What'S In A Name? Book Of Mormon Language, Names, And [Metonymic] Naming

[Olavarria]

What's in a Name? Book of Mormon Language, Names, and [Metonymic] Naming

Gordon C. Thomasson

One of the most neglected theories regarding Book of Mormon names is the possibility that they are, in some cases, metonymic devises. In some cases, *Mormon may have renamed some of the people in his history, to suite his own editorial purposes. Some people may have been renamed after their Biblical counterparts.

Isabel(Alma 39:3)

Jezebel(2 Kings 9:22;1 Kings 21:25)

Gideon(Judges 6:36)

Gideon(Alma 1:8)

Noah(Mosiah 11:15)

Noah(Genesis 9:20-21)

Samuel(1 Samuel 12:16-18)

Samuel(Helaman 16:5)

Edited June 24, 2011 by Pedro A. Olavarria

[nosmelone]

I've often though about this as well, but have come to the conclusion that if many of these people are Mesoamerican they may have been given multiple names throught their lives. This is common among many civilizations and groups I have noticed it in particular among the Hopi. In the book "The Sun Chief" Don C. Talayesva recieved multiple names and only certain ones stuck. It seems that many of the names have to do with behavior traits of that person previous to recieving the name or life circumstances previous to receiving the new name. If this is the case than many of the names in the Book of Mormon could have been changed in regards to the accomplishments that they achieved in the Book of Mormon.

[volgadon]

I highly suspect that Nephi did the same with Laban.

[Brant Gardner]

I really like Thomasson's article (and can now brag that I know Gordon--we were in the same ward for a while and then they split it). The important point of the article isn't the borrowing of names from a biblical model - that would require an appeal to metonymic naming. The idea is that the name carries with it the connotations of the name. An extreme modern example would be to have a character in a novel be Cain. We get some of that when we call someone "a Judas." In a metonym, they would simply be Judas, and the connotation would be intentional.

What Thomasson is suggesting is that some of the "names" we see in the Book of Mormon might not have been the given name of the person, or the name by which others knew them, but that they were given a name that described them even more than the explicit text did. It is a fascinating idea and an article well worth reading.

[Olavarria]

I agree Brant. I just added the biblical part because, in those cases, I see parallels that go beyond the small proof texts I provided. The BoM people with xyz name do the same basic things as their biblical counterparts that share the same name.

Edited June 25, 2011 by Pedro A. Olavarria

[rameumptom]

It is obvious that Nephites could change their names, depending upon the events occurring. For example, Jacob tells us that the Nephite kings all were named Nephi (Nephi 1, Nephi 2, etc).

As it is, names are what give people power anciently. The Angel of God would not state his name to Jacob as they wrestled, but gave him a new name, instead. Abram proved faithful and received another greater name in response. In D&C 107 we find that Adam's children praised him and called him Michael.