Many Names

Post contributed by

Scripture Central

Abstract

Joseph Smith’s ability to keep track of hundreds of names in his dictation of the Book of Mormon, without confusing or forgetting them, provides evidence of its miraculous translation.

The Book of Mormon is filled with various types of data, including a large assortment of names. As explained in the Book of Mormon Onomasticon, “The Book of Mormon contains 337 proper names and 21 gentilics (or analogous forms) based on proper names. … Of these 337 proper names, 188 are unique to the Book of Mormon, while 149 are common to the Book of Mormon and the Bible.”¹

These names refer to individuals, social groups, locations, and in some cases specific items or objects, such as the “Rameumptom” upon which the apostate Zoramites offered their prayers (Alma 31:21). In many instances, names are given in the text and then never referenced again, such as the name Abish which is only mentioned in Alma 19:16.

Abish by Krista Jones. (Image via Book of Mormon Central Art Contest 2018)

In other situations, names are integrated throughout the Nephite record with surprising consistency. This can be seen in the book of Ether.² Its opening chapter presents “twenty-seven unusual names” as part of a genealogy, and then these same names are repeated—in precisely reverse order—throughout subsequent chapters and interwoven with the names of additional characters. The genealogy can therefore be seen as providing a “framework for the chronicle of Jaredite kings.”³ As assessed by Grant Hardy, the flawless reproduction of these names, intermixed with all sorts of other names and information, provides a “striking example of narrative complexity.”⁴

Impressive naming consistencies can likewise be seen in references to lands and cities,⁵ social and religious groups,⁶ Nephite record keepers,⁷ the designations given to Nephite weights and measures,⁸ and so forth. All in all, the Book of Mormon’s presentation of its hundreds of names, virtually without error, is remarkable.⁹ It would have been quite a feat for Joseph Smith himself to fabricate this type of content, not only because it would entail the creation of so many unique names,¹⁰ but also because of the sheer difficulty of keeping track of them all.

It is certainly true that other texts, both fiction and non-fiction, also have large quantities of names that feature similar consistencies.¹¹ But it isn’t just a matter of quantity; it is also about the mode of production. According to witnesses, Joseph Smith dictated the Book of Mormon to various scribes in a fast-paced translation¹² without relying on any notes or outlines¹³ and without making any substantial revisions.¹⁴ In other words, he really only had one attempt to get all these names right, and he had to do it without anything to help him remember the more obscure characters or toponyms.

It should also be remembered that names are just one type of data-rich content in the Book of Mormon. The text is filled with other complex and consistent features, such as three calendar systems with hundreds of dates,¹⁵ a developed system of weights and measures,¹⁶ multiple migrations,¹⁷ complex narratives,¹⁸ cohesive doctrines,¹⁹ dozens of editorial promises,²⁰ various underlying source texts,²¹ hundreds of poetic structures,²² pervasive intertextual relationships,²³ multiple literary genres,²⁴ scores of internally fulfilled prophecies,²⁵ and so forth.²⁶

Joseph Smith’s ability to dictate the Book of Mormon’s 337 proper names under these unusual and constraining circumstances and alongside so many other complex features, without forgetting or confusing to what or whom the names referred, provides evidence of the Book of Mormon’s miraculous translation.

Book of Mormon Onomasticon, online at onoma.lib.byu.edu.

Wilcox, Brad, Wendy Baker-Smemoe, Bruce L. Brown, and Sharon Black, “Comparing Book of Mormon Names with Those Found in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Works: An Exploratory Study,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 30 (2018): 105–124.

Sharon Black and Brad Wilcox, “188 Unexplainable Names: Book of Mormon Names No Fiction Writer Would Choose,” Religious Educator 12, no. 2 (2011): 119–30.

Melvin J. Thorne, “Complexity, Consistency, Ignorance, and Probabilities,” in Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins, ed. Noel B. Reynolds (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1997), 179–193.

Paul Y. Hoskisson, “Book of Mormon Names,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols. ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992), 1:186–187.

