Whispering the Doctor’s Name

I just got caught up and watched the two-part Doctor Who episode(s) “Silence in the Library” and “Forest of the Dead“. We’ve been given snippets of hints at the Doctor’s identity before – in one episode in the Tom Baker era, an old acquaintance knew him by the name Theta Sigma – which is the abbreviation for the Greek word THEOS, meaning God, used in many New Testament manuscripts.

In “Forest of the Dead”, Professor River Song whispers the Doctor’s name in his ear, and also at one point seems to call him “Yah”. Perhaps this isn’t surprising – he’s a miracle “man” who came down from heaven to dwell among human beings and save them, having previously caused the Big Bang as well as the spark of life on Earth. Eventually he defeats the devil too, and is there for the universe’s end. So when Richard Dawkins makes a guest appearance on the show, will this be his chance to meet God?

Some have speculated that Professor River Song could be none other than Romana. I’m not sure about that, although “Professor River Song” seems likely to hide behind it in coded or anagram form a clue about who she is. They do keep saying “spoilers”, after all.

At any rate, as the Doctor wondered about her, he realized there was only one context in which he would have spoken his name. In other words, presumably the Doctor and the Professor are married…

So what is the Doctor’s name? If I knew for sure, I’d probably have to respond like Thomas does in the Gospel of Thomas 13, after Jesus whispers to him three words: “If I tell you one of the words which he said to me, you will take up stones and throw them at me; and a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up.”