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

42 names, uncommon — 100 to 499 a year, in United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

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 499 in 2025
Jonas Jonas means dove, and the prophet's story turns on it — a man named for the bird sent out to find land is himself sent overseas, refuses, and is carried there inside a fish instead.
Boy Hebrew 476 in 2025
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 474 in 2025
Danny Danny is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," a diminutive of Daniel.
Boy Hebrew 462 in 2025
Nathanael Nathanael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has given," and it is the same name as Nathaniel with the spelling closer to the Greek.
Boy Hebrew 442 in 2025
Gabrielle Gabrielle is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my strength," the French feminine of Gabriel.
Girl French 471 in 2025
Sam Sam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has heard," a short form of Samuel.
Boy Hebrew 452 in 2025
Tomas Tomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," a form of Thomas used across Ireland, Scandinavia and the Hispanic world.
Boy Irish 394 in 2025
Martha Martha is a girl's name of Aramaic origin meaning "lady" or "mistress of the house."
Girl Aramaic 393 in 2025
Mathéo Mathéo is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of God," a French form built from Matthieu on the Italian pattern.
Boy French 344 in 2025
Bethany Bethany is a village outside Jerusalem, and its meaning is contested — house of figs and house of the poor are both proposed.
Girl Hebrew 362 in 2025
Noé Noé is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "rest" or "comfort," the French and Spanish form of Noah.
Boy French 355 in 2025
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 344 in 2025
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 323 in 2025
Benny Benny means son of the right hand, and Jacob overruled the name at the deathbed — Rachel called the child son of my sorrow as she died, and his father renamed him on the spot.
Boy Hebrew 325 in 2025
Ben Ben is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "son," used both as a short form of Benjamin and as a name in its own right.
Boy Hebrew 292 in 2025
Léa Léa is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the French form of Leah, the elder sister of Rachel in Genesis.
Girl French 321 in 2025
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 313 in 2025
Rebekah Rebekah is the spelling the King James Bible uses for the Old Testament, while the New Testament in the same book uses Rebecca — one translation, two spellings, and English inherited both.
Girl Hebrew 302 in 2025
Reuben Reuben is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "behold, a son."
Boy Hebrew 269 in 2025
Mathew Mathew drops a t from Matthew, and the doubled t was never in the Hebrew — it entered through the Greek and Latin spellings, so the shorter form is arguably closer to the original.
Boy English 235 in 2025
Toby Toby is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is good."
Unisex Hebrew 335 in 2025
Joe Joe is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," a short form of Joseph that has become the English word for an ordinary person.
Boy Hebrew 230 in 2025
Salomé Salomé is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "peace," and the woman the name is best known for is never actually named in the gospels.
Girl French 239 in 2025
Ismail Ismail is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God will hear," the Arabic form of Ishmael, counted in Islam as the ancestor of the Arab peoples.
Boy Arabic 204 in 2025
Susan Susan is a girl's name from a Hebrew word for lily, taken in turn from an Egyptian word for lotus.
Girl Hebrew 222 in 2025
Tiago Tiago is a boy's name of Portuguese origin meaning "supplanter," a form of James created by a misdivision of Santiago.
Boy Portuguese 192 in 2025
Raquel Raquel means ewe, and the animal is the point — Rachel is a shepherd in Genesis, met at a well while watering her father's flock, so the name and the story match exactly.
Girl Spanish 209 in 2025
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 264 in 2025
Pierre Pierre is a boy's name, the French form of Peter, from the Greek for rock.
Boy French 159 in 2025
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 171 in 2025
Dina Dina is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "judged" or "vindicated," borne by Jacob's daughter in one of the harshest stories in Genesis.
Girl Hebrew 168 in 2025
Micheal Micheal is a boy's name of Hebrew origin whose full form is a rhetorical question — who is like God?
Boy Irish 130 in 2025
Zack Zack is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered," a short form of Zachary.
Boy Hebrew 126 in 2025
Jonathon Jonathon respells Jonathan, and the original names a gift — Yahweh has given, borne in scripture by the friend whose bond with David the text describes in terms it uses nowhere else.
Boy English 119 in 2025
Zakaria Zakaria is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord has remembered," the Arabic form of Zechariah, who is named in the Quran as the guardian of Maryam.
Boy Arabic 114 in 2025
Youssef Youssef is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God will increase," the Arabic form of Joseph.
Boy Arabic 110 in 2025
Abbie Abbie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "my father is joy," a short form of Abigail, whose bearer talks David out of a massacre.
Girl Hebrew 125 in 2025
Lois Lois is a girl's name that appears once in the New Testament, in a letter naming Timothy's grandmother, and its meaning has never been established.
Girl Greek 124 in 2025
Hawa Hawa is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "living one," the Arabic form of Eve, and in France it arrives from West Africa rather than the Middle East.
Girl Arabic 111 in 2025
Sammy Sammy means God has heard, or possibly name of God — the Hebrew admits both readings, and the Bible's own explanation of Samuel uses a pun on asking that fits neither.
Boy Hebrew 110 in 2025
Bennie Bennie means son of the right hand, and Jacob renamed the child to get there — his dying mother called him son of my sorrow, and his father would not let the name stand.
Unisex Hebrew 114 in 2025

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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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