True Names in Popular Culture - Philosophical and Religious Contexts

Philosophical and Religious Contexts

Socrates in Cratylus considers, without taking a position, the possibility whether names are "conventional" or "natural", that is, whether language is a system of arbitrary signs or whether words have an intrinsic relation to the things they signify.

Hellenistic Judaism emphasized the divine nature of logos, later adopted by the Gospel of John. The true name of God plays a central role in Kabbalism (see Gematria, Temurah, YHWH ) and to some extent in Sufism (see 100th name of God). The ancient Jews considered God's true name so potent that they believed its invocation conferred upon the speaker tremendous power over his creations. To prevent abuse of this power, as well as to avert blasphemy, the name of God was always taboo, and increasingly disused so that by the time of Jesus their High Priest was supposedly the only individual who spoke it aloud — and then only in the Holy of Holies upon the Day of Atonement.

Contemporary pre-industrial peoples guard secret names which are only used in solemn rituals. These names are never mentioned and kept from general knowledge.