This is the "shem of God" not the name of God and it doesn't stop at the first 4 letters.
YHWH is related to HYH (hayah). What is hayah? It is the "I AM" in verse 14 that was originally spoken as the name. YHWH can in fact be the 2nd person singular of Hayah (pronounced as "Yihweh")... so not "I AM" but "HE IS". So again this name is not a name at all, it is a state of being. God is above languages and names. His "shem" is the all existent, eternal one, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jews, Christians and Muslims alike agree on this regardless of the words they use and it shows us that his character, his "shem" has transcended religions and cultures.
Nice post.
I would like to elaborate on the idea of names. Start at the beginning, in creation God made the animals according to their kind, Genesis 1:24-25 God then brought the animals to man to name, Genesis 2:19-20. This is the ancient practice to assign names based on what one is. This means a name describes the object and is not just some random letters.
Now look at the name women and see how it was also formed based on a descriptive name for them. Genesis 2:23. Look throughout the OT to see numerous names for people and places based on descriptive features.
So if names are meant to describe the person, how could we on earth comprehend and formulate a name that was adequate in describing the glory of God? If no man has seen or can see the face/glory of God, how can we give a descriptive name to him? It would be deceiving to give God the greatest heavenly being an earthly name. Nothing on earth compares to his glory. The closest we have is the Sun which the brightness of God is compared to.
Paul when caught up to heaven saw "inexpressible" things, 2 Corinthians 12:4. Peter says God fills us with inexpressible joy, 1 Peter 1:8. The Angel of the Lord said his name was beyond understanding, Judges 13:18. How can we express a name for the inexpressible?
Now this thread is concentrating on Exodus 3:13-15, but what about Exodus 33:12-23? Moses, despite having seen God in the burning bush and multiple other times, still asked to see God in his glory. Moses wanted an even greater glimpse of God's glory. Note how God answers back, Exodus 33:19. He says he will proclaim his name in his presence. Now despite what translation of the text you use, I even dare you to go back to the original text to look for YHWH, God said he would
SAY his name. YHWH is not pronounceable, so obviously God said something different than what was recorded in scripture, even in the original language text. I further doubt God spoke in Hebrew. I would bet he spoke his name as called in heaven, in the heavenly language. This was truly a special honor bestowed on Moses. So God passed in front of Moses and Moses saw the back of God, this was more glorious then the fire of Ex 3 and the other "face to face" meetings he had with God. It is only because he saw God in his glory that he could hear his name. It follows that none can say God's name without seeing the glory that Moses saw. And so we make do with LORD until we meet in heaven.