Dream question: why am I hearing my name? (Hearing your name in a dream)

This was a dream question sent to me for answer: If you’d like a chance for your dream question to be answered find out more about the The Dream Download™ here. This topic also features in my book Answers In The Dark: Grief, Sleep and How Dreams Can Help You Heal.

“What about hearing your name called whilst asleep when no one’s around? I’m sure someone shouted my name.”

This is an interesting phenomenon and I hope firstly to reassure you, you’re not alone; many people have shared their experience of this with me. Hearing your name called out in a dream can feel so real you wake up convinced someone is in the room with you.

Some people will find that external noises in their dreams influence their dream content; so if you dream the ‘phone is ringing you may wake up to find it actually is. (This is similar to dreaming someone’s at the door, to find the doorbell going as you “come to”). So if someone is shouting on the street outside your room, it may well have translated as if someone had shouted your name as you wake up. 

But what if that’s not the case and you’re hearing your name and no one’s there? I talk about this in more detail in my book Answers in the Dark. For some people the voice can feel familiar (I explain in the book I’ve had this experience myself, the voice was Irish and I have Irish heritage.) So in some communities, they may translate this as someone from another time and place trying to get your attention. (I also offer some ideas in the book around what you could try, if you think this might be the case). Don’t forget, some cultures around the world consider dreams to be a divine portal that’s offering insight and wisdom – some people consider this to be a ‘side effect’ of astral travelling.

For others, it can be a sense or a presence – similar to that which may be experienced with ‘Old Hag Syndrome’ (what’s now commonly known today as Sleep Paralysis). Or it may accompany a visitation dream.

If you’re disturbed by the experience, you could chat to your doctor about whether stress is playing a part, but you might find that it’s a one-off event. I describe dreams in Answers In The Dark as like a friend trying to give you advice. You don’t always have to take them seriously (just as you might take what some friends say with a pinch of salt!) but if the experience has caught your attention you could try keeping a dream diary if it happens again to see if a pattern is forming. (There’s a template on that in the book too).

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Delphi is the author of Answers In The Dark: Grief, Sleep and How Dreams Can Help You Heal, out now on Amazon and Hive.  The Dreams Maven™ is part of the Helping You Sparkle™ portfolio.  You might also like Monday Mojo™.

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