blackelectric's Personal Name List

Means "female gazelle" in Hebrew, the feminine form of the word ץְבִי (tsevi). In the Old Testament this is the name of the mother of King Joash of Judah.

Greek form of Zechariah. This form of the name is used in most English translations of the New Testament to refer to the father of John the Baptist. It was also borne by an 8th-century pope (called Zachary in English).

Hebrew form of Jesse.

Probably of Persian origin, possibly a superlative form of 𐎺𐎢 (vahu) meaning "good". According to the Old Testament this was the name of the first wife of King Ahasuerus of Persia before he married Esther.

Greek form of Tobiah. This is the name of the hero of the apocryphal Book of Tobit, which appears in many English versions of the Old Testament. It relates how Tobit's son Tobias, with the help of the angel Raphael, is able to drive away a demon who has plagued Sarah, who subsequently becomes his wife. This story was popular in the Middle Ages, and the name came into occasional use in parts of Europe at that time. In England it became common after the Protestant Reformation.

Means "date palm" in Hebrew. According to the Old Testament Tamar was the daughter-in-law of Judah and later his wife. This was also the name of a daughter of King David. She was raped by her half-brother Amnon, leading to his murder by her brother Absalom. The name was borne by a 12th-century ruling queen of Georgia who presided over the kingdom at the peak of its power.

Probably from the name of the Sabaean people, who had a kingdom in the southern Arabian Peninsula and eastern Ethiopia. Sheba is a place name in the Old Testament, famous as the home of the Queen of Sheba, who visited King Solomon after hearing of his wisdom. This name is also borne by several male characters in the Bible.

Means "Yahweh is ruler" in Hebrew, from שָׂרָה (sara) meaning "to have power" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of several minor characters in the Old Testament, including the father of Ezra.

Means "my princess" in Hebrew, a possessive form of שָׂרָה (sara) meaning "lady, princess, noblewoman". In the Old Testament, this was Sarah's name before God changed it (see Genesis 17:15).

Form of Uzziah used in the Greek, Latin and French Bibles. This spelling is also found in some English translations of the New Testament, in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew.

From the Hebrew name אוֹפִיר (ʾOfir), meaning unknown. This is the name of a son of Joktan in the Old Testament (where it is also used as a place name).

From the Greek name Νικόδημος (Nikodemos) meaning "victory of the people", derived from Greek νίκη (nike) meaning "victory" and δῆμος (demos) meaning "the people". This is the name of a character in the New Testament who helps Joseph of Arimathea entomb Jesus.

Means "marked" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of the head of a family of temple servants.

Means "Yahweh comforts" in Hebrew, derived from נָחַם (naḥam) meaning "to comfort" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. According to the Book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament he was a leader of the Jews who was responsible for the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the return from the Babylonian captivity.

Form of Maria used in the Greek Old Testament. In the Greek New Testament both this spelling and Μαρία (Maria) are used. It is also the Georgian, Armenian and Malay form, as well as an alternate transcription of Arabic مريم (see Maryam).

Means "bitter" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is a name that Naomi calls herself after the death of her husband and sons (see Ruth 1:20).

Possibly means "joined, attached" in Hebrew. As told in the Old Testament, Levi was the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of the Israelites, known as the Levites. This was the tribe that formed the priestly class of the Israelites. The brothers Moses and Aaron were members. This name also occurs in the New Testament, where it is borne by a son of Alphaeus. He might be the same person as the apostle Matthew.

As an English Christian name, Levi came into use after the Protestant Reformation.

Means "for God" in Hebrew, from the proposition לְמוֹ (lemo) combined with אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God". This was the name of a king briefly mentioned in Proverbs in the Old Testament. In the Book of Mormon it is the name of a rebellious son of Lehi and Sariah. It is also borne by the hero of Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels (1726).

Latinized form of Λάζαρος (Lazaros), a Greek form of Eleazar used in the New Testament. Lazarus was a man from Bethany, the brother of Mary and Martha, who was restored to life by Jesus.

At present this name is most commonly used in English-speaking Africa.

