Theophoric name

A theophoric name (from Greek: θεόφορος, theophoros, literally "bearing or carrying a god")[1][2] embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or God's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that deity. For example, names embedding Apollo, such as Apollonios or Apollodorus, existed in Greek antiquity.[3]

Theophoric personal names, containing the name of a god in whose care the individual is entrusted (or a generic word for god), were also exceedingly common in the ancient Near East and Mesopotamia.[4][5][6] Some names of theophoric origin remain common today, such as Theodore (theo-, "god"; -dore, origin of word compound in Greek: doron, "gift"; hence "God's gift"; in Greek: Theodoros) or, less recognisably, Jonathan (from Hebrew Yonatan/Yehonatan, meaning "Yahweh has given").

Classical Greek and Roman theophoric names

Greek and Roman theophoric names
Deity Name Meaning
Aphrodite Aphrodisius, -a
Hermaphroditus "Hermes and Aphrodite"
Apollo Apollodorus, -a "gift of Apollo"
Apollonides "son of Apollo"
Apollonius
Ares Arius "war-like"
Artemis Artemiche
Artemidorus "gift of Artemis"
Artemisius, -ia
Athena Athenaeus
Athenais
Athenagoras "man in Athena's market"
Athenodorus, -a "gift of Athena"
Cephissus Cephisodorus "gift of Cephissus"
Cephisodotus "given by Cephissus"
Demeter Demetrius, -ia
Demetrodorus "gift of Demeter"
Dionysus Dionysius, -a, Dennis
Dionysodorus, -a "gift of Dionysus"
Dionysicles "glory of Dionysus"
Fortuna Fortunatus "fortunate, lucky"
Hecate Hecataeus
Helios Heliodorus "gift of the Sun"
Hephaestus Hephaestion
Hera Heracles "glory of Hera"
Heraclitus
Herodotus "given by Hera"
Hermes Hermaphroditus "Hermes and Aphrodite"
Hermesianax "king Hermes"
Hermione, Hermion
Hermippus "horse of Hermes"
Hermocrates "strength of Hermes"
Hermogenes "born of Hermes"
Hermolaus "people of Hermes"
Isis Isidorus, -a "gift of Isis"
Mars Marcus
Martialis "Mars-like"
Martinus
Mene (Selene) Menodora "gift of the Moon"
Minerva Minervina "little Minerva"
Nymphs Nymphodora "gift of the nymphs"
Poseidon Poseidippus "horse of Poseidon"
Poseidorus, -a "gift of Poseidon"
Poseidonius
Serapis Serapion
Themis Themistocles "glory of Themis"
Zeus Dio of Zeus (gen. Dios)
Diocles, Diocletian "glory of Zeus"
Diodorus "gift of Zeus"
Zeno of Zeus (gen. Zenos)
Zenobius, -ia "might of Zeus"
Zenodotus "given by Zeus"

Certain names of classical gods are sometimes given as personal names. The most common is Diana and its variants, such as Diane; others include Minerva, Aphrodite, Venus, Isis, or Juno. The first pope to take a regnal name, Pope John II, had the given name Mercurius and changed his name as he considered it inappropriate for the pope to have a pagan deity's name.

Christian theophoric names

Some Christian saints have polytheistic theophoric names (such as Saint Dionysius, Saint Mercurius, Saint Saturninus, Saint Hermes, Saint Martin of Tours, Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki).

Germanic theophoric names

Rarely, Germanic names contain the element Wod (such as Woðu-riðe), potentially pointing to an association with the god Odin. In connection, numerous names containing wulf "wolf" have been taken as totemistic, expressing association with Odin in the earliest period, although -ulf degenerated into a mere suffix from an early time (Förstemann 1856).

Hinduism

The personal names of almost all gods and goddesses of various deities from the polytheistic Hindu pantheon are considered common and traditional names for people from the Indian subcontinent. Many traditional Hindu names are in fact from various names or epithets of Hindu gods or goddesses. This is in addition to compound theophoric names using the name of a deity in addition to possessive qualifiers.

