have communicated this to her. So she pushed back against what others seemed to be taking for granted: “No! He is to be called John.” They were probably taken aback by her insistence. “But Elizabeth, nobody in your family has that name,” they objected (vs. 61). Here, I imagine Elizabeth crossing her arms in defiance, refusing to budge.

Instead of continuing to argue with her, the people took the matter to a higher authority: Zechariah, the father.

Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him. (vss. 62-66)

Here’s another puzzle: why were they gesturing at him? Zechariah was mute, not deaf—though the word the New International Version translates as “unable to speak” in 1:22 can mean deaf, mute, or both. Throughout the story, though, Luke clearly emphasizes Zechariah’s inability to speak. If Zechariah could hear, Luke may be giving us an amusing detail: Zechariah had to use sign language with them, but they were needlessly using sign language back and treating him as if he were deaf.

I imagine Zechariah waving them off and sighing as he motioned for a writing tablet, while everyone waited with bated breath to see what he would write. To Elizabeth’s satisfaction and everyone else’s astonishment, he wrote, “His name is John.” And with that simple act of obedience, the aging priest regained his power of speech, just as Gabriel had promised. And what was the first thing he said? When Luke tells us that “he began to speak, praising God,” we’re probably meant to understand that the so-called “Song of Zechariah”—known in church tradition as the Benedictus—was what came out of his mouth. We’ll explore the Benedictus next.

Meanwhile, though, Luke reports how the people responded to Zechariah’s prophetic words. They had already understood Elizabeth’s pregnancy to be an act of God, and now, they knew they were in the presence of another miracle. They were therefore filled with holy fear, and soon, the entire neighborhood was abuzz with the news. This boy named John was going to be someone special.

How special? Gabriel has already told Zechariah, but now it’s Zechariah’s turn to tell his neighbors.