J. B. Lightfoot on Philemon 1:10-11

ὃν [ἐγὼ] ἐγέννησα ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς, Ὀνήσιμον, ^{11}τόν ποτέ ὃν ἐγέννησα κ.τ.λ.] So too 1 Cor. iv. 15. In Gal. iv. 19 he speaks of himself as suffering a mother’s pangs for his children in the faith. Comp. Phil. _Leg. ad Cai._ 8 (II. p. 554) ἐμόν ἐστι τοῦ Μάκρωνος ἔργον Γαΐος· μᾶλλον αὐτὸν ἢ οὐχ ἧττον τῶν γονέων γεγέννηκα. ἐν τοῖς δεσμοῖς] He was doubly dear to the Apostle, as being the child of his sorrows. Ὀνήσιμον] for Ὀνησίμου by attraction, as e.g. Mark vi. 16 ὃν ἐγὼ ἀπεκεφάλισα Ἰώαννην, οὗτός ἐστιν. Henceforward he will be true to his name, no longer ἀνόνητος, but ὀνήσιμος: comp. Ruth i. 20 ‘Call me not Naomi (pleasant) but call me Mara (bitter) etc.’ The word ἄχρηστος is a synonyme for ἀνόνητος, Demosth. _Phil._ iii. § 40 (p. 121) ἅπαντα ταῦτα _ἄχρηστα_ ἄπρακτα _ἀνόνητα_ κ.τ.λ.: comp. Pseudophocyl. 37 (34) χρηστὸς ὀνήσιμός ἐστι, φίλος δ’ ἀδικῶν ἀνόνητος. The significance of names was a matter of special importance among the ancients. Hence they were careful in the inauguration of any great work that only those who had _bona nomina_, _prospera nomina_, _fausta nomina_, should take part: Cic. _de Div._ i. 45, Plin. _N.H._ xxviii. 2. 5, Tac. _Hist._ iv. 53. On the value attached to names by the ancients, and more especially by the Hebrews, see Farrar _Chapters on Language_ p. 267 sq., where a large number of instances are collected. Here however there is nothing more than an affectionate play on a name, such as might occur to any one at any time: comp. Euseb. _H.E._ v. 24 ὁ )Ειρηναῖος φερώνυμός τις ὢν τῇ προσηγορίᾳ, αὐτῷ τε τῷ τρόπῳ εἰρηνόποιος.