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As per wikipedia: Yahweh is the pronunciation of the transliteration YHWH most widely accepted by Hebrew scholars.

Translators used Jehovah as the translation of the name into English. In Hebrew, only consonants were written (originally), so the vowel sounds were assumed or learned through unwritten instruction.

The word is closely related to the verb in Hebrew which means “to be”. So “I am”, as you mentioned, seems to be related to the meaning of God’s name. It might also be related to His role as the Creator of all created things because His name may imply “to cause to be”. Of course, He is the Eternal God, as well.

However, “I am” is not exactly a proper name. It is the definition of a name. The pronunciation is not the most important thing. Jesus comes from the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua. (Jesus and Joshua are English translations of these Hebrew and Greek names.) Neither of these names are pronounced in English as they are in the original languages.

“Allah” is a transliteration of the Arabic word for God. It is NOT the name of God, but Islam has attempted to make it the name of God for everyone.

My point here is to get people on FR to clarify the way they use the term “Allah” so that only the specific misuses and abuses of God’s name and title are addressed rather than making statements that are insulting to Arab Christians and Jews.

Also, many Muslims do not agree with the violence and hate done in the name of Islam. Some of these Muslims can be reached with reason and diplomacy. Hurling unnecessary and inaccurate insults against them will have the effect of radicalizing some that would not have otherwise been. Most Muslims are Muslim for the same reason most Christians (or at least those who self-identify as Christian) are Christians — because we were born into our religion. But coming to understand the truth requires something more than just picking the right parents.