From the time of the Exodus on, Israelite personal names that incorporated the name of the God YHWH were far more popular than those mentioning pagan deities. The numbers shown here are based only on names in the Bible. The extrabiblical evidence (not included here) is slightly stronger: 94% of the theophoric names known from inscriptions are Yahwistic, as opposed to 91% in the Bible.
Period
Total Number of Theophoric Names
Yahwistic Names
Probable Pagan Names
Patriarchal
2
0
(0%)
2
(100%)
Exodus-Settlement
4
3
(75%)
1
(25%)
Judges-United Monarchy (1200–931 B.C.E.)
154
137
(89%)
17
(11%)
Divided Monarchy (931–724 B.C.E.)
111
108
(97%)
3
(3%)
Late Judah-Exile (727-538 B.C.E.)
125
119
(95%)
6
(5%)
Probably Not Post-Exilic (538-c. 400 B.C.E.)
125
108
(86%)
17
(14%)
Total
521
475
(91%)
46
(9%)
(Based on Dana M. Pike, “Israelite Theophoric Personal Names in the Bible and Their Implications for Religious History” [Univ. of Pennsylvania Ph.D. dissertation, 1990], with adjustments by Jeffrey H. Tigay noted in endnote 5 of this article.)
