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#REDIRECT[[Names in the Book of Mormon]]
{{BoMPortal}}
{{draft}}
=={{Criticism label}}==
Critics claim some Book of Mormon names are used improperly or in an inappropriate context.
Examples include:
*using "Alma" as a man's name, rather than a woman's name
*using names of Greek origin, such as "Timothy"
 
{{CriticalSources}}
 
===Key===
Hugh Nibley did considerable work on Book of Mormon names.  References to his work will be marked as follows to avoid multiple, repetitive footnotes:
 
* {{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}} {{Nibley5|start=23|end=32}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?doc_id=271998}}  Nibley marks Old World names as (OW) and Book of Mormon names as (BM).
 
=={{Response label}}==
 
===General treatments on Book of Mormon names===
*{{FR-8-2-5}}
*{{JBMS-3-1-2}}
*{{JBMS-6-2-15}}
*{{JBMS-7-1-11}}
 
===Aha===
:"Aha (OW), a name of the first Pharaoh; it means "warrior" and is a common word." {{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
*{{JBMS-8-2-11}}
 
===Alma===
 
"Alma is supposed to be a prophet of God and of Jewish ancestry in the Book of Mormon. In Hebrew Alma means a betrothed virgin maiden-hardly a
fitting name for a man." - "Dr." Walter Martin, ''The Maze of Mormonism'' (Santa Ana, California: Vision House, 1978), 327.
 
Despite claims into the 1980s by anti-Mormon critics, the name "Alma" has been known since the 1960s as a male Hebrew name.  It occurs in contexts from 2200 B.C. to the second century B.C.{{ref|roper1}}
 
* Matthew Roper, ''Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon''2001 FAIR Conference.{{fairlink|url=http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/conf/2001RopM.html}}
*{{JBMS-8-1-14}}
*{{JBMS-9-1-10}}
 
===Ammon===
:"Ammon (Amon, Amun) (OW), the commonest name in the Egyptian Empire: the great universal God of the Empire."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
===Ammonihah===
 
:"Ammoni-hah (BM), name of a country and city. [compare with]
:Ammuni-ra (OW), prince of Beyrut under Egyptian rule. The above might stand the same relationship to this name as Khamuni-ra (OW), Amarna personal name, perhaps equivalent of Ammuni-ra."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
For remarks on the "-ihah" ending likely not reflecting the divine name of God (Yahweh or Jehovah), see:
* {{JBMRS-18-1-6}} <!--Hoskisson-->
 
===Com===
* Criticism: La Roy Sunderland, “Mormonism,” ''Zion’s Watchman'' (New York) 3, no. 7 (17 February 1838) {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=1730&REC=19}}
{{nw}}
 
===Corihor===
 
''See:''[[Book_of_Mormon_anachronisms:Names#Korihor|Korihor]]
 
===Cumenihah===
 
For remarks on the "-ihah" ending likely not reflecting the divine name of God (Yahweh or Jehovah), see:
* {{JBMRS-18-1-6}} <!--Hoskisson-->
 
===Cumorah===
* {{JBMS-6-2-15}}
 
===Helaman===
:"Helaman (BM), great Nephite prophet. [compare with]
:Her-amon (OW), "in the presence of Amon," as in the Egyptian proper name Heri-i-her-imn. Semitic "l" is always written "r" in Egyptian, which has no "l." Conversely, the Egyptian "r" is often written "l" in Semitic languages.{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
===Hem===
 
:"Hem (BM), brother of the earlier Ammon."
:"Hem (OW), means "servant," specifically of Ammon, as in the title Hem tp n 'Imn, "chief servant of Ammon" held by the high priest of Thebes."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
===Himni===
:"Himni (BM), a son of King Mosiah.
:Hmn (OW), a name of the Egyptian hawk-god, symbol of the emperor."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
===Irreantum===
Critique: {{CriticalWork:Bachelor:Mormonism Exposed|pages=13}}
{{an|"Proof of this, Mr. Nephi Mormon Moroni Rigdon Harris Cowdery Smith. Let us have the proof. Irreantum signifies a complete ass, nearer than any thing else."}}
{{nw}}
 
===Jaredite Names===
''See'': [[Book_of_Mormon_anachronisms:Names#Less well supported examples|below]].
 
