>>>>In Genesis 5:2 for instance it says "Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
>>>
>>>Two questions. First, was Eve's name Adam, too? Second, what does it mean "call a name something" - a name has a name? Which brings the subquestion: what were their names' names before that?
>>
>>FWIW, "adam" is the Hebrew word for "man." So I read that passage as "and called them 'man'"
>
>That's not my question. That's how he was called. What was his name called?

Right. It is a weird construction. I just looked at the Hebrew and it really is written that way. In transliteration, "Va-yikra et sh'mam a-dam."

And in the next verse, we have "And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth. "

However, I note that the site I'm using says it's based on the 1917 JPS (Jewish Publication Society) translation. There is a newer one, but it doesn't seem to be online. If I remember, I'll grab a copy from my shelf and see how this is translated. I know that in the new version, for example, it doesn't say "In the beginning, God created," but "When God began to create."

Tamar