Why did Helaman2 name his sons Nephi and Lehi? The repeated appearance of these two names applying to several people throughout the historical record sometimes makes it difficult for us to recognize who is who in the Book of Mormon. We sometimes have to stop and ask, “Who was the father of this Nephi? Was this the same Helaman that led the stripling warriors? Etc.” This Nephi and Lehi are the grandsons of the stripling warrior leader. But, while it is hard to keep them all straight, these names were important in asserting and maintaining direct connections with the legacy of Lehi and entitlements to the land of promise. The kings following the original Nephi called themselves “second Nephi, third Nephi, and so forth” (Jacob 1:11). By calling his first son Nephi and his second son Lehi, Helaman may have been reinforcing the claim of the Nephites to certain traditional rights in the land of Nephi.
The names may certainly have inspired these two sons to want to serve, at some point in their lives, in the land of Nephi, which they magnificently accomplished. It helped them to remember their origins and their genealogy. Remembering the goodness and righteousness of these ancestors strengthened the characters of Helaman’s sons and gave them a sense of their heritage. Bearing these names was a constant reminder to them to try to be like these great progenitors. The names had deep meaning in terms of identity construction—of whom Helaman wanted his sons to become.
This Nephi’s son will also be named Nephi, the Nephite leader at the time of the birth of Christ and also at the time of Christ’s appearance after his resurrection. So, the name held special value among the leading Nephite families.
Helaman wisely gave his second son the name of Lehi. Notice that the younger son received the name of the patriarch of the Nephite and Lamanite nations—reversing the order of the names of the Nephite predecessors. There was also some political significance in the name Lehi. Helaman’s son Lehi was born in the thirty-seventh or thirty-eighth year of the reign of the judges, after peace had been achieved between the Nephites and the Lamanites. The name “Lehi” was all-inclusive, subtly strengthening the political statement that all the posterity of Lehi could be joined in peace.
Matthew L. Bowen, “‘He Is a Good Man’: The Fulfillment of Helaman 5:6–7 in Helaman 8:7 and 11:18–19,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 17 (2016): 167–168.