Theophoric name explained

A theophoric name (from Greek: Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: [[wikt:θεόφορος|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

Deity! scope="col" style="width: 90pt;"
NameMeaning
AphroditeAphrodisius, -a
Hermaphroditus"Hermes and Aphrodite"
ApolloApollodorus, -a"gift of Apollo"
Apollonides"son of Apollo"
Apollonius
AresArius"war-like"
ArtemisArtemiche
Artemidorus"gift of Artemis"
Artemisius, -ia
AthenaAthenaeus
Athenais
Athenagoras"man in Athena's market"
Athenodorus, -a"gift of Athena"
CephissusCephisodorus"gift of Cephissus"
Cephisodotus"given by Cephissus"
DemeterDemetrius, -ia
Demetrodorus"gift of Demeter"
DionysusDionysius, -a, Dennis
Dionysodorus, -a"gift of Dionysus"
Dionysicles"glory of Dionysus"
FortunaFortunatus"fortunate, lucky"
HecateHecataeus
HeliosHeliodorus"gift of the Sun"
HephaestusHephaestion
HeraHeracles"glory of Hera"
Heraclitus
Herodotus"given by Hera"
HermesHermaphroditus"Hermes and Aphrodite"
Hermesianax"king Hermes"
Hermione, Hermion
Hermippus"horse of Hermes"
Hermocrates"strength of Hermes"
Hermogenes"born of Hermes"
Hermolaus"people of Hermes"
IsisIsidorus, -a"gift of Isis"
MarsMarcus
Martialis"Mars-like"
Martinus
Mene (Selene)Menodora"gift of the Moon"
MinervaMinervina"little Minerva"
NymphsNymphodora"gift of the nymphs"
PoseidonPoseidippus"horse of Poseidon"
Poseidorus, -a"gift of Poseidon"
Poseidonius
SerapisSerapion
ThemisThemistocles"glory of Themis"
ZeusDioof Zeus (gen. Dios)
Diocles, Diocletian"glory of Zeus"
Diodorus"gift of Zeus"
Zenoof 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.

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

See also: Allah.

Judaism and biblical

See main article: Theophory in the Bible. Much Hebrew theophory occurs in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. The most prominent theophory involves

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 into Jo, to make the start of "Yeho-" names not sound like an attempt to pronounce the Divine Name.[10] [11]

Strong's #the nameother elementEnglish conventional form
long form short formlong formshort formlong form short form
3059 3099 Yᵉho'achaz Yo'achaz achaz [# 270] Jehoahaz Joahaz
3060 3101 Yᵉho'ash Yo'ash 'esh [# 784] Jehoash Joash
3075 3107 Yᵉhozabad Yozabad zabad [# 2064] Jehozabad Jozabad
3076 3110 Yᵉhowchanan Yochanan chanan [# 2603] Yehochanan Jochanan
3077 3111 Yᵉhoyada Yoyada yada [# 3045] Jehoiada Joiada
3078 3112 Yᵉhoyakin Yoyakin kun [# 3559] Yehoyakin Joiakin
3079 3113 Yᵉhoyaqim Yoyaqim qum [# 3965] Yehoyakim Joakim
3080 3114 Yᵉhoyarib Yoyarib rib [# 7378] Jehoiarib Joiarib
3082 3122 Yᵉhonadab Yonadab nadab [# 5068] Jehonadab Jonadab
3083 3129 Yᵉhonathan Yonathan nathan [# 5414] Yehonathan Jonathan
3085 Yᵉho'addah 'adah [# 5710] Jehoaddah
3087 3136 Yᵉhotsadaq Yotsadaq tsadaq [# 6663] Jehozadak Jozadak
3088 3141 Yᵉhoram Yoram rum [# 7311] Jehoram Joram
3092 3146 Yᵉhoshaphat Yoshaphat shaphat [# 8199] Jehoshaphat Joshaphat
3470a 3470 Yᵉsha'yahu Yᵉsha'yah yasha [# 3467] Yeshayahu Isaiah
5418a 5418 Nᵉthanyahu Nᵉthanyah nathan [# 5414] Netanyahu Netaniah
138a 138 'Adoniyahu 'Adoniyah 'adown [# 113] Adoniyahu Adonijah
452a 452 'Eliyahu 'Eliyah 'el [# 410] Eliyahu Elijah
3414a 3414 YirmᵉyahuYirmᵉyah rum [# 7311] Yirmeyahu Jeremiah
5166 Nᵉchemyah nacham [# 5162] Nechemiah

Referring to other gods

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

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: theophoric. Merriam-Webster online dictionary.
  2. .
  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. Book: Madhuri Agrawal . Dictionary, Sanskrit English Dictionary Wilson.
  8. http://markhaughwout.com/Bible/Prefixes_suffixes_divine_names_Genesis.htm Mark Haughwout, "Personal Names Before Exodus 6:2-3"
  9. Anson F. Rainey, How Yahweh Was Pronounced, QUERIES & COMMENTS.
  10. [Christian Ginsburg]
  11. Scott Jones, Jehovah