Biblical names come mostly from Hebrew, and many carry God in their meaning: Gabriel, "God is my strength," Raphaël, "God heals". The meaning of Marie (Mary) or Esther is still debated. Several characters also appear in the Quran in a different form: Joseph becomes Youssef, Marie becomes Maryam.
Here are the boy names from the Old and then the New Testament, the names of the women of the Bible, ten rare names, and the matches with the Quran.
Boy names from the Old Testament
The Old Testament gives us the patriarchs, the kings and the prophets. For each one, we kept the character and the meaning given by the dictionary of proper names of the Bible, or the word "debated" when scholars do not settle the question.
| Name | Character | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Adam | The first man | From adamah, the earth |
| Noé | The builder of the ark | Rest |
| Abraham | The patriarch | "Father of a multitude" |
| Isaac | His son | "He will laugh" |
| Jacob | Isaac's son, father of the twelve tribes | Debated |
| Joseph | Jacob's son, sold by his brothers | "May he add" |
| Moïse | The one who leads the people out of Egypt | Debated |
| David | The shepherd who became king | Beloved |
| Salomon | His son, the wise king | Linked to shalom, peace |
| Élie | The prophet | "My God is Yahweh" |
| Daniel | The prophet in the lions' den | "God is my judge" |
| Samuel | The prophet who anoints David | Debated |
| Jonas | The prophet swallowed by a great fish | Dove |
| Raphaël | The archangel of the Book of Tobit | "God heals" |
David and Salomon join the king names. For names drawn from Hebrew but used today in Israel and in Jewish families, see our Jewish names, which follow a different logic.
Boy names from the New Testament
The New Testament adds the apostles and the evangelists, several of whose names come from Greek rather than Hebrew:
- Jean: "God is gracious," the Baptist and the apostle;
- Pierre: from the Greek petros, stone, the name Jesus gives to Simon;
- Paul: from the Latin paulus, small, the apostle of the letters;
- Matthieu: "gift of God," the evangelist;
- Thomas: "twin" in Aramaic, the apostle who wants to see in order to believe;
- André: from the Greek, manly, Peter's brother;
- Gabriel: "God is my strength," the angel who announces the birth of Jesus.
Girl names from the Bible
The women of the Bible are fewer, but their names have lasted through the centuries. Our favorite, Abigaïl, means "my father is joy," and it remains rare in France.
| Name | Character | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Ève | The first woman | Living |
| Sarah | Abraham's wife | Princess |
| Rébecca | Isaac's wife | Debated |
| Rachel | Jacob's wife | Ewe |
| Léa | Her sister, Jacob's first wife | Debated |
| Débora | The prophetess and judge | Bee |
| Ruth | The foreigner loyal to her mother-in-law | Debated |
| Noémie | That mother-in-law | "My sweetness" |
| Anne | The mother of the prophet Samuel | Grace |
| Esther | The queen who saves her people | Debated |
| Suzanne | The heroine of the Book of Daniel | Lily |
| Marie | The mother of Jesus | Debated |
| Élisabeth | The mother of John the Baptist | "God is an oath" |
| Salomé | A disciple present at the tomb | From shalom, peace |
| Marthe | The sister of Mary and Lazarus | "Mistress of the house," in Aramaic |
Marie, the most widely used name on the list, is also the one whose meaning is most debated: we read in turn "beloved" or "drop of the sea." Neither of these translations is agreed upon.
Ten rare biblical names
Want a biblical name you won't hear at every school pickup? These appear in the Bible but remain rare in France:
- Azaria: "God has helped," borne by several characters, including a king of Judah;
- Élisée: "God is salvation," the prophet who succeeds Elijah;
- Ézéchiel: "God makes strong," the prophet of visions;
- Zacharie: "God remembers," the father of John the Baptist;
- Tobie: "God is good," the hero of the book that bears his name;
- Adina: "delicate," a girl's name from the Old Testament;
- Yaël: "mountain goat," the heroine of the Book of Judges;
- Tamar: "palm tree," borne by several women of the Bible;
- Abigaïl: "my father is joy," David's wife;
- Lydie: "the Lydian woman," a dealer in purple cloth converted by Paul.
In this video, Talyna's World reviews fifteen boy names and fifteen girl names, with their origin and the character who bears them in the Bible, including several very rare ones such as Azaria or Adina.
One character, two forms: from the Bible to Arabic
Many figures of the Bible are also prophets of Islam, under an Arabic form of their name. For a family with both traditions, or simply to understand where a name heard at school comes from, here are the matches:
| In the Bible | In Arabic |
|---|---|
| Abraham | Ibrahim |
| Moïse | Moussa |
| Joseph | Youssef |
| Noé | Nouh |
| David | Daoud |
| Salomon | Souleymane |
| Jonas | Younès |
| Élie | Ilyas |
| Isaac | Ishaq |
| Jacob | Yacoub |
| Zacharie | Zakaria |
| Jean-Baptiste | Yahya |
| Jésus | Issa |
| Marie | Maryam |
Maryam is the only woman named in the sacred text of Islam, and surah 19 bears her name. Marie, Myriam and Maryam thus designate the same character, held in three traditions.
Choose the character first
Before settling on a biblical name, read a few lines about the character who bears it: their story will matter as much as the meaning. Then say the name aloud with your last name, and keep the one whose story resembles you.
Sources
- Odelain and Séguineau, Dictionnaire des noms propres de la Bible, Cerf, 1978
- Le Coran, translated by Denise Masson, Gallimard, 1967
Spotted a mistake or outdated information? Let us know, we check every report.