  • Names of gods that are also used as personal names include
  • Personal names using a deity's name as the base
    • Vaishnavi, meaning "a worshipper of Vishnu"
    • Shivansh, meaning "a part of Shiva"

Brahma, the Hindu creator god, is one of the only deities of the pantheon whose name is rarely if ever used as a personal name or a base for theophoric personal names.

Some seemingly theophoric names may in fact be more related to the original etymology of the deity's name itself. For example, both Lakshmi (fortune, success, prosperity) and Lakshman (prosperous, principal, marked) are names of a deity and an avatar respectively, which are related to lakṣ meaning "to mark or see".[7]

Islam

Further information: List of Arabic theophoric names
See also: Allah

Judaism

Main article: Theophory in the Bible
שָׁלוֹם
This article contains Hebrew text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hebrew letters.

Much Hebrew theophory occurs in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. The most prominent theophoric names are:

  • names containing El, a word meaning might, power and (a) god in general, and hence in Judaism, God and among the Canaanites the name of the god who was the father of Baal.
  • names containing Yah, a shortened form of Yahweh.
  • names referring to Levantine deities (especially the storm god, Hadad) by the epithet Baal, meaning lord.

In later times, as the conflict between Yahwism and the more popular pagan practices became increasingly intense, these names were censored and Baal was replaced with Bosheth, meaning shameful one. But the name Yahweh does not appear in theophoric names until the time of Joshua, and for the most part is very rare until the time of King Saul, when it began to be very popular.[8]

El

See also: El (deity)

Yahweh

See also: Yahweh and YHWH

The name of the Israelite deity YHWH (usually shortened to Yah or Yahu, and Yeho or Yo) appears as a prefix or suffix in many theophoric names of the First Temple Period. For example, Yirme-yahu (Jeremiah), Yesha-yahu (Isaiah), Netan-yah, Yedid-yah, Adoni-yah, Nekhem-yah, Yeho-natan (Jonathan), Yeho-chanan (John), Yeho-shua (Joshua), Yeho-tzedek, Zekharya (Zechariah).

"Yahū" or "Yah" is the abbreviation of YHWH when used as a suffix in Hebrew names; as a prefix it appears as "Yehō-", or "Yo". It was formerly thought to be abbreviated from the Masoretic pronunciation "Yehovah". There is an opinion[9] that, as Yahweh is likely an imperfective verb form, "Yahu" is its corresponding preterite or jussive short form: compare yiŝtahaweh (imperfective), yiŝtáhû (preterit or jussive short form) = "do obeisance".

In the table below, 13 theophoric names with "Yeho" have corresponding forms where the letters eh have been omitted. There is a theory by Christian Ginsburg that this is because Hebrew scribes omitted the "h", changing Jeho (יְהוֹ‎) into Jo (יוֹ‎), to make the start of "Yeho-" names not sound like an attempt to pronounce the Divine Name.[10][11]

