First, let’s look at where this name comes from. We first see this name when God reveals Himself to Moses through the burning bush. In Exodus 3:14 God says his name is I AM. This translates to what we call Him today, Yahweh. Yahweh commands Moses to tell everyone that I AM had sent him, and He continues to say that “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.”
Now that we know where the name came from, let’s look at some of the cultural background. The name Yahweh is actually written YHWH since in ancient Hebrews vowels aren’t normally written. This wouldn’t have caused issues for native speakers. At some point in ancient Isreal the name Yahweh started being considered to sacred and holy to speak out loud. Later some even stopped writing God’s name. This all was out of fear of breaking the commandment “You shall not take the name of your God in vain.” But what once was an act of reverence soon became restriction and avoidance. If we look at scripture though, it seems to imply that speaking the name of Yahweh can be an act of worship and faith. Like in Psalm 105:5 “Give thanks to Yahweh, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people.”