Hello Donna,
Just to help fill in a few gaps; the four-letter Hebrew word יהוה (latinized YHWH), is known as the "Tetragrammaton" (originating from a Greek word τετραγράμματον, which means "four letters").
Six vowelized Hebrew spellings of the tetragrammaton are found in the Leningrad Codex of 1008 CE –1010 CE. The name was vowelized to show how the word would be pronounced if read - and it is pronounced in six different ways.
Pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton "יהוה" (YHWH) varies according to language and region. Jehovah is used in many medieval Christian Bibles - but that's not a common usage today. Samaritans pronounced the Tetragrammaton as "Iabe" (Yabeh). Some old versions of Septuagint ascribe a Koine Greek pronunciation "Iao" (Yao).
The oldest known inscription of the tetragrammaton dates to 840 BCE, on the Mesha Stele -- it is the earliest known reference to the Israelite god "יהוה" (Yahweh). For most religious/observant Jews, we avoid pronouncing or writing the Tetragrammaton - as such it is not a "Jew word for God".
Indeed, the most widely known pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) among non-Jews is "Yahweh". We can thank Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius (1786–1842) for suggesting that the Hebrew punctuation יַהְוֶה, which is transliterated into English as "Yahweh"
The origins of the term Jehovah came from early English translators who transposed vowels from "Adonai" to the Tetragrammaton, and read the word literally so that the Y in YHWH, was pronounced as a J in English, and the W as a V.
To recap, "Yahweh" is not "a Jew word for God" - it is a latinized form a Christian translator's mistake which has become a common usage among non-Jews.
If I can answer any questions, please feel free to contact me. Curators are here to help educate, arbitrate disputes, handle difficult merges and provide subject matter expertise wherever possible.
Warm regards,
J
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