In the context of ancient and modern temples, names have a vital role—for both women and men.216 The most eminent name associated with temples, of course, is that of the Lord, but our own names are also exceptionally significant and powerful in the temple setting.
The Lord’s name: All temples are “built unto [his] name” (D&C 105:33); in fact, the Lord commands us to build temples to His name (see D&C 124:39). Joseph Smith’s Kirtland Temple dedicatory prayer refers to the Lord’s name multiple times (see D&C 109:2–3, 9, 22). After the temple dedication, the Lord declared, “For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here” (D&C 110:7).
Regarding the Lord’s name and the holy temples, President Dallin H. Oaks explained, “The Old Testament contains scores of references to the name of the Lord in a context where it clearly means the authority of the Lord. Most of these references have to do with the temple. . . . The scriptures speak of the Lord’s putting his name in a temple because he gives authority for his name to be used in the sacred ordinances of that house.”217 Elder David A. Bednar spoke of temple ordinances and Jesus’s name: “Thus, in the ordinances of the holy temple we more completely and fully take upon us the name of Jesus Christ.”218
Jesus Christ’s new name: Jesus Christ, at His Second Coming, will have “a name written, that no man knew, but he himself” (Rev. 19:12).
The “new name”: Several scriptural passages refer to the significance of our names in the setting of the temple—this pertains equally to women and men. In a passage that has multiple temple themes, Revelation 2–3 twice uses the term “new name”: “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (Rev. 2:17); “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God . . . and I will write upon him my new name” (Rev. 3:12). These passages in Revelation may be associated with another passage, in which the Lord revealed, “A white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word” (D&C 130:11).
In Isaiah 56, the Lord refers to His temple via a variety of expressions (see vv. 1–7), then in verse 5 the Lord states that He will give temple worshippers a hand and a name: “I will give to them in my house [e.g., the temple] and within my walls a hand and a name” (translation by author).
Just as a change of vestments—from secular street clothes to sacred vestments—indicates a favorable change of status, a new name also denotes an elevation of stature for all participants in the temple ordinances—females and males.