===Jershon===
* Matthew Roper, ''Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon''2001 FAIR Conference.{{fairlink|url=http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/conf/2001RopM.html}}
* {{JBMS-6-2-15}}
 
===Josh===
* Criticism: La Roy Sunderland, “Mormonism,” ''Zion’s Watchman'' (New York) 3, no. 7 (17 February 1838) {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=1730&REC=19}}
{{nw}}
 
===Kim===
* Criticism: La Roy Sunderland, “Mormonism,” ''Zion’s Watchman'' (New York) 3, no. 7 (17 February 1838) {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=1730&REC=19}}
{{nw}}
 
===Korihor===
 
:"Korihor (BM), a political agitator who was seized by the people of Ammon.
:Kherihor (also written Khurhor, etc.) (OW), great high priest of Ammon who seized the throne of Egypt at Thebes, cir. 1085 B.C."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
:The twenty-first [Egyptian] dynasty was founded by a person called Korihor whose son was Piankhi. That's a very funny name; you don't invent a thing like that. It wasn't discovered until the 1870s that Piankhi is a name that we have in the Book of Mormon. Korihor was a priest of Amon who usurped the power of the state. His son Piankhi became king.{{ref|korihor1}}
''Compare'': [[Book_of_Mormon_anachronisms:Names#Paanchi|Paanchi]]
 
===Lachoneus===
 
Wrote Hugh Nibley of this Old World name:
 
:The occurrence of the names Timothy and Lachoneus in the Book of Mormon is strictly in order, however odd it may seem at first glance. Since the fourteenth century B.C. at latest, Syria and Palestine had been in constant contact with the Aegean world, and since the middle of the seventh century Greek mercenaries and merchants, closely bound to Egyptian interests (the best Egyptian mercenaries were Greeks), swarmed throughout the Near East. Lehi's people...could not have avoided considerable contact with these people in Egypt and especially in Sidon, which Greek poets even in that day were celebrating as the great world center of trade. It is interesting to note in passing that Timothy is an Ionian name, since the Greeks in Palestine were Ionians (hence the Hebrew name for Greeks: "Sons of Javanim"), and&mdash;since "Lachoneus" means "a Laconian"&mdash;that the oldest Greek traders were Laconians, who had colonies in Cyprus (BM Akish) and of course traded with Palestine.{{ref|lach1}}
 
Lehi or Mulek's group would have then known&mdash;or even contained&mdash;people named "Lachoneus," a proper Greek name of the proper sort in the proper timeframe.
 
''Compare'': [[Book_of_Mormon_anachronisms:Names#Timothy|Timothy]]
 
===Lehi and Sariah===
 
====Lehi====
:Since the Hebrew term ''lḥy'' does not occur as a personal name in the Bible but only as this place name, skeptics might suggest that Joseph Smith simply appropriated it as a male personal name for the Book of Mormon.
 
:However, two different twentieth-century archaeological finds from Palestine attest to the term lḥy as a male personal name. One inscription is on a papyrus fragment found in 1962 among the Samaria Papyri of the Wadi el-Daliyeh; it preserves lḥy  as the main element of a compound name. The other inscription in which ''lḥy''  stands alone as a personal name appears on an ostracon (an inscribed ceramic sherd) found in 1939 at Tell el-Kheleifeh (ancient Elath) on the shore of the Red Sea....
 
:In turning to territory that was clearly influenced by Hebrew, we can now report that Lehi may be identified as a male personal name element from the Samaria Papyri found in Wadi el-Daliyeh, located in the so-called West Bank territory of the land of Israel. Lehi (''lḥy'', ...) appears in the compound name אבלחי, ʾblḥy, which was probably pronounced ''av-lĕḥy'' or perhaps ''avi-lĕḥy''. If the name were put into King James English forms it would most likely be Ablehi or Abilehi. The meaning of the name would be either "The Father Is Lehi" or "My Father Is Lehi." - {{JBMRS-19-1-4}} <!--Chadwick-->
 
====Sariah====
 
It is also an interesting coincidence that similar evidence for Lehi's wife's name has turned up in a papyrus document, written in Persian period Aramaic, in the era following the sixth century BC. The female Jewish/Hebrew name Sariah appears in an Aramaic papyrus from the fifth century BC (albeit partially restored by the original publisher). The document is known as C-22 (or Cowley-22), and was found at Elephantine in upper Egypt around the year 1900....The female name Sariah does not appear in the Bible, just as the male name Lehi does not. Yet both appear in the Book of Mormon. That we can now identify both the Jewish/Hebrew names Sariah in the Elephantine Papyri and Lehi in the Samaria Papyri and on Ostracon 2071 represents two significant steps forward in corroborating the authenticity [of the Book of Mormon]. - ''Ibid.''
 
