We read a novel by Toni Morrison, not by Chloe Anthony Wofford. We'll watch Jennifer Aniston on Friends, but not Jennifer Anistonapoulos. Some entertainers buck the trend. Like Melina Kanakaredes, the star of the critically acclaimed television drama Providence, but not many because names have power. The Tiger, of course.
Tiger has power.
The power of a name is nothing new to those who are students of Scripture. In Genesis, Jacob wrestled all night with a divine being near the river Jabbok. Later, Moses encounters the Lord God at the burning bush and asks for his name. But it isn't only the ancients who find deep significance in names. James Bruning, a psychologist at Ohio University, has studied naming for over 30 years, and knows that names can carry the weight of expectations.