My stand on “Craft names” is simple…let your name, your own true self, find you.
When I was in Elementary School, we had this cheesy little “club”. We decided that since four of the seven of us had sticky nicknames already, everyone in our club had to have a nickname. So the people without nicknames were forced to make names up on the spot, or suffer with the name the rest of us came up with for them. Needless to say, those three kids had pretty dumb nicknames that had nothing to do with who they really were.
Some people feel that they must choose a Craft name for the sake of anonymity. That’s understandable. Some people think you just can’t practice the Craft under a name like “Sarah” or “Emily”. That’s pompous nonsense. I generally practice under the name I was initiated with, but I wouldn’t be one iota less a witch practicing under the name of “Catherine” — my Gods would still know me, my circle would still stand strong, and my magic would still sing softly. Curiously enough, “Catherine” is the name the state recognizes my clergy license under.
Now, that said, there are various schools of thought on Craft names. Some traditions hold that the name should NOT be the name of a God or Goddess. A derivative (Morgan instead of Morrigan) or a celebratory (Thorson, Breidfire, ErisianTrubble) is good. Some traditions encourage aligning oneself with one’s totems, allowing for names like RavenWolf, FoxDaughter, DragonFire. There is also the exclamatory of a particular talent, element or personality trait, lending to names like Music, River and Mirth.
There is always “pick a name, change it later” way to go, but it can get complicated when you are ready to move on (try to find something Tim/Otter/Oberon Zell/G’Zell wrote ten years ago and you’ll see what I mean). Numerology is a very good test of a name, before you make it your own, but I don’t think it’s the end-all-be-all. If you allow the name to come to you, you’ll probably end up with one that is much more comfortable. Think about it, certainly, but let it evolve, or let yourself be inspired by something within yourself. Maybe, if you’re lucky, the Gods will whisper your name to you.
EDIT: Interesting and appropriate. From T.S. Elliot: “The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter, It isn’t just one of your holiday games; You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES. First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily, Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James, Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey– All of them sensible everyday names. There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter, Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames: Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter– But all of them sensible everyday names. But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular, A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified, Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular, Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride? Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum, Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat, Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum- Names that never belong to more than one cat. But above and beyond there’s still one name left over, And that is the name that you never will guess; The name that no human research can discover– But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess. When you notice a cat in profound meditation, The reason, I tell you, is always the same: His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name: His ineffable effable Effanineffable Deep and inscrutable singular Name”