From the Hebrew name קוֹלָיָה (Qolayah) meaning "voice of Yahweh" from קוֹל (qol) "sound, voice" and Yah. This was the name of two biblical Israelites, one of whom was the father of Ahab and 'a false prophet and a lecherous man'.

From the Hebrew name קְצִיעָה (Qetsiʿa) meaning "cassia, cinnamon", from the name of the spice tree. In the Old Testament she is a daughter of Job.

From the Hebrew name יֹאשִׁיָהוּ (Yoshiyahu) meaning "Yahweh supports", from אָשְׁיָה (ʾashya) meaning "support" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. In the Old Testament this is the name of a king of Judah famous for his religious reforms. He was killed fighting the Egyptians at Megiddo in the 7th century BC. In England this name came into use after the Protestant Reformation.

From the Hebrew name יִתְרוֹ (Yiṯro), which was derived from the Hebrew word יֶתֶר (yeṯer) meaning "abundance" [1]. According to the Old Testament, Jethro was a Midianite priest who sheltered Moses when he fled Egypt. He was the father of Zipporah, who became Moses's wife. A famous bearer of the name was Jethro Tull (1674-1741), an English inventor and agriculturist.

Possibly means "man of hire" or "there is reward", from Hebrew שָׁכַר (shaḵar) meaning "hire, wage, reward" [2]. In the Old Testament this is the name of one of the twelve sons of Jacob (by Leah) and the founder of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. A justification for the name's meaning is given in Genesis 30:18.

Means "he resembles me" in Hebrew. This is the name of a son of Asher in the Old Testament.

Means "he guards me" in Hebrew, derived from שָׁמַר (shamar) meaning "to guard". This name is mentioned briefly in the Old Testament.

Means "watchful" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of King David's priest. As an English Christian given name, Ira began to be used after the Protestant Reformation. In the 17th century the Puritans brought it to America, where remained moderately common into the 20th century.

French form of Euodia via its latinized form Evodia.

From the Hebrew name חַוָּה (Ḥawwa), which was derived from the Hebrew word חָוָה (ḥawa) meaning "to breathe" or the related word חָיָה (ḥaya) meaning "to live". According to the Old Testament Book of Genesis, Eve and Adam were the first humans. God created her from one of Adam's ribs to be his companion. At the urging of a serpent she ate the forbidden fruit and shared some with Adam, causing their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Despite this potentially negative association, the name was occasionally used by Christians during the Middle Ages. In the English-speaking world both Eve and the Latin form Eva were revived in the 19th century, with the latter being more common.

Greek form of Ezra. This spelling is used in parts of the Old Testament Apocrypha.

Form of Elizabeth used in many versions of the Old Testament, where it belongs to the wife of Aaron.

From the Hebrew name אֱלִישַׁע (ʾElishaʿ), a contracted form of אֱלִישׁוּעַ (ʾElishuaʿ) meaning "my God is salvation", derived from אֵל (ʾel) meaning "God" and יָשַׁע (yashaʿ) meaning "to save, to deliver". According to the Old Testament, Elisha was a prophet and miracle worker. He was the attendant of Elijah and succeeded him after his ascension to heaven.

Means "delicate, weak, languishing" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament she is the lover of Samson, whom she betrays to the Philistines by cutting his hair, which is the source of his power. Despite her character flaws, the name began to be used by the Puritans in the 17th century. It has been used occasionally in the English-speaking world since that time.

Means "Yahweh has drawn up" in Hebrew, from דָּלָה (dala) meaning "to draw up, to hang" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of several Old Testament characters.

Means "daughter of salvation" or "daughter of prosperity" in Hebrew. The first element is Hebrew בַּת (bat 2) meaning "daughter"; the second element could be derived from the verb יָשַׁע (yasha') "to save, to deliver", which is related to the verb שוע (shawa') meaning "to cry out (for salvation)" and the nouns שוע (shua'), שוע (shoa') and שועה (shawa) all of which mean "a cry (for salvation)", or it could be derived from a noun שוע which has been interpreted as meaning "riches, wