What's In a Name?

JETHRO THOMAS JONES

That's the official name of our little Bean. It's been quite the journey, and so far the top responses to our name choice have been:
1. "What a cool name!"
2. "Are you serious??"
3. "Is that a family name?"
4. "Can I call him Jet?"
5. "How did you and Tom come up with that name?"


I am here to answer these questions.
1. Yes, we agree that Jethro is an AWESOME name.
2. Yes, we are serious and aren't just "pulling your leg."
3. No, it's not a family name (and we did NOT name our son after an NCIS character, a British rock group, or a Beverly Hillbillies character).
4. We know our son will probably receive numerous nicknames over his lifespan but we prefer that he be called Jethro, at the very least by family :-)
5. Well, here's the story of our baby-naming journey..

Tom and I were flipping through baby names books one night shortly after we found out I was pregnant. We were pretty settled on our girls name so far (which I will not reveal at this time because we still hope to use it someday!), but 3 books later we could not find a single boy's name that either of us liked or could agree on. I had been stuck on another name for awhile but Tom had strongly vetoed that. Tired and frustrated that our possible baby boy's name was not coming to us, Tom decided to flip open the scriptures. At first he rattled off a few names that we both laughed off and it sort of became our comic relief from the frustration. Then he came across the name "Jethro" and as soon as he said it aloud we both looked at each other and said in unison, "I like it!" It was the first time we agreed on a boy name with such gusto. Over the next week we thought it over and did some research as to the biblical significance of the name. This is what we learned:

Moses takes his leave of Jethro by Jan Victors, c. 1965. Exodus 4:18
Jethro is seated on the left in red.

Jethro, also known as Reuel, was a prince and priest of Midian who gave Moses a home when he fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave. Jethro's daughter, Zipporah, eventually became Moses's wife. Moses is said to have worked as a shepherd for Jethro for 40 years before returning to Egypt to lead the Hebrews to Canaan, the "promised land." After Moses had begun to lead the Israelites on their Exodus, it was Jethro that encouraged Moses to appoint others to share in the burden of ministry to the nation Israel by allowing others to help in the judgment of smaller matters coming before him. Jethro was not an Israelite, but when he heard what God had done for the Israelites in freeing them from Egypt he worshiped God wholeheartedly. Jethro met God through Moses and Moses received hospitality, his wife and wisdom from Jethro. It was from Jethro that Moses received the Melchizedek Priesthood.

After Tom and I did the research and learned what a significant role Jethro played in scriptural history we knew our name choice had been inspired. After learning that we were indeed having a son we prayed about whether or not this was the right name for our son and received an overwhelming confirmation that we had made the right choice. Jethro will also be named after both his grandpa Jones and his daddy, with a middle name of Thomas. As converts to the church, Tom and I will be so blessed to raise our son in the gospel of Jesus Christ.