Of Naming and Identity — Rey Skywalker and the Metaphysics of Choosing a New Name
Rey Skywalker
In the final film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker, the character of Rey, known only to us hitherto by her mononym “Rey,” chooses the name “Rey Skywalker” despite the fact that she is a Palpatine by blood, the granddaughter of the Sith lord, Emperor Palpatine. During the film, we see that Rey has potential for darkness within her as the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, a pull to the darkness that has lived within all Sith (and perhaps in everyone, everywhere). But, despite the ways in which Rey struggles for the potential for darkness within herself, she chooses to be a Jedi and to take the name “Skywalker,” which is symbolic not merely of her choice to walk in the light instead of in darkness but also of a new identity she has chosen for herself. Indeed a choice to walk in the light without also choosing a new identity, and the corresponding new name, wouldn’t have the same meaning or significance.
Old woman: Who are you?
Rey: I’m Rey.
Old woman: Rey who?
Rey: Rey Skywalker.
We sometimes forget the power that resides in choosing a new name for ourselves. I can think of two powerful instances where this occurs, one historical and religious and one so commonplace that we sometimes overlook its significance. The first instance that comes to mind is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus into the apostle Paul in the book of Acts in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Saul had been a persecutor of early Christians until he had a vision of the reincarnated Jesus on the road to Damascus, after which he became one of Christianity’s foremost believers and followers, responsible for much of the spread of Christianity through his missions and his letters, which are now considered holy scripture by Christian believers. It was not enough for Saul merely to become a believer; he had to be transformed not just in spirit but also in name to fully adopt his new identity as a follower and apostle and to fully shed his former self as a persecutor.
If Paul had remained “Saul” in name, his transformation would not have the same impact, literally, metaphorically, symbolically, or aesthetically—even metaphysically; he would not have embraced his new identity to the same extent. Such is the reason that in much of Christendom it is common for believers to adopt a Christian name for themselves. Lutherans, for example, often historically used a Christian prefix name before their given name, such as “Johann Sebastian Bach,” with “Sebastian” being his given name and with Johann (i.e., “John”) being his Christian prefix name. Similarly, my great grandfather’s name was “Wilhelm” (or “William” after he immigrated to the United States from Prussia—itself a non-trivial change in identity from being Prussian to being an American), but his birth certificate records his full name as “Johann Wilhelm Fruhling,” again with “Wilhelm” being his given name and with “Johann” being his Christian prefix name. This adoption of a new name can also be seen in Catholicism when a newly elected pope adopts and publicly announces his new papal name, thereby symbolically but also metaphysically and literally shedding his former identity in favor of a new self, a new person, and a new identity.
The other, more commonplace adoption of a new name that I have in mind occurs in marriage, at least traditionally in which a bride adopts the surname of her new husband. Of course, the fact that only the wife historically changes her name, not the husband, is steeped in the patriarchy of Western culture, the last vestiges of which persist to this day but which are also in the process of being shed. It makes me think seriously that if I ever remarry, I should consider changing my name along with my future wife-to-be, perhaps in a joint hyphenated surname of the sort that has become more common in recent decades.
There is clearly something deeply symbolic about the shedding of one’s former life by the adoption of a new name and a new identity. But it’s also important to note that this adoption of a new name, whether in religious conversion or in marriage, is not merely symbolic; it is also metaphysical insofar as it coincides with a transformation of one’s entire identity and self—the shedding or death of one’s former self and the creation, birth, or perhaps rebirth, of an entirely new self with a new identity, with one’s new name being only the external projection of an internal transformation that is both psychological and metaphysical in nature. The adoption of a new name is not mere wordplay; it is a literal transformation of the self representative of our power to choose our own identities, not just in the paths we walk with our own free will, but in the parts of ourselves we choose to accept, reject, or ultimately transcend, sometimes only after a long journey—after the struggles and darknesses in one’s life that led to the need for a transformation experience in the first place.
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