How to Choose a Magickal Name: Your Craft Identity – Part 2

A short while ago, I started this tiny series on how to choose a magickal name. In the first installment, I mainly touched on the purpose and precedent (both historical and mythological) for doing so. Now that we’ve covered those basics, we can get into the exciting part of how to actually chose a name and what to do with it!

Where should you start? Read on!

Inspiration

There are so many areas to look for inspiration in names, it’s almost impossible to list them all, but I’ll at least give you some starting points.

• Nature – Animals, Trees, or Plants (Raven, Wolf, Oak, Lily, etc)
• Crystals (Amber, Jet, Diamond, etc)
• Planets (Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, etc)
• Deities (Hermes, Juno, Thor, etc)
• Historical or Craft Figures (Levi, Gardner, Agrippa, etc)
• Mythology (Midas, Nymph, Muse, etc)
• Significant or Interesting Words (Stormchaser, Stonebreaker, I don’t even know)
• Other Languages (Veritas, Lapis, Thelema, etc)

For some people, the magickal name will be an obvious choice. For others, it will require deep thought. I’ve seen folks instantly come up with their name, as if it was something they always knew and were just waiting for someone to ask. And I’ve seen others recoil to the shadows for months of study and decision making. Personally, I fell squarely in the later camp — it took me a good, long while to fully make up my mind. There’s nothing wrong with either way, as long as you end up currently happy with the name you chose. (I stress the word currently, and we’ll touch on that later)

Personally, I find that I place a lot of significance on both the sound and the standard meaning of a name. And for this, you only need to flip through a baby name book and say things out loud.

But remember… names come in many forms across different languages! Perhaps you like the idea of the name “Mark,” but you’re unhappy with how it sounds or the way it looks when written. Well… do some of these variations get your attention? There’s Marc, Marco, Marcus, Marek, Marko, Markos, Markus, Markas, Markku, Markuss, and Marcos…. just to name a few.

I’m going to give you an example name as we move forward with all of this, just for fun and for the sake of practicality in the coming explanations. Let’s say that you have taken inspiration from every witch’s favorite domestic animal, the cat. You’ve decided to name yourself “Kitty.”

Does it add up?

Well, Kitty, the first thing you might want to do is check some number values for your name. There are multiple schools of numerology, but the basic idea is to reduce your name to a number based on values assigned to the individual letters — you usually add them all up, but sometimes you might take just the value of vowels or just the values of consonants.

From the final number, one can derive some sort of outcome or prediction — similar to a horoscope or astrological reading, albeit much simpler.

And for those among us who require this type of math to be done for them, there are websites that will accomplish the task automatically. I’m not going to link to any of them (because they are usually full of ads), but if you Google it, you’ll find plenty.

Okay, fine, I’ll give you one. Here.

Using this tool, I was able to determine that the name Kitty gives a “destiny number” of 22, which is characterized by inspiration and ambition.

But maybe you don’t like the sound of that… so you change the spelling a little bit. You are now Kittie, which has a destiny number of 11, characterized by strength and tension.

Let’s compare the two!

You don’t have to do this part, by the way. But for those of us who have difficulty deciding, this may help weigh the scales in favor of a particular winner! It’s all just food for thought, anyway. And PS – other websites may give you different values, more in-depth interpretations, or possibly lots of ads and popups.

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How many names do I need?

Kittie, you may be wondering if you need a first and last name for your magickal persona.

Well… you don’t need both. But you can have them if you want.

An interesting technique for last names is to take two different terms and create compound words or portmanteaus. For our example, let’s say you also like corvids. And since you feel pretty partial to colder environments, you’ve decided to combine the words “raven” and “frost” for your last name.

It’s nice to meet you, Kittie Ravenfrost.

What if someone else has the same name?

There are certain words that you’ll find pretty regularly within the magickal community. I don’t want to single anyone out (there is no name shaming here), but statistically speaking, “raven” is one of those words. At any given gathering of 100 or more pagans, there’s bound to be at least one Raven.

If you’ve chosen the name of a well-known god or goddess, I can promise you that you are not the first to have done so. And you won’t be the last!

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, though. If for some reason, however, it all gets to be too much for you… proceed to the next paragraphs.

Changing a name – What if I get tired of my name?

The wonderful thing about craft names is that you can change them pretty much whenever you like. If you feel like it no longer brings you joy or that it doesn’t represent you, take a new one! There is, however, at least one fairly obvious caveat…

If you change your name frequently, you probably shouldn’t expect other people to remember what it is. I have a hard enough time remembering one name for people. When it comes to their craft names, especially for a big group ritual, I frequently need a refresher.

With that said, there are certain points throughout your craft journey where it could be appropriate to revisit the idea of names. Within traditional witchcraft circles, these points might be at events like dedications, initiations, or elevations. There is often a significant amount of change and [hopefully positive] growth between these events… and our magickal name might no longer reflect who we are or who we want to be.

If you do decide to change your name, put some effort and intention into it. Don’t just go about it all willy-nilly. Write and perform a ritual (on your own or with others) that declares your new name to the gods and any other spirits present — it’ll feel a lot more official that way.

“In the presence of the lord and lady, the guardians of the four elements, and all of those gathered here, let it be known: from this day forward, I shall be known as Persephone Featherbottom!”

So in our hypothetical scenario, you’ve grown tired of being Kittie Ravenfrost. You are now Persephone Featherbottom. And you have declared this to the gods.

Should my name include a title?

You can be Persephone Featherbottom all you want. But if you start calling yourself Princess Persephone Featherbottom, you might get a few sideways glances.

Nothing is stopping you, of course, but what I’m really talking about here are titles such as Lord and Lady. In certain traditions, those titles are earned by completing your degrees and starting a coven of your own. They are the mark of a High Priest or High Priestess. And some people feel pretty strongly about that.

Let me rephrase that. Some people feel really strongly about that.

I’m not one of those people. Despite the fact that I actually have earned that title, you’ll never hear me introducing myself as Lord Aerik. If you want my genuine and honest opinion, most people are taking themselves a bit too seriously.

I, Lord Aerik, musician extraordinaire, advisor of witches and writer of words, cannot officially recommend using a title in your magickal name unless it has been given to you.

See? Too serious.

Are magickal names appropriate to use in public?

Craft names are often privileged information and you’ll need to use a bit of discernment as to when they are appropriate or inappropriate to use.

For educational value, we’ll examine a couple of usage scenarios. Let’s say that your friend Bob has taken a craft name of Merlin.

• Good Idea: You show up to a pagan festival where Bob is teaching a workshop and ask one of the attendees if they’ve seen Merlin.
• Bad Idea: You show up to Bob’s mundane job and ask a group of his coworkers if they’ve seen Merlin.

The context of when to use a magickal name is really up to each individual. If you’re not sure, just ask someone about it. Beyond this, there are sometimes names that are only appropriate to use during a certain type of ritual or within a certain tradition (and sometimes those names are top secret) — so again, if you’re unsure about something, just ask.

Can I have a secret name just for me?

Sure! And similarly to the myth that we went over in the first part of this series, having a top secret name just between you and the gods is actually a very Ancient Egyptian idea. Pharaohs, in fact, frequently had five names (and if you’d like to learn more about that, I’ll refer you to this handy wikipedia article). And beyond that, the gods themselves had secret names.

Warning: At some point or another, you might have difficulty keeping track of all these names inside your head. I know I do.

All joking aside…

Although I have jestfully presented several sections within this post, there is truth and reality behind all of it. Magickal names can be serious business and they should be treated with a bit of reverence and respect. Just don’t take yourself too seriously.

Remember, this is how someone is choosing to identify themselves to the gods, deity, great spirit, higher power, or whatever else you want to call it. Oftentimes, it’s a sign of trust to have this type of information shared with you. If you know someone’s magickal name, consider that a privilege!

If you are in the process of choosing a name, I hope this short post has given you a little forward momentum. Good luck!