Theophoric Names

Often, we fail to recognize that many personal and family names also have religious origins. Many are easy to see when we actually look. Others require a little effort.

Surnames originating in Western culture are of several types: occupational (example: Baker), relating to a place (example: Lincoln), relating to a particular family trait (example : Jolly), named for historical people (example: Kennedy), sarcastic or silly names (examples: Naaktgeboren (“born naked”), family relationships (example: Harrison), animal names (example: Bird), emotions: (example: Love), vulgar names (example: Mist, translate this name from German to English), and other types of name origins. This post will present a few names of theophoric origin.   

Surnames and personal names in the Far East appear to be based primarily on nature or philosophical concepts.

Chinese surnames http://www.yutopian.net/names/, Japanese surnames http://surnames.behindthename.com/names/usage/japanese, and Korean surnames https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_name appear to be primarily based on philosophy or nature.

θεόφορος (theophoros) is a Greek word meaning “God bearing.” The word “theophoric” in English is used of pronames, surnames, and place names which have religious origins. This blog has a recurrent segment profiling religious place names. 

The religious meanings of most of the ancient biblical personal names are known, including those of the foes of the Israelites and early Christians. An example is Tiglath-pileser III, King of Assyria (745 - 727BC).  He is mentioned in 2 Kings 15:19 and 2 Kings 15:29. His Assyrian name is Tukulti-apil-esharra, which translates as "my trust is in the son of Esharra." Esharra is Ashur, the main god of the Assyrian pantheon.

Following is a listing of several theophoric surnames occurring in English language usage. The religious origins of some of the surnames is readily obvious, some are more indirect:  Benjamin, Aaron, Abraham, Isaacson, Bishop, Abbot, Church, Grace, Eglise, Bartolo, Sofer (Hebrew  = "scribe"), Dayyan (Hebrew = "Jewish civil judge"), Abdullah (Arabic = "slave of Allah"), di Moise, di Angelo, Kohen/Cohen (Hebrew = "priest"), Simon, Stephens, Dennis (Latin = "of Dionysus") Godwin/Godwynn, Goodwin, Goodwyn (Old English = "God's friend"), Gotfried/Gottfried, Holiness, Nunmaker, Faith, Kirk (Scottish = "church"), Angel, Theodore (Greek = "gift of God"), Oden  (Swedish form of Odin, the main Norse god), Johnson ("son of John". John is derived from the Hebrew personal name Yohannan, which means "Yahweh is gracious"), Christian, Soul, Monk, St. James, Zacharias, and many others.  

Religious Place Names

Pomona, California State, USA: Named for the ancient Roman goddess of fruit.

Shiloh, Tennessee State, USA: Named for the ancient Israelite religious site, nine miles north of Bethel. The modern site of the ancient Shiloh is a mound of ruins named Khirbet Seilun.

Tewin, England: Named for the ancient Norse god Tyr. The name comes from Tyr plus
"ing" (meadow) or "ingas" (people belonging to)."

Weedon Lois, England: From the Old English words "weo" (temple) plus "dun" (hill). "Lois" comes from the local religious figure, Saint Loys.

Nymph, Alabama State, USA: Nymphs were minor nature deities of ancient Latin and Greek mythology. They were depicted as beautiful and amorous young maidens who loved to dance and sing. The word "nymph" has been said to mean "a rosebud" or "a swelling" (as in "pregnant"), connoting fertility.

ESCHATOLOGY SERIES, POST #2: ESCHATOLOGIES FROM VARIOUS CULTURES

Eschatology is theology concerned with the final events of history. The word is derived from the Greek words  ἐσχάτος  eschatos ("last") and λόγος logos ("word"). Eschatology is therefore the study of “last things.” The focus of eschatology is usually on reality as a whole rather than on the individual. The word eschatology first appeared in the English language about 1550. 

In most known cultures, including the most primitive, there has been a belief in some sort of existence of the individual after death. Some held that the afterlife would be a dull and dreary thing., others that only the good would survive into an afterlife.  Some felt that the afterlife would be largely an extension of this one, perhaps on a more exalted plane as reward for bravery or great skill.  Many held that the retribution for an evil life was annihilation.

The Babylonians and Assyrians felt that retribution for evil came largely in this life as did the divine rewards of long life, strength, prosperity, and many children. The ghost of the individual existed in the underworld with the other dead. Demons ran around in the underworld inflicting punishment for sins committed during life.

In the ancient Egyptian religion, the good individual could hope for unending life with Osiris, the sun god. The existence was in some ways physical and this is the reason for mummification of the body. In the afterlife the actions of the deceased during life are weighed and judged. The dead face several trials and are subject to a second death if they fail.

