The Names of G-d in Judaism: Seven Sacred Names

The Jewish G-d is the One G-d of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov — the Creator of everything, an absolute unity with no body, no form, and no partner. His proper name is the four-letter Hebrew Name known as the Tetragrammaton, which is written but never spoken aloud today; in everyday speech, Jews call Him "Hashem," which literally means "the Name." Beyond that, the Tanakh, the Talmud, and the siddur are full of names for Him — each one a window into a different facet of how He relates to the world — and Orthodox Jews use them constantly, in prayer, in conversation, in daily speech. Some are so holy that they cannot be pronounced at all; others slip into ordinary sentences like Boruch Hashem and Im Yirtzeh Hashem.

Understanding the names of G-d is one of the doorways into how observant Jews think about the divine. It is also a separate question from why Jews write "G-d" with a hyphen — that is a halachic convention about treating any written Name with reverence, and we cover it in Why Do Jews Say G-d?. This article is about the names themselves.

Who Is the Jewish G-d?

The clearest place to start is the Shema, the central declaration of Jewish faith: "Hear, O Israel: Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One" (Devarim 6:4). Judaism teaches that He is an absolute unity: not one god among many, not a chief god over lesser ones, but the only true Being — Creator of heaven and earth and everything in them — without partner, parts, or peer.

He has no body and no form. When the Torah speaks of His "hand" or His "eyes," the classical commentators understand it as metaphor — a concession to human language. The Rambam counts G-d's incorporeality among the thirteen foundations of Jewish faith. And there are no intermediaries: Jews pray directly to G-d, never to angels, saints, or any go-between. That direct relationship — one G-d, addressed personally by every individual — sits at the heart of Jewish belief.

Everything that follows in this article — the seven sacred Names, the everyday Names — is the vocabulary Jews use to speak to and about this one G-d.

What Is the Jewish G-d's Name?

G-d's proper name in Judaism is the four-letter Hebrew name — Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei, known as the Tetragrammaton. It appears thousands of times in the Tanakh, but it is written, never pronounced. When Jews read the Torah or daven, they substitute "Adonai" ("my Lord") wherever the four letters are written; in ordinary conversation, they say "Hashem," which literally means "the Name."

So if you ask an observant Jew what G-d's name is, the answer you will actually hear is "Hashem" — a name that is itself a respectful way of not saying the Name. Beyond the four-letter Name, the Talmud lists seven sacred Names in all, each highlighting a different aspect of how G-d relates to the world. The full list is below.

Is "Yahweh" G-d's Name?

Not in any form a Jew would recognize or use. "Yahweh" is a scholarly attempt to reconstruct how the four-letter Name might once have been pronounced — an academic guess, not a received tradition. Observant Jews never say it, and consider the very attempt disrespectful. The true pronunciation was not lost by accident; the tradition was deliberately allowed to rest with the ancient Beis HaMikdash, where the Name was pronounced only in the Temple service — most famously by the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur. When the Temple was destroyed, the pronunciation went with it — and Jews have been content to leave it there ever since.

The older form "Jehovah" is a misreading: medieval Christian scholars combined the four consonants with the vowel marks that scribes had placed on the Name as a reminder to read "Adonai" instead. The result is a hybrid word that was never anyone's pronunciation of anything. If you want to talk about G-d the way Jews do, say "Hashem" in conversation — that is the Name everyone actually uses.

The Seven Sacred Names

The Talmud in Shevuot 35a lists seven names of Hashem that are considered fully holy. Once written on parchment or paper, these names may not be erased — and saying them in vain is a serious prohibition. They are:

1. Y-H-V-H (The Tetragrammaton)

The four-letter Name, sometimes called the Shem HaMeforash, is the holiest of all. It is built from the Hebrew root meaning "to be" — Hashem as the One who exists, who has always existed, and who will always exist. This Name is so sacred that it has not been pronounced for nearly two thousand years. In the Beis HaMikdash it was pronounced only in the Temple service — most famously by the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur, when he entered the Kodesh HaKodashim. Today, when this Name appears in the Torah or in the siddur, Jews read it as "Adonai" instead.

2. Adonai

Translated as "my Lord" or "my Master," this is the Name spoken aloud in prayer wherever the Tetragrammaton is written. When you hear an Orthodox Jew daven and say "Adonai" in the Shema or the Amidah, that is what he is doing — pronouncing the substitute Name out of reverence for the unpronounceable one.

3. El

A short, ancient Name meaning "G-d" in the sense of strength and power. It appears in many compound names — El Shaddai, El Elyon (G-d Most High) — and at the heart of many Hebrew names: Yisra-El, Daniy-El, Yechezk-El. It is the Name of G-d as the All-Powerful.

4. Elohim

The grammatically plural form, used to express the fullness of G-d's powers and attributes. Elohim is the Name of judgment and of justice. The Torah opens with this Name — Bereishit bara Elohim — "In the beginning, G-d created" (Bereishit 1:1). When the Tanakh speaks of G-d as the lawgiver, the judge, the One who imposes order, the Name is usually Elohim.

