Theonym

A theonym, from Greek theos (Θεός), meaning "god", and όνομα, meaning "name", is a proper name of a deity. Theonymy, the study of divine proper names, is a branch of onomastics; it helps develop an understanding of the function and societal views of particular gods and may help undertand the origins of a society's language.

Analysis of theonyms has been useful in understanding the connections of Indo-European languages, and possibly their religion. In Abrahamic faiths, the origin and meaning of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) is sometimes deemed to have important historical or even metaphysical meaning.

See also

• -onym
• Theo
• Theology
• Thealogy
• Nomenclature
• Onomastics