It feels fairly obvious that Silence is not so named for nothing. I feel the need to use male pronouns when talking about Silence's outward life, because Heldris has thus far only used feminine pronouns when Silence is having a crisis of identity and is about to decide to live as a woman.
So he is obviously named Silentius for the secrecy he lives under. Although he is regularly unsure of whether he should remain a he, his silence and that of his parents and friends is what keeps it going. But the very name calls our attention not only to other uses of the word silence, but also points where sound in incongruous with it.
At Silence's naming, Cador says, 'Silence relieves anxiety' (2069). That is fairly straightforward, 'silence' serves as both the child and calmness, peace. But then, after hearing of Silence's disappearance, when Heldris is describing the grief of Cador and Eufemie, he mentions it being 'appropriate to keep silent' over one's grief (3032). Is the reference to the cause of their grief her intended? The jongleurs, shortly thereafter, are silenced that Silence might play (3158). How odd it is, that Silence is in fact the only one permitted to not be silent!
A final set of weighty uses of Silence's name top off the first half of the poem. While Silence is overhearing the plots against him, 'Silence was listening and heard them' (3403). And, 'Silence didn't want to utter a word' (3410). And yet, it is through sound that Silence, who, with a capital S, reads more like the embodiments of Nature and Nurture than any other character, easily sends the treacherous jongleurs on their way.
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