Crowley named himself.

It’s an act that’s usually done by a parent, guardian, or owner. In pretty much every culture on Earth, naming someone or something is important and significant.

But Crowley gave himself his own name. 

When he and the other demons were cast out of Heaven to Hell, they presumably had their angelic names stripped from them (by God?) and were given new ones (by Satan?). Whoever he was before, he became Crawly when he was turned into a demon.  Then he changed it. From Crawly to Crowley. It’s not much, almost more of a change in pronunciation than an actual name change, but it’s a start. It’s his start in his break from Hell. Because then he does something NOBODY else in Heaven or Hell does, that we see. No other angel or demon has two names. Aziraphale may go by “Mr. Fell”, but that’s just an attempt to blend in more on Earth. But Crowley gives himself a first name, Anthony. 

Anthony, a name that means “priceless” or “of inestimable worth”.

Years, decades, before he stood against both the leaders of Hell and Heaven, with a frightened child and the love of his life by his side, he declared his worth and his value as a person. They didn’t know it, but by naming himself, Crowley told Hell “I may work for you, but you don’t own me any more.”

Ooooh. And now I wonder if that’s what prompted Aziraphale’s slightly incredulous reaction and the exchange that followed. “Anthony? (‘Priceless or of inestimable worth,’ really?)” “You don’t like it? (Is that too much? Am I getting a bit too full of myself, do you think?)” “No, no, I didn’t say that. I’ll get used to it. (You’re fine, you should think well of yourself. I’m a little surprised at how all-in you’re going by taking a name like that, but I’m not disapproving or trying to discourage you.)”

I mean it’s not like the act of naming and self-determination are key elements of Crowley’s character arc in my fics or anything 🤷🏻‍♀️

But yesssssss I don’t think enough attention is paid to this. Who Crowley was - as an angel - is ripped away from him. Over the course of 6,000 years we see him get more cynical, more withdrawn - but we also see him becoming himself.

His old identity is gone. So he builds a new one. One that Hell wouldn’t approve of - and he keeps parts of it hidden, so that only Aziraphale sees the real him. It’s the ultimate act of defiance, and what sets him down the road to doing the impossible: freeing himself from Hell.

@aethelflaedladyofmercia what’s your fic? 👀

The series is “Sawdust of Words” and the fic most closely dealing with names so far is “What It Means To Be A Demon.” Be warned - the last is angsty and non-graphically violent (T rating, tws on individual chapters).

Hope you like it! 🙂