*{{JBMS-9-1-4}}<!--Anonymous-->
*{{JBMS-2-2-13}}<!--Chadwick-->
*{{JBMS-9-1-6}}<!--Chadwick-->
{{JBMRS-19-1-4}} <!--Chadwick-->
*{{JBMS-1-1-12}}<!-- Gee-->
*{{JBMS-9-1-5}}<!--Hoskisson-->
*{{JBMS-9-1-9}}<!--Hoskisson - Response-->
*{{JBMS-9-1-7}}<!--Pike-->
*{{JBMS-9-1-8}}<!--Tvedtnes-->
 
===Liahona===
 
* literally, "to Yahweh is the whither" or, by interpretation, "direction of-to the Lord."
* {{JBMS-16-2-8}}<!--Curci-->
 
===Limhah===
 
For remarks on the "-ihah" ending likely not reflecting the divine name of God (Yahweh or Jehovah), see:
* {{JBMRS-18-1-6}} <!--Hoskisson-->
 
===Manti===
:"Manti (BM), the name of a Nephite soldier, a land, a city, and a hill.
:Manti (OW), Semitic form of an Egyptian proper name, e.g., Manti-mankhi, a prince in Upper Egypt cir. 650 B.C. It is a late form of Month, god of Hermonthis."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
===Mathonihah===
 
For remarks on the "-ihah" ending likely not reflecting the divine name of God (Yahweh or Jehovah), see:
* {{JBMRS-18-1-6}} <!--Hoskisson-->
 
===Moronihah===
 
For remarks on the "-ihah" ending likely not reflecting the divine name of God (Yahweh or Jehovah), see:
* {{JBMRS-18-1-6}} <!--Hoskisson-->
 
===Mosiah===
 
*John Sawyer, "What Was a Mosiaʿ?" ''Vetus Testamentum'' 15 (1965): 475&ndash;486 [FARMS Reprint in 1989]; cited and applied by {{reexploring|author=John W. Welch|article=What Was A 'Mosiah'?|start=105|end=107}}
 
===Mulek===
 
*{{reexploring|author=Anonymous|article=New Information About Mulek, Son of the King|start=142|end=144}}{{GL1|url=http://gospelink.com/library/doc?book_doc_id=296833}}
*{{JBMS-12-2-9}}<!-- Chadwick - has the seal of mulek... -->
*{{BYUS|author=John L. Sorenson|article=The Mulekites|vol=30|num=?|date=Summer 1990|start=6|end=22}} {{link|url=http://byustudies.byu.edu/Products/MoreInfoPage/MoreInfo.aspx?Type=7&ProdID=620}}
 
===Nahom===
* Matthew Roper, ''Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon''2001 FAIR Conference.{{fairlink|url=http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/conf/2001RopM.html}}
* See also [[Book_of_Mormon_geography:Old_World#Nahom| Nahom]] in geography section.
 
===Nephi===
:"Nephi (BM), founder of the Nephite nation.
:Nehi, Nehri (OW), famous Egyptian noblemen. Nfy was the name of an Egyptian captain. Since BM insists on "ph," Nephi is closer to Nihpi, original name of the god Pa-nepi, which may even have been Nephi."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
*{{JBMS-1-1-12}}
*{{JBMS-9-2-10}}
 
===Nephihah===
 
For remarks on the "-ihah" ending likely not reflecting the divine name of God (Yahweh or Jehovah), see:
* {{JBMRS-18-1-6}} <!--Hoskisson-->
 
===Onihah===
 
For remarks on the "-ihah" ending likely not reflecting the divine name of God (Yahweh or Jehovah), see:
* {{JBMRS-18-1-6}} <!--Hoskisson-->
 
