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Rashi, Rambam, the Maharal, the Rosh, the Rema, etc. are all usually referred to by their acronyms. This custom makes sense in a culture that is mostly transmitted through the written word where ink and paper were not cheap - someone wrote רש"י, so I say Rashi.

Who was the first person to be generally addressed as an acronym? Who popularized the use of that acronym?

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  • How about רשב"י?
    – sam
    Apr 7, 2013 at 23:07
  • @sam Is that what he called himself?
    – Double AA ♦
    Apr 7, 2013 at 23:33
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    what does "generally addressed" mean? By himself about himself? By contemporaries to his face? By others after his death?
    – rosends
    Apr 7, 2013 at 23:59
  • @Dan That's why I am asking the second question - Who popularized the use of that acronym?. I think "generally addressed" means "at some point in time".
    – Charles Koppelman
    Apr 8, 2013 at 2:37
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    @msh210, technically, that's what an acronym is. If it is not pronounced as such, it is just a generic abbreviation.
    – Daniel
    Apr 9, 2013 at 13:28

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A possible candidate would be the Amora אביי - whose real name was נחמני but was called אביי by the acronym for אֲשֶׁר-בְּךָ יְרֻחַם יָתוֹם. Read more details here.

Unless you want to argue it was Avraham Avinu: אַבְרָהָם, כִּי אַב-הֲמוֹן גּוֹיִם נְתַתִּיךָ

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Some people (I believe erroneously) claim that Maccabee is from Mi Chamocha B'elim YHWH. If that is the case, I go with Judah the Maccabee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabees

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