¹ See Book of Mormon Onomasticon, “Fun Facts About Our Onomasticon,” online at onoma.lib.byu.edu. The authors add: “Included in this count are names that normally would not be called proper, such as non-English names of plants, animals, etc., if they appear as transliterations in the English text and not as translations. In addition, two proper names that appear only in translation, BOUNTIFUL and DESOLATION, which are included in the Name Index, are not included in this count. The Onomasticon includes all proper nouns.”
² See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Ether’s Genealogy,” Evidence# 0096, September 19, 2020, online at evidencecentral.org.
³ Grant Hardy, ed., The Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Edition (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2003), xiii.
⁴ Hardy, The Book of Mormon, xiii. See also, Grant Hardy, Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010), 223.
⁵ See Randall P. Spackman, Verses in the Book of Mormon with Potential Geographical Relevance (Self-Published, 2003); John L. Sorenson, “Part 4: The Text Verse by Verse: Geographical Relationships, Extents and Characteristics, with Commentary,” in The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1990), 214–315; John L. Sorenson, “Part 5: Index to the Analysis, by Feature,” in The Geography of Book of Mormon Events: A Source Book (Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1990), 214–315; John Clark, “A Key for Evaluating Nephite Geographies,” Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1, no. 1 (1989): 20–70.
⁶ See John L. Sorenson, “Book of Mormon Peoples,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., ed. Daniel H. Ludlow. (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1992), 1:191–195.
⁷ See John W. Welch and Greg Welch, “Who Kept the Records in the Book of Mormon? (By Lineages),” in Charting the Book of Mormon: Visual Aids for Personal Study and Teaching (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999), chart 16.
⁸ See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Mosiah’s Complex Monetary System,” Evidence# 0222, online at evidencecentral.org: “Collectively, the text introduces 12 units of measurement—5 of gold and 7 of silver—which in total are mentioned 29 times between Alma 11:5–19. Not only are the names of all these units foreign to English speakers, but some of them sound quite similar to one another. For instance, readers might easily confuse names like senine, senum, and seon—all starting with se and ending with an n or m. And yet, despite the potential for inadvertently swapping one name for another, the units never appear to be confused or given out of order in the earliest manuscripts of Alma 11.
⁹ One potential error in the original text concerns the mixing up of the names Benjamin and Mosiah. See Book of Mormon Central, “Which Nephite King Had the Gift of Interpretation?” KnoWhy 99 (May 13, 2016). It remains uncertain, however, whether this was an error in the original text or whether later efforts to emend the text—efforts which don’t necessarily have to be seen as revelatory in nature—were in error. In any case, if there are indeed any inconsistencies in the Book of Mormon’s presentation of names, they are exceedingly rare and can be ascribed to human error without invalidating the divine nature of the translation or the historical authenticity of the record.
¹⁰ See Sharon Black and Brad Wilcox, “188 Unexplainable Names: Book of Mormon Names No Fiction Writer Would Choose,” Religious Educator 12, no. 2 (2011): 119–130.
¹¹ See, for example, Wilcox, Brad, Wendy Baker-Smemoe, Bruce L. Brown, and Sharon Black, “Comparing Book of Mormon Names with Those Found in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Works: An Exploratory Study,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 30 (2018): 105–124.
¹² See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Rapid Translation,” September 19, 2020, online at evidencecentral.org.
¹³ See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: No Notes or Reference Materials,” November 2, 2020, online at evidencecentral.org.
¹⁴ See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: No Substantive Revisions,” October 12, 2021, online at evidencecentral.org.
¹⁵ See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Multiple Calendar Systems,” Evidence# 0241, September 20, 2021, online at evidencecentral.org; Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Sequentially Consistent Chronology,” Evidence# 0239, September 20, 2021, online at evidencecentral.org; Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Mathematically Consistent Chronology,” Evidence# 0240, September 20, 2021, online at evidencecentral.org.
¹⁶ See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Mosiah’s Complex Monetary System,” Evidence# 0222, August 9, 2021, online at evidencecentral.org.
¹⁷ See S. Kent Brown, “The Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon,” in From Jerusalem to Zarahemla: Literary and Historical Studies of the Book of Mormon (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1998), 75–98; George S. Tate, “The Typology of the Exodus Pattern in the Book of Mormon,” in Literature of Belief: Sacred Scripture and Religious Experience, ed. Neal E. Lambert (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1981), 245–262.
¹⁸ See Grant Hardy, Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010), esp. 6–7. For a helpful review of Hardy’s book, see Daniel C. Peterson, “An Apologetically Important Nonapologetic Book,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, 25, no. 1 (2016): 52–75.
¹⁹ For just a sampling of doctrinal consistencies, see Louis Midgley, “To Remember and Keep: On the Book of Mormon as an Ancient Book,” in The Disciple as Scholar: Essays on Scripture and the Ancient World in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, ed. Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2000), 95–137; Noel B. Reynolds, “The True Points of My Doctrine,” Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 5, no. 2 (1996): 26–56; Noel B. Reynolds, “The Gospel of Jesus Christ as Taught by the Nephite Prophets,” BYU Studies Quarterly 31, no. 3 (1991): 31–50.
²⁰ See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Editorial Promises,” Evidence# 0084, September 19, 2020, online at evidencecentral.org.
²¹ See John W. Welch and J. Gregory Welch, Charting the Book of Mormon: Visual Aids for Personal Study and Teaching (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1999), charts 13, 15; John L. Sorenson, “Mormon’s Sources,” Journal of the Book of Mormon and Other Restoration Scripture 20, no. 2 (2011): 2–15; Grant Hardy, Understanding the Book of Mormon: A Reader’s Guide (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010), 121–151; Mackay, “Mormon as Editor,” 90–109.
²² See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Parallelisms (Sub-Category), online at evidencecentral.org.
²³ See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Intertextuality (External),” online at evidencecentral.org; Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Intertextuality (Internal),” online at evidencecentral.org.
²⁴ See James T. Duke, The Literary Masterpiece Called the Book of Mormon (Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, Inc., 2004); David E. Bokovoy and John A. Tvedtnes, Testaments: Links between the Book of Mormon and the Hebrew Bible (Tooele, UT: Heritage Press, 2003); Richard Dilworth Rust, Feasting on the Word: The Literary Testimony of the Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1997); Stephen D. Ricks, ed., Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 4, no. 1 (1995), 41–118.
²⁵ See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Internally Fulfilled Prophecies,” Evidence# 0085, September 19, 2020, online at evidencecentral.org.
²⁶ See Evidence Central, “Book of Mormon Evidence: Complexity (Main Category),” online at evidencecentral.org; Melvin J. Thorne, “Complexity, Consistency, Ignorance, and Probabilities,” in Book of Mormon Authorship Revisited: The Evidence for Ancient Origins, ed. Noel B. Reynolds (Provo, UT: FARMS, 1997), 179–193.

Complexity

Book of Mormon

Evidence #384 | December 12, 2022

Many Names