Drush and p'shat on Achaz's name
An Assyrian inscription from the time of Tiglath Pilesser III describes a list of kings that were conquered and subsequently gave tribute to the Assyrian king reads:
"I installed Idi-bi'li as a Warden of Marches on the border of Musur. In all the countries which...[I received] the tribute of Kushtashpi of Commagene (Kummuḫu), Urik of Qu'e, Sibitti-be'l of Byblos,...Enil of Hamath, Panammu of Sam'al, Tarhulara of Gumgum, Sulumal of Militene,...Uassurme of Tabal, Ushhitti of Tuna, Urballa of Tuhana, Tuhamme of Ishtunda,...[Ma]tan-be'l of Arvad, Sanipu of Bit-Ammon, Salamanu of Moab,...Mitinti of Ashkelon, Jehoahaz (Ia-ú-ḫa-zi) of Judah (Ia-ú-da-a-a), Kaushmalaku of Edom (Ú-du-mu-a-a), Muzr[i...] (Ḫa-a-nu-ú-nu) of Gaza (Ḫa-za-at-a-a) (consisting of) gold, silver, tin, iron, antimony,4 linen garments with multicolored trimmings, garments of their native (industries) (being made of) dark purple wool...all kinds of costly objects be they products of the sea or of the continent, the (choice) products of their regions, the treasures of (their) kings, horses, mules (trained for) the yoke..." (translation from Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, James B. Pritchard, p. 282)
As you can see, a Yehoachaz of Judah is mentioned. When the dates were crossed, it was discovered that Yehoachaz is none other than Achaz, father of Chizkiyahu, which is interesting because it isn't suggested anywhere in Tanach that Achaz's name is a short-form of Yehoachaz.
Today I thought of two possible explanations for this. First I thought of a more drashic name, i.e., more symbolic, and then I thought of a more p'shat, plain explanation.
The drashic explanation is that the name "Yehoachaz" means "God held him", or possibly "God held he" (=he held God). However, we find that Achaz in Tanach did not hold on to God, nor did he really believe that God was holding onto him. Instead, he held onto the Assyrians and went even further, holding onto their deities (Melachim 2:16:2-13):
"Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was pleasing to the LORD his God, as his ancestor David had done. but followed the ways of the kings of Israel. He even consigned his son to the fire, in the abhorrent fashion of the nations which the LORD had dispossessed before the Israelites. He sacrificed and made offerings at the shrines, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. Then King Rezin of Aram and King Pekah son of Remaliah of Israel advanced on Jerusalem for battle. They besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome [him]. [...] Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria to say, “I am your servant and your son; come and deliver me from the hands of the king of Aram and from the hands of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” Ahaz took the gold and silver that were on hand in the House of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace and sent them as a gift to the king of Assyria. [...] When King Ahaz went to Damascus to greet King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, he saw the altar in Damascus. King Ahaz sent the priest Uriah a sketch of the altar and a detailed plan of its construction. The priest Uriah did just as King Ahaz had instructed him from Damascus; the priest Uriah built the altar before King Ahaz returned from Damascus. When the king returned from Damascus, and when the king saw the altar, the king drew near the altar, ascended it. and offered his burnt offering and meal offering; he poured his libation, and he dashed the blood of his offering of well-being against the altar. [...]"
And in Yeshayahu 7:10-13 it says:
"The LORD spoke further to Ahaz: “Ask for a sign from the LORD your God, anywhere down to Sheol or up to the sky.” But Ahaz replied, “I will not ask, and I will not test the LORD.” “Listen, House of David,” [Isaiah] retorted, “is it not enough for you to treat men as helpless that you also treat my God as helpless? [...]"
Achaz never really believed in Hashem. He might have believed that He existed, but he didn't believe in Him as a powerful entity that should be worshipped. For this, the name of Hashem was removed from his name, to symbolize that he didn't mind "holding on" to the whichever deity was "in style" - and somehow that was never Hashem.
The p'shat, plainer explanation is based on something that can be seen often with the Assyrians (and also sometimes with the Babylonians) which is that they keep attaching old, currently-unused names to different people and places. A prime example of this is that for years after Yehu killed the House of Ach'av, the Assyrians still referred to the Kingdom of Yisrael as "Ma'at Omri", i.e., the Land of Omri, who was Ach'av's father. The most likely explanation is that if this fact would have been pointed out to an Assyrian, he would have replied: "היינו הך", or "same dif." In other words, they didn't really care about being politically correct. It's possible that the Assyrians simply thought that Achaz's name was the same as one of the past kings of Yisrael, Yehoachaz, son of Yehu, and that led to the mix-up. Per this explanation, Achaz's name is really just Achaz.
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