Rabbi Meir had a principle: never trust a person whose name contains the word for evil. The Talmud (Yoma 83b) tells the story of how this principle was tested — and proven devastatingly correct.
Rabbi Meir and his colleagues were traveling and stopped at an inn. The innkeeper's name was Kidor. Rabbi Meir refused to entrust his money to the innkeeper. "His name," Rabbi Meir said, "echoes the verse: 'Ki dor tahpukhot hema' — 'For they are a generation of reversals' (Deuteronomy 32:20). A man named Kidor cannot be trusted."
His colleagues disagreed. They thought Rabbi Meir's name-reading was superstitious. They gave their money to Kidor for safekeeping.
In the morning, Kidor denied ever receiving their money. "What money? I don't know what you're talking about." The colleagues were robbed. Rabbi Meir's money was safe — because he had never handed it over.
Rabbi Meir then tracked down Kidor and noticed lentil residue on his mustache — evidence that he had eaten lentils, which were customarily served at a house of mourning. Rabbi Meir went to Kidor's family and told them their father had died. While Kidor rushed home to investigate the false report, Rabbi Meir's colleagues retrieved their money from Kidor's strongbox.
The sages preserved this story as a lesson in reading character. Rabbi Meir did not merely read names — he read people. The name was a clue, but the behavior confirmed it. A person's name, the sages taught, is not destiny. But it can be a warning sign — and the wise man pays attention to warning signs.