Ancient Persian (Persia, modern Iran) religion (Mazdaism, Zoroastrianism, Parseeism, etc) was dualistic with a conflict between equally powerful good (Ahura Mazda) and evil (Ahriman) deities. The two deities were co-creators of the universe. The evil deity will, in the end, be vanquished and a judgement of people based on their life's deeds will occur. Those with evil deeds will be purified by fire, Hell will be purged, and the earth will be renewed by a purifying fire.

The ancient Greeks believed that life on Earth was the highest good for man. After death, the soul survived in a dull attenuated existence with little emphasis on retributive justice for life's misdeeds. A few very evil individuals would receive eternal punishment in Tartarus and a few favorites of the gods
would exist in eternal bliss in the Elysian Fields.  

Recently, there was much popular discussion of "2012." This was based on Aztec mythology which predicted the end of our current cycle of time on 21 December 2012. The Aztec mythology describes several cycles ruled by deities who are destroyed at the end of each cycle along with all the humans living during that cycle. The sun is the deity of the current cycle.

The human sacrifices regularly performed by the ancient Aztecs had a specific purpose. The blood and the extracted human hearts were seen as the food or fuel which maintained the ability of the Sun god to function. The stability of the universe depended upon regular human sacrifices.

Norse (Scandinavian) eschatology is presented in the story of Ragnarok, the climactic battle of the  cyclical Old Norse mythology. Nearing the end of the cycle, people, and the Gods themselves, will become increasingly corrupt, not honorable, dissipated, apathetic, and nihilistic. The Frost Giants, led by the renegade god Loki, will come and the battle will begin, accompanied by natural disasters. Most of the Norse gods will be killed and the world will eventually be dead and silent, covered with water and in total silence. After a time, fertile land will emerge from the water and the few gods who survived the battle will gather. A new first couple of humans will repopulate the new clean earth and the gods will celebrate.

In some religious/philosophical systems, such as Baha’ism and Jainism, there is neither a beginning nor an end.  Baha’is believe that reality consists of a series of progressive revelations by prophets. The coming of each new prophet is the judgement of the previous religion., with the prophet Bahaullah having brought the ultimate revelation.

The most severe forms of Buddhism deny even this. Within each moment in time, both birth and death are present. As each moment is born, the previous moment dies. The only reality is the present moment. There is no reward or punishment and no God. Individual existence with its cravings and desires is the ultimate evil.  Salvation is the extinction of every type of desire, even the desire for existence.

Hinduism sees reality and time as a series of repeating cycles as Shiva destroys and regenerates the universe repeatedly. The individual is part of this cyclical nature and ultimately will come to realize that individuality is an illusion. The individual consciousness is in actuality part of the Ultimate Reality and its ultimate destiny is absorption back into the Whole. All reality will contract into a singularity which will then begin again to expand.

Islamic eschatology points toward a Day of Judgement in which each persons good deeds will be balanced against their evil deeds. The sayings of the Prophet Muhammad give many signs which will indicate the approach of the Day of Judgement.

Judaism is most concerned with life now, in the present time, and is more corporate than individual. The concept is that the important thing is observance of the Law in order to prepare ourselves and the world for the coming of God's kingdom on Earth. The religion is absolutely monotheistic and God is absolute in His control of the universe. Man is intended to live in friendship with God during this life. There is very little discussion of retributive justice in the afterlife. 

Jewish eschatology is based on the Nation of Israel as a whole, not on the individual. The promises of the Old Testament are to the nation, the people of the land Am ha'aretz (עם הארץ), not the individual. The hope is for the establishment of a theocratic Messianic kingdom, based in Jerusalem, which will rule the world with justice and peace. 

An introduction to Christian eschatology will be presented in the next post.

Religious Place Names

Iosepa, Hawaii, USA: “Iosepa” is the Hawaiian language version of the name “Joseph.”  The town is named for Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons).

Mahabarata, Nepal: Named for the Mahabarata, one of the ancient Sanskrit language holy books of Hinduism.

Tewin, England: Named for the Norse god, Tyr (aka: Tiw) plus “ing,”  “a meadow.”  Tyr was the Norse god of single-handed combat and victory.

Thundersley, England: From the Old English, Thunor’s leah (Sacred grove of Thunor).  Thunor was a variant name of Thor, the Norse god of thunder.

Shiloh, Tennessee, USA: Named for the ancient Ephraimite city of Shiloh, located about 12 miles northeast of Bethel, in the land of Canaan..  Judges 21:19.  The modern name of ancient Shiloh is Khirbet Seilun in the West Bank..  A “khirbet” is a “ruin on a hill.”

Another Light Bulb Joke

How many Odinists does it take to change a light bulb?

One.  He grabs and light bulb and drinks ale until the room starts to spin.