What Are Some of Names of God in Different Cultures?
Names different cultures ascribe to God include Yahweh, Zeus, Allah, Vishnu, Xavier and Jah. Depending on the religion, believers might view a god as a personal being, impersonal force, singular deity or one expression of deity among many.
Gods mentioned in the Bible include Baal, who was worshiped by the ancient Canaanites, and his father Dagon, depicted as half man and half fish. The chief god of ancient Rome was Jupiter, whom the Romans regarded as equivalent to Zeus, the Greek god of sky and thunder.
The ancient Hebrew alphabet did not have vowels, so the name of the Israelite God was spelled YHWH and is commonly known as the tetragrammaton, meaning four letters. Scholars are unsure how the name was pronounced, and some believers today refer to the Judeo-Christian God as Jehovah, whereas others use the name Yahweh.
Muslims use the name Allah, which is the Arabic word for “God.” Though the Hindu religion accepts many different representations of God, most Hindus worship a personal god in the form of Vishnu or Shiva.
Sikhs use the name Waheguru, whereas members of the Rastafari movement use the name Jah. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church refers to God as Xavier, and the Maasai of East Africa, who believe in a God who is neither male nor female, use the name Ngai.
