Names are enormously important aspects in defining people. People are often named after relatives, grandparents. A name change will today often signify that someone is re-defining or even re-inventing themselves, or cutting ties to a family they don't like.

In the 16th. and 17th. centuries, most people were mindful of both how they could survive on earth and what was required for them to also do to get a place in heaven. It was quite hard to keep both heaven and earth in mind: earthly survival was often hard enough. Compared to most others, the Puritans tried to keep more of a focus on the afterlife, and they utilized names in order to do that. So, old English names like Richard and William had presumably pagan origins and were ruled out. So were names that seemed spiritually presumptuous- of saints like Paul, or Michael. Old testament names, like Hezekiah, were reasonably safe. Names could remind the named of the virtues needed for salvation- like Patience, or Hope. Their names could also be quite abbreviated key aspects of doctrine. So, Sorry-for-sin Coupard was constantly reminded he should repent, and No-merit Vynall was a walking reminder to himself and all around him that salvation was only to be achieved by Christ's forgiveness, not by charitable works and good behavior. And sometimes the name was not abbreviated at all: you suspect that Praise-God-Lest-Ye-All-Be-Damned Barbon ( who became speaker of Parliament during the Interregnum) learned how to write somewhat early.

Bardsley, Charles W. (1888) Curiosities of Puritain Nomenclature