In the movie Divergent, how did Four know what name to give himself?

Question

In the movie Divergent, after Beatrice is the "first jumper", we see Tobias "Four" Eaton ask her name. He says words to the effect, "You can only choose once."

Presumably Four was given the same choice when he first arrived in the Dauntless home. Yet, how did he know what name to give himself? His name was

Yet, it would be remarkable that he would have known exactly what those would be before he completed it. In fact, he wouldn't have known anything about the process. Too, while many people might know things about themselves, I think it would be odd for him to pick them so perfectly. Or, even if he knew what they were, for him to know what would be coming and that there would be a meaning to the term "Four".

I have only seen the movie. Does the book provide an in-universe answer for this? If not, is there a canon answer which might explain how this could have come about?

user16696 · Answer

In Free Four, a supplemental chapter released by the Divergent author told by Four's POV, it explains how the Dauntless initiation involved the fear landscape, and Tobias' mentor Amar gave him the nickname Four. It stuck. That is not his chosen name, as I believe he did not choose to change it from Tobias.

I leave the knives in the board to remind the initiates of what is
possible, and stand against the side wall. Amar was also the one who
gave me my name, back in the days when the first thing initiates did
upon arriving in the Dauntless compound was go through our fear
landscapes. He was the sort of person who made a nickname stick, so
likable that everyone imitated him.

Homura Akemi · Answer

Actually, he wasn't being serious, like, "Everyone has to choose a new name when they jump." Christina wasn't like that.
He saw that Tris hesitated when she started saying her name, so Tobias was just giving her the chance to choose a new one, like he got a new name, even though it was not exactly chosen by him.
Now, back to Tobias's name, Four. When he was initiated, the first thing they did was do the fear landscapes. So when Amar found out that Tobias only had four fears, he dubbed Tobias "Four."

Kikepike · Answer

If you read the book that tells about Four, Tobias Eaton, then you can know that when they asked his name he said ”you can call me stiff, I dont care” but later Amar gave him the name Four based on the amount of his fears.

Answered by Kikepike on February 10, 2021

In the movie Divergent, how did Four know what name to give himself?

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