What is the purpose and importance of a name? Parents may choose a particular name for their baby for a wide variety of reasons. They may like the sound of the name, or they may have a family member or a friend with the same name, or they may like a nickname that is associated with that name, or lots of other reasons. But in Scripture, names have greater significance than they often do in contemporary societies. At the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam dominion over every creature.