When we ask the question, “What is the Name of the Father?”  We are also asking the question, “Who is the Father?”  Because who a person or entity is exists within the name ascribed to that individual or thing.  This understanding reveals why names are so important in the Bible and why names are often changed or altered to reveal God’s destiny for an individual.  For example, “the name of Isaiah in Hebrew is Yesha’yahu.  Isaiah’s name can be broken down to ‘Yesha’ and ‘YHV’ which means ‘the Name (YHV) will bring salvation (Yesha)’.  Is it no wonder that the prolific writings of the prophet Isaiah reveal the One (Messiah) who brought Salvation—with a special emphasis on His Name? “And a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and will call him ImmanuEl—meaning God with us.” “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder (for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily—Col. 2:8):  and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”   Surely Isaiah was pointing us to that Wonderful Name revealed in Mattiyahu 1:21, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his Name Yeshua (Jesus):  for he shall save his people from their sins.”

In the Tanakh (Old Testament) the question, “What is your name?” is asked of God on several different occasions in conjunction with divine visitation.  Consider the story about Ya’akov’s wrestling encounter with a man. Ya’akov wrestles with a man till break of day and prevails. Subsequently he asks the man, “Tell me I pray what is your name?”  The man responds with, “Why do you want to know my name?”  And Ya’akov said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”  This same scenario is repeated with Menoah—the father of Samson, “And Menoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honor?  And the angel of the LORD said to him, Why ask about my name seeing it is Wonderful?” Then Menoah says to his wife, “we shall surely die, because we have seen God.”  And what about Agur’s prophecy in Proverbs 30:4, “Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?  Who hath gathered the wind in his fists?  Who hath bound the waters in a garment?  Who hath established all the ends of the earth?  What is His Name, and what is His Son’s Name, if you can tell?”  Therefore, in light of what we have just read we can infer that there is a distinct correlation between the revelation of ‘who God is’ and the unveiling or revelation of “His Name.”