Theophoric Names

It's quite incredible how much the ancient near east (ANE) has shaped our part of the world, much to the unawareness of most. In the ANE, it was common to name a son or daughter after the god the parents worshipped. Take Nebuchadnezzar for example, a Babylonian ruler reigning from 605-562BC. His name literally means "O Nabu, defend my kudurru (an Akkadian name for a deed of property)". Nabu was one of many gods the Babylonians worshipped; in this case the god of wisdom and writing. Thus, Nebuchadnezzar.

The Jews had many names for God - primarily stemming from the name El (El Adonai, Elohim, etc), or Yahweh. The Jews did the same as the Babylonians in the above example, so that each of their names was basically a Hebrew phrase dedicated to God. Take for example the name Daniel (also a book of the Bible). Dan is Hebrew for "judge". Dan+i = "My judge". Now add "El" - Dan+i+El = "My judge is God". Respectively, the Jews did the same with the name Yahweh, however they used the shortened version - Yah; also spelt Iah. You see this in names like Jeremiah (meaning "The Lord will raise"), Zachariah (meaning "The Lord has remembered"), Isaiah (meaning "Salvation of The Lord").

See if you can get this one. One of the prophets of the Bible was Micah (also spelled Micaiah), which means "Who is like Yahweh?". Try transposing the iah in this name with the other extension (El) and see what you get.

In general, when you see "el" or "iah" in a person's name nowadays - even here in America - it's a name that goes back to the ancient near east and the name itself is a reference to God. Some examples are Michael, Elizabeth, Joel, Daniel, Samuel, and on. Each of these is a Hebrew dedication to God. Many times people, even the bearer of the name itself, just aren't aware.