Who Decides the Names of the Gods?

[badger]

There have been thousands upon thousands of god and goddesses across the ages, all with their own names. So where did these names come from?

Who decided that the Norse goddess of the mist who slayed the sun each evening was called Borghild, or the Slavic god of war was called Svetovit? Did the God of Salaries, Wages and Employment appear suddenly before an office full of Chinese clerks and announce that his name was Lu-Hsing?

And how is it that priests, holy men and shaman always always knew the name of their particular pet diety?

 

[Sunstone]

Poets. The same people as created them.

 

[outhouse]

Poets. The same people as created them.

I wouldnt argue the literate, more so then poets recording oral traditions.

I would argue the leaders/kings of the culture have this right.


If we look at Yahweh, a strict Yahwist king placed him as the one primary god.


Previous leaders of tribes carried with them their multiple deities who names may change with cultural changes in time. As civilizations grow, so do these deities and names change.


Really the question is of the evolution of deities within a culture, more so then exactly whonames them.

 

[Jainarayan]

The names of the Hindu gods and goddesses almost always are adjectives, not proper names: Vishnu means all-pervading; Shiva means auspicious; Krishna means dark (alt. "attractive); Kali means time; Durga means invincible or inaccessible (as in invincible); Ganesha means leader of the hosts (loosely); Surya means sun; and so on.

 

[Gjallarhorn]

Some are epithets, some are glossolalia, and others are invented.

If any of them weren't man-made, I'd place my bet on glossolalia.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I assume their parents name them.

 

[BSM1]

I assume their parents name them.

Darn. Beat me to it.

 

[llwyd blaidd]

Many of the norse names may be from real people in the past that through oral tradition are converted into divine beings. There are some which we do not see a possible connection but the explainations have been lost when the oral traditions were stopped and not translated to written language.

 

[Quintessence]

Names come onto things because humans decide to label them. The thing being named ever transcends the name; the name is just a categorical convenience for our human understanding of reality. Usually names and titles of the gods are symbolic and reveal something about its essence.

 

[outhouse]

Names come onto things because humans decide to label them. The thing being named ever transcends the name; the name is just a categorical convenience for our human understanding of reality. Usually names and titles of the gods are symbolic and reveal something about its essence.

excellent point frubals

God most high
god of the mountain
war god
storm god
god the father
god the son
father of all gods
mother godess

and on and on and on

 

[I.S.L.A.M617]

The master God with no name and his giant bowl of Alpha-bits

 

[Assad91]

In Islam, the Quran tells what the names of Allah are.

Such as; Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem,

 

[RJ50]

I am of the opinion that ALL gods worshipped by humans are created by them so obviously humans gave them their names.

 

[Riverwolf]

The names of the Hindu gods and goddesses almost always are adjectives, not proper names: Vishnu means all-pervading; Shiva means auspicious; Krishna means dark (alt. "attractive); Kali means time; Durga means invincible or inaccessible (as in invincible); Ganesha means leader of the hosts (loosely); Surya means sun; and so on.

I suspect that if you go back far enough, most, if not all, the names of the various Gods are descriptive.

 

[Jainarayan]

I suspect that if you go back far enough, most, if not all, the names of the various Gods are descriptive.

Without a doubt. In fact, that can accurately be said even of us humans. The surnames Miller, Sawyer, even Johnson (Nordic for Jon's son, still an Icelandic convention) are all descriptive. Going back far enough, any name could describe what and where a person comes from. Leonardo Da Vinci means in Italian Leonard from (the town) Vinci. My own Sicilian last name refers to a keeper of the storehouse, a pantry warden (how poetic ).

A little pedantry: an Icelandic woman takes her father's name as e.g. Ingrid Ericsdottir (Ingrid, Eric's daughter) and keeps that name when she becomes Leif Sigurdsson's (Leif, Sigurd's son) wife. She remains Ingrid Ericsdottir, not Mrs. Sigurdsson. There are no honorifics, afaik in Icelandic. I think I read it actually confuses the crap out of Icelanders to use the typical western naming conventions. Icelandic phone books must be be ginormous, because people can be listed individually.

 

[BruceDLimber]

God has MANY names and titles in the various languages and cultures, and they are all equally acceptable!

Just a few of these names are: God, Boje, Jehovah, Dieu, Wankantanka, El, Jumala, Gott, Yahweh, Dios, Brahman, Elohim, Allah, Isten, Bog, Yazdan, Adonai, Parvadegar, and Huda.

ANY of these are just fine!

Peace,

Bruce

 

[Rainbow Mage]

As many have already said, the names describe certain attributes. Like Sekhmet means powerful female. Khepera means to become etc.