5. Shaddai

Often translated as "Almighty." The classical commentators read it as She-Dai — "the One who said enough" — meaning Hashem set the boundaries of creation. This is the Name written on the outside of every mezuzah scroll (often as the single letter Shin), and the Name evoked when the Kohanim spread their fingers to form a Shin during the priestly blessing — a widespread Ashkenazi custom.

6. Tzeva'ot (Hosts)

"Hashem of Hosts" — Master of all the hosts of heaven and earth. This Name appears constantly in the books of the prophets and in the Kedushah of the Amidah: Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, Hashem Tzeva'ot — "Holy, holy, holy is the L-rd of Hosts" (Yeshayahu 6:3).

7. Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh

"I will be what I will be." This is the Name Hashem gave Moshe Rabbeinu at the burning bush, when Moshe asked what he should tell the Jewish people had sent him (Shemos 3:14). It is the Name of G-d as eternal, unchanging Being — the ultimate "I AM."

These seven Names are treated with absolute halachic sanctity. They cannot be erased once written; they cannot be said in vain; sefarim that contain them cannot be thrown out and instead are buried in a genizah. The reverence is not symbolic. It is a real legal category, governed by the laws in the Mishnah Berurah 5:3 and elsewhere.

The Everyday Names

Beyond the seven sacred Names, Jews use a whole vocabulary of everyday Names for Hashem in regular speech. None of these carry the same erasure prohibitions as the seven, but they fill everyday conversation in Orthodox Judaism:

• Hashem — literally "the Name." This is what most Orthodox Jews say in casual speech, in place of any of the holy Names. Boruch Hashem ("blessed be the Name") is the most common phrase in the Jewish world; you will hear it in answer to "How are you?", "How was the trip?", "How is the family?" It is gratitude woven into the language itself.
• HaKadosh Baruch Hu — "the Holy One, blessed be He." The most common Talmudic and rabbinic phrase for G-d.
• HaMakom — "the Place." The idea is that Hashem is the place of the world, but the world is not His place. This is the Name used when comforting mourners: HaMakom yenachem etchem — "May the Place comfort you."
• Shekhinah — the indwelling Divine Presence, especially in the Beis HaMikdash and among the Jewish people in exile.
• Eibishter — the Yiddish word for "the One Above," used affectionately by chassidim and in Yiddish-speaking communities.
• Ribbono Shel Olam — "Master of the Universe." The Name used most often when Jews pour out their hearts in personal prayer.

Why So Many Names?

The classical answer is that no single Name can capture Hashem. Elohim names His judgment; Hashem (the Tetragrammaton) names His mercy; Shaddai names His power to set limits; Tzeva'ot names His command of all creation. Each Name reveals something the others do not. Together, they form a vocabulary of relationship — a way for finite human beings to speak about the Infinite without pretending to contain Him.

So when an Orthodox Jew says Boruch Hashem, Im Yirtzeh Hashem, or HaMakom yenachem etchem, he is doing more than dropping religious vocabulary into his speech. He is using a piece of an ancient grammar in which every word that names Hashem also names a way that Hashem touches the world. The Names are not interchangeable, and they are not decoration. They are the language of a four-thousand-year-old conversation that has never stopped.

Common Questions

Why do Jews write G-d instead of God? Out of reverence. Jewish law prohibits erasing or destroying G-d's name. Since printed materials may be discarded, many Jews avoid writing the full name in contexts where it might be treated disrespectfully. This practice is called why Jews say G-d.

How many names does G-d have in Judaism? Jewish tradition identifies multiple names — the Tetragrammaton (YHVH, never pronounced), Elokim, Adonai, HaShem ('The Name'), El Shaddai, and others. Each reflects a different aspect of the Divine.

Why don't Jews pronounce G-d's name? The four-letter name (YHVH) is considered too holy to pronounce. It was spoken only in the Temple service — most famously by the High Priest on Yom Kippur. Today, Jews say 'Hashem' (The Name) or 'Adonai' (My Lord) instead.

What do Jews call G-d in everyday speech? Mostly "Hashem," which literally means "the Name." You will also hear "HaKadosh Baruch Hu" ("the Holy One, blessed be He"), "Ribbono Shel Olam" ("Master of the Universe"), and — in Yiddish-speaking communities — "the Eibishter" ("the One Above"). These are not the sacred Names themselves; they are respectful ways of speaking about G-d without using one.

Do Jews and Christians worship the same G-d? Both faiths point to the G-d of the Hebrew Bible — the G-d of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov — so the starting point is shared. But the understandings diverge fundamentally. Judaism teaches that G-d is an absolute unity who never takes human form, and it does not accept the trinity or the incarnation — which is also why Orthodox Jews have never accepted Jesus as divine. Same scriptural starting point, fundamentally different understandings of who G-d is.