Biblical Names

Names borne by someone in the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament. Being in the text is not the same as being a hero of it — several popular biblical names belong to minor, ambiguous or badly behaved figures.

Rankings for

227 names, most popular first in Northern Ireland

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Marie Marie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the French form of Mary, and the largest name in our entire dataset with more than 2.8 million births on record.
Girl French #380
Noa Noa is a unisex name with two separate origins: a Hebrew girls' name meaning "movement," borne by one of the daughters of Zelophehad, and a short form of Noah.
Unisex Hebrew #382
Madeline Madeline is a girl's name meaning "of Magdala," a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee whose name comes from the Hebrew migdal, a tower.
Girl Hebrew #388
Elise Elise is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," a short form of Elizabeth.
Girl French #393
Kaleb Kaleb respells Caleb, and the Hebrew reads as dog — which was not an insult but a claim of loyalty, since Caleb is one of only two spies who trusted the report on Canaan.
Boy Hebrew #395
Mara Mara is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "bitter," and it is the name Naomi asks to be called after losing her family.
Girl Hebrew #405
Jordan Jordan is a name from the river, whose Hebrew name Yarden means "to descend" or "flow down" — the Jordan drops sharply from its source to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the earth's land surface.
Unisex Hebrew #425
Tabitha Tabitha means gazelle, and it is Aramaic rather than Hebrew — one of a small set of New Testament names from the everyday language of first-century Judaea.
Girl Aramaic #425
Solomon Solomon means peace, and it charts in all seven markets we track — the same Hebrew shalom behind the Arabic Suleiman, so one name covers the Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions at once.
Boy Hebrew #427
Joanna Joanna means God is gracious, and it charts in all seven markets we track — the United States 306th, Ireland 367th, Scotland 395th, Northern Ireland 432nd, England and Wales 514th and France 721st.
Girl Hebrew #432
Gideon Gideon is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "hewer" or "one who cuts down".
Boy Hebrew #437
Briella Briella is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, a short form of Gabriella meaning "God is my strength".
Girl Hebrew #466
Kohen Kohen is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "priest".
Boy Hebrew #467
Michaela Michaela is a question, not a statement — the Hebrew behind it asks who is like God, which was a rhetorical challenge rather than a claim, and the answer it expects is nobody.
Girl Hebrew #479
Malakai Malakai is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "my messenger".
Boy Hebrew #489
Ana Ana is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "favor" or "grace," and it is the form of Anna used across Spanish, Portuguese and Slavic Europe.
Girl Hebrew #495
Madelyn Madelyn is a girl's name and a modern American respelling of Madeline, which descends from Magdalene — meaning "of Magdala," a town on the Sea of Galilee.
Girl Hebrew #501
Jean Jean is a unisex name in our data: the French form of John, meaning "God is gracious," and separately a Scottish feminine form of Jane.
Unisex French 2,401,294 births
Susan Susan is a girl's name from a Hebrew word for lily, taken in turn from an Egyptian word for lotus.
Girl Hebrew 1,144,177 births
Pierre Pierre is a boy's name, the French form of Peter, from the Greek for rock.
Boy French 915,561 births
Ruth Ruth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin usually given as "companion" or "friend," though the derivation is not secure.
Girl Hebrew 857,586 births
Deborah Deborah is a girl's name from the Hebrew for bee, borne by the only woman to lead Israel as a judge.
Girl Hebrew 788,401 births
Rachel Rachel is a girl's name from Hebrew meaning ewe, borne by Jacob's wife in Genesis.
Girl Hebrew 697,767 births
Jose Jose is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," the Spanish and Portuguese form of Joseph.
Boy Hebrew 659,118 births
Jeremy Jeremy is a boy's name, the medieval English form of Jeremiah, from a Hebrew name generally read as God will exalt.
Boy Hebrew 609,054 births
Suzanne Suzanne is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "lily," from shoshannah.
Girl French 522,460 births
Judith Judith is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "woman of Judea," borne by the heroine who beheads Holofernes in the deuterocanonical book named for her.
Girl Hebrew 473,442 births
Madeleine Madeleine is a girl's name meaning "of Magdala," a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee, and it is a place name rather than a description.
Girl French 372,708 births
Philip Philip is a boy's name from Greek elements meaning lover of horses.
Boy Greek 368,749 births
Esther Esther is a girl's name usually connected to the Persian word for star, and possibly to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar.
Girl Persian 306,699 births
Edna Edna is a girl's name from a Hebrew word meaning delight, and it shares its root with Eden.
Girl Hebrew 296,977 births
Gabrielle Gabrielle is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my strength," the French feminine of Gabriel.
Girl French 271,640 births
Léa Léa is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the French form of Leah, the elder sister of Rachel in Genesis.
Girl French 268,173 births
Emmanuel Emmanuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is with us."
Boy Hebrew 239,638 births
Jeremiah Jeremiah is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh exalts" or "Yahweh establishes," from Yirmeyahu.
Boy Hebrew 236,479 births
Raphaël Raphaël is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has healed," borne by one of the three archangels named in scripture.
Boy French 218,375 births
Jared Jared is a boy's name from Hebrew meaning descent, borne by the father of Enoch — the one man in Genesis who does not die but is taken.
Boy Hebrew 218,211 births
Simon Simon is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he has heard," borne by the apostle Peter before his renaming.
Boy Hebrew 199,226 births
Bernice Bernice is a girl's name meaning bringer of victory, and it is the same name as Veronica — both descend from the Greek Berenike by different routes.
Girl Greek 186,722 births
Priscilla Priscilla means ancient or venerable, and it is a diminutive — so the name literally reads as little old one, which was a mark of respect rather than an insult.
Girl Latin 139,037 births
Rafael Rafael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God heals."
Boy Hebrew 125,771 births
Marthe Marthe means the lady, and it is one of very few widely used names that came into European use from Aramaic rather than Hebrew, Greek or Latin.
Girl French 123,291 births
Abraham Abraham is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "father of many."
Boy Hebrew 111,058 births
Baptiste Baptiste is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "one who immerses," taken from the title of John the Baptist rather than from a name.
Boy French 108,549 births
Giovanni Giovanni is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious," the Italian form of John.
Boy Hebrew 105,726 births
Mathis Mathis is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of God," a French form of Matthias.
Boy French 102,005 births
Genesis Genesis is a name taken from the Greek word genesis, meaning "origin" or "beginning."
Girl Greek 98,626 births
Rachael Rachael respells Rachel, meaning ewe, and the animal is the point — Rachel is a shepherd in Genesis, and Jacob works fourteen years for her, which is one of the longest courtships in scripture.
Girl Hebrew 97,021 births

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A style is our reading of a name. A decade is the register — the names children were actually given, in order, with the counts.

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