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There has been a tradition among Catholic nuns to adopt a new name on the day of their Religious Profession, as a token of their having adopted a new method of living. A few Orders of religious Priests and Brothers have also been following the practice.

Now, there have been discussions on C.SE on the gender that souls would assume in Heaven. But we have always been calling the Saints (e.g. Joseph, Mary, Thomas, etc) by the name they had been given while living on the earth. In most cases, the name itself is indicative of the gender the person belongs to. And each person's name is dear to the Heavenly Father (Isa 49:16). But just in case there is no gender distinction in Heaven, a dweller's name also has to be changed accordingly so that it does not give away the gender which the soul once belonged to.

My question therefore is: According to Catholic scholars, will each of us have a new name in Heaven ?

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  • My son was asking me last night if everybody has a name, I never though that a person might not be named before but it made me think of a very similar question to this. A person (millions of unborn people) could be baptized by blood or desire and never have a name to begin with.
    – Peter Turner ♦
    Commented Oct 7, 2022 at 13:48
  • Do souls have names?
    – Kristopher
    Commented Oct 7, 2022 at 15:48
  • @PeterTurner Is there some different meaning of "name" in Catholicism? Of course people who aren't baptised have names!
    – curiousdannii ♦
    Commented Oct 10, 2022 at 7:31
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    @curious no, I just mean it's not inconceivable (under the normal definition of that word) for a person to be bereft of a name. But person, does have a different meaning in Catholicism than in modern parlance. Speaking clearly, I just mean that all the aborted babies, not to mention all those who are born and left to die, are certainly "called by name" by God.
    – Peter Turner ♦
    Commented Oct 10, 2022 at 12:34

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Revelation gives us a hint:

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. (Revelation 2:17)

However, that new name is a secret name, not known by anyone except the person and the Lord. As for names to be shared between people in Heaven, I must defer to others as I do not know.

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