Strong's # the name other element English conventional form
long form short form long form short form long form short form
3059 3099 יְהוֹאָחָז‎ Yᵉho'achaz יוֹאָחָז‎ Yo'achaz achaz [# 270] Jehoahaz Joahaz
3060 3101 יְהוֹאָש‎ Yᵉho'ash יוֹאָש‎ Yo'ash 'esh [# 784] Jehoash Joash
3075 3107 יְהוֹזָבָד‎ Yᵉhozabad יוֹזָבָד‎ Yozabad zabad [# 2064] Jehozabad Jozabad
3076 3110 יְהוֹחָנָן‎ Yᵉhowchanan יוֹחָנָן‎ Yochanan chanan [# 2603] Yehochanan Jochanan
3077 3111 יְהוֹיָדָע‎ Yᵉhoyada יוֹיָדָע‎ Yoyada yada [# 3045] Jehoiada Joiada
3078 3112 יְהוֹיָכִין‎ Yᵉhoyakin יוֹיָכִין‎ Yoyakin kun [# 3559] Yehoyakin Joiakin
3079 3113 יְהוֹיָקִים‎ Yᵉhoyaqim יוֹיָקִים‎ Yoyaqim qum [# 3965] Yehoyakim Joakim
3080 3114 יְהוֹיָרִיב‎ Yᵉhoyarib יוֹיָרִיב‎ Yoyarib rib [# 7378] Jehoiarib Joiarib
3082 3122 יְהוֹנָדָב‎ Yᵉhonadab יוֹנָדָב‎ Yonadab nadab [# 5068] Jehonadab Jonadab
3083 3129 יְהוֹנָתָן‎ Yᵉhonathan יוֹנָתָן‎ Yonathan nathan [# 5414] Yehonathan Jonathan
3085 — יְהוֹעַדָּה‎ Yᵉho'addah — — 'adah [# 5710] Jehoaddah —
3087 3136 יְהוֹצָדָק‎ Yᵉhotsadaq יוֹצָדָק‎ Yotsadaq tsadaq [# 6663] Jehozadak Jozadak
3088 3141 יְהוֹרָם‎ Yᵉhoram יוֹרָם‎ Yoram rum [# 7311] Jehoram Joram
3092 3146 יְהוֹשָפָט‎ Yᵉhoshaphat יוֹשָפָט‎ Yoshaphat shaphat [# 8199] Jehoshaphat Joshaphat
3470a 3470 יְשַׁעְיָהוּ‎ Yᵉsha'yahu יְשַׁעְיָה‎ Yᵉsha'yah yasha [# 3467] Yeshayahu Isaiah
5418a 5418 נְתַנְיָהוּ‎ Nᵉthanyahu נְתַנְיָה‎ Nᵉthanyah nathan [# 5414] Netanyahu Netaniah
138a 138 אֲדֹנִיָּהוּ‎ 'Adoniyahu אֲדֹנִיָּה‎ 'Adoniyah 'adown [# 113] Adoniyahu Adonijah
452a 452 אֵלִיָּהוּ‎ 'Eliyahu אֵלִיָּה‎ 'Eliyah 'el [# 410] Eliyahu Elijah
3414a 3414 יִרְמְיָהוּ‎ Yirmᵉyahu יִרְמְיָה‎ Yirmᵉyah rum [# 7311] Yirmeyahu Jeremiah
— 5166 — — נְחֶמְיָה‎ Nᵉchemyah nacham [# 5162] — Nechemiah

Referring to other gods

Theophoric names containing "Baal" were sometimes "censored" as -bosheth = "shameful one", whence Ishbosheth etc.

References

  1. ^ "theophoric". Merriam-Webster online dictionary.
  2. ^ θεόφορος. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  3. ^ Shendge, Malati J. The Language of the Harappans: From Akkadian to Sanskrit, 1997. p 24. "It may also be interpreted as theophorous names, i.e. the name of the god forming part of the name of an individual. The usage is theophorous because besides the eponymous Asura, each individual of high or low status has a personal name."
  4. ^ Zadok, R. The Pre-Hellenistic Israelite Anthroponymy and Prosopography, 1988. p 16. "The Period of the Judges (J) The theophorous names constitute a sizable minority (almost 40%). Many of the hypocoristica possibly originate from compound theophorous names (e.g., Abdon, Gerd, J21 1 1 1 1, 2141 12)."
  5. ^ Benz, Frank L. Personal Names in the Phoenician and Punic Inscriptions. p 233. "Any one of the three major types of elements, divine name or theophorous, nominal, or verbal can make up a Phoenician-Punic hypocoristic name. The divine name hypocoristic is the least attested. The simplest formation is that of a single ..."
  6. ^ Drijvers, H. J. W. Cults and Behafs at Edessa, 1980. p 21. "The proper names, which are mainly theophorous ones, may increase our knowledge of the religious feeling of the people of Edessa and of the cults practiced by them, insofar as their theophorous elements reflect existing beliefs."
  7. ^ Madhuri Agrawal. Dictionary, Sanskrit English Dictionary Wilson.
  8. ^ Mark Haughwout, "Personal Names Before Exodus 6:2-3"
  9. ^ Anson F. Rainey, How Yahweh Was Pronounced Archived December 2, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, QUERIES & COMMENTS.
  10. ^ Christian Ginsburg, Introduction To the Massoretico-Critical Edition Of The Hebrew Bible, p 369
  11. ^ Scott Jones, Jehovah Archived December 15, 2005, at the Wayback Machine