===Paanchi===
:"Paanchi (BM), son of Pahoran, Sr., and pretender to the chief-judgeship.
:Paanchi (OW), son of Kherihor, a) chief high priest of Amon, b) ruler of the south who conquered all of Egypt and was high priest of Amon at Thebes."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
''Compare'': [[Book_of_Mormon_anachronisms:Names#Korihor|Korihor]]
 
===Pahoran===
:Pahoran (BM), a) great chief judge, b) son of the same.
:Pa-her-an (OW), ambassador of Egypt in Palestine, where his name has the "reformed" reading Pahura; in Egyptian as Pa-her-y it means "the Syrian" or Asiatic."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
===Pacumeni===
:"Pacumeni (BM), son of Pahoran.
:Pakamen (OW), Egyptian proper name meaning "blind man"; also Pamenches (Gk. Pachomios), commander of the south and high priest of Horus."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
===Pachus===
:"Pachus (BM), revolutionary leader and usurper of the throne.
:Pa-ks and Pach-qs (OW), Egyptian proper name. Compare Pa-ches-i, "he is praised.""{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
===Rameumptom===
 
:Rameumptom was the name given by the Zoramites to the elevated place in their synagogues whence they offered up their vain-glorious and hypocritical prayers. Alma states that the word means a holy stand. It resembles, in its roots, Hebrew and also Egyptian in a remarkable manner. Ramoth, high (as Ramoth Gilead), elevated, a place where one can see and be seen; or, in a figurative sense, sublime or exalted. Mptom has probably its roots in the Hebrew word translated threshold, as we are told that the Philistines' god, Dagon, has a threshold in Ashdod (See {{s|1|Samuel|5|4-5}}). Words with this root are quite common in the Bible. Thus we see how Rameumptom means a high place to stand upon, a holy stand.{{ref|reynolds1}}
 
:While many words and names found in the Book of Mormon have exact equivalents in the Hebrew Bible, certain others exhibit Semitic characteristics, though their spelling does not always match known Hebrew forms. For example, "Rabbanah" as "great king" (Al{{s||Alma|18|13}}) may have affinities with the Hebrew root /rbb/, meaning "to be great or many." "Rameumptom" ({{s||Alma|31|21}}), meaning "holy stand," contains consonantal patterns suggesting the stems /rmm/ramah/, "to be high," and /tmm/tam/tom/, "to be complete, perfect, holy.{{ref|ramy2}}
 
===Rabbanah===
 
:While many words and names found in the Book of Mormon have exact equivalents in the Hebrew Bible, certain others exhibit Semitic characteristics, though their spelling does not always match known Hebrew forms. For example, "Rabbanah" as "great king" ({{s||Alma|18|13}}) may have affinities with the Hebrew root /rbb/, meaning "to be great or many." "Rameumptom" ({{s||Alma|31|21}}), meaning "holy stand," contains consonantal patterns suggesting the stems /rmm/ramah/, "to be high," and /tmm/tam/tom/, "to be complete, perfect, holy.{{ref|rab1}}
 
===Sam===
* Criticism:
**{{CriticalWork:Bachelor:Mormonism Exposed|pages=10}}
** La Roy Sunderland, “Mormonism,” ''Zion’s Watchman'' (New York) 3, no. 7 (17 February 1838) {{link|url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/BOMP&CISOPTR=1730&REC=19}}
 
:"While Sam is a perfectly good Egyptian name, it is also the normal Arabic form of Shem, the son of Noah."
:"Sam (BM), brother of Nephi.
:Sam Tawi (OW), Egyptian "uniter of the lands," title taken by the brother of Nehri upon mounting the throne."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
===Sheum===
* Matthew Roper, ''Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon''2001 FAIR Conference.{{fairlink|url=http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/conf/2001RopM.html}}
 
===Shilum===
* Matthew Roper, ''Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon''2001 FAIR Conference.{{fairlink|url=http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/conf/2001RopM.html}}
 
===Timothy===
Critics have argued that "Timothy" is an unlikely Nephite name, since it is of Greek origin.
 
Hugh Nibley pointed out:
 
:[R]emember...that in Lehi's day Palestine was swarming with Greeks, important Greeks. Remember, it was Egyptian territory [prior to being seized by Babylon] at that time and Egyptian culture. The Egyptian army, Necho's army, was almost entirely Greek mercenaries. We have inscriptions from that very time up the Nile at Aswan-inscriptions from the mercenaries of the Egyptian army, and they're all in Greek. So Greek was very common, and especially the name Timotheus.{{ref|tim1}}
 
''Compare:'' [[Book_of_Mormon_anachronisms:Names#Lachoneus|Lachoneus]]
 
It would thus not be at all surprising for Lehites or Mulekites to be familiar with the name "Timothy" (or a derivative), or even for a "Timothy" to have accompanied Mulek's party of immigrants.
 
===Zarahemla===
* {{JBMS-6-2-15}}
 
===Zemnarihah===
 
For remarks on the "-ihah" ending likely not reflecting the divine name of God (Yahweh or Jehovah), see:
* {{JBMRS-18-1-6}} <!--Hoskisson-->
 
===Zenoch===
:"Zenoch (BM), according to various Nephite writers, an ancient Hebrew prophet.
:Zenekh (OW), Egyptian proper name; once a serpent-god."{{NibleyLehiDesertLabel}}
 
==Less well supported examples==
 
Linguistics is a complex subject, and it is all too common for zealous but mistaken defenders of the Church to use parallels in names or language which cannot be sustained.  Since most Church members have no training in ancient American languages, evaluating such claims can be difficult.
 
Mesoamerican scholars consulted by FAIR have recommended that the following sources, while superficially persuasive, should be used with caution (if at all):
 
* Bruce W. Warren, "Surviving Jaredite Names in Mesoamerica," ''Meridian Magazine'' (26 May 2005){{link|url=http://www.ldsmag.com/ancients/050526mesoamerica.html}}; citing {{NewEvidencesOfChrist|start=17|end=22}}
* Bruce W. Warren, "'Kish'&mdash;A personal Name" ''Meridian Magazine'' (17 February 2005){{link|url=http://www.meridianmagazine.com/articles/050217kish.html}}; citing {{NewEvidencesOfChrist|start=19|end=22}}
 
These comments are not intended to disparage the individuals involved, but to encourage rigor and restraint in claims made.  As Elder Dallin H. Oaks cautioned, "When attacked by error, truth is better served by silence than by a bad argument."{{ref|oaks1}}
 
=={{Conclusion label}}==
 
Many Book of Mormon names are not found in the Bible, and were unknown to Joseph Smith.  Yet, these names have meaning in ancient languages and/or have been found as actual names from ancient history.  These "hits" provide additional evidence that the Book of Mormon is indeed an ancient record.
 
=={{Endnotes label}}==
#{{note|roper1}} Matthew Roper, ''Right on Target: Boomerang Hits and the Book of Mormon''2001 FAIR Conference.{{fairlink|url=http://www.fairlds.org/pubs/conf/2001RopM.html}}
#{{note|korihor1}} Hugh Nibley, ''Ancient Documents and the Pearl of Great Price'', edited by Robert Smith and Robert Smythe (n.p., n.d.), 11.
#{{note|lach1}} {{Nibley5_1|start=31}}
#{{note|tim1}} {{NibleyTeachingsBoM1_1||article=Lecture 27: Omni; Words of Mormon; Mosiah 1: The End of the Small Plates and The Coronation of Mosiah|start=430}}
#{{note|reynolds1}} {{CommentaryBoM1|vol=4|start=80}}
#{{note|ramy2}} {{EoM1|vol=1|start=181|author=Brian D. Stubbs|article=Book of Mormon Language}}
#{{note|rab1}} {{EoM1|vol=1|start=181|author=Brian D. Stubbs|article=Book of Mormon Language}}
#{{note|oaks1}} {{Ensign1|author=Dallin H. Oaks|article=Alternative Voices|date=May 1989|start=27}} {{link|url=http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1989.htm/ensign%20may%201989.htm/alternate%20voices%20.htm?fn=document-frame.htm$f=templates$3.0}}
 
=={{Further reading label}}==
 
==={{FAIR wiki articles label}}===
{{Book of Mormon anachronisms}}
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[[de:Anachronismen_im_Buch_Mormon/Namen]]
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