Names indicate compassion, personality, and love in A Wrinkle in Time. For example, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which are not human, but they take on whimsical human names to show their love for and solidarity with humankind. They want to be seen as distinct individuals with personalities. Meg's father shows his love for Meg by calling her by her nickname, Megatron. Aunt Beast gives herself the name Aunt Beast so as to have a loving connection with Meg as she takes care of her.

On Camazotz, on the other hand, people don't seem to have distinct names. They are referred to as "the man" or "the man with the red eyes." IT is a thing, not a human being, and has an appropriately non-human name.

When Charles Wallace is taken, Meg says he is not Charles Wallace any more, suggesting that his name is more than a label. It refers to a specific set of human personality traits that make Charles Wallace a distinct individual. Calvin says that Charles Wallace is buried deep inside the entity that has taken him over. Whatever the case, we learn a name is important for marking the unique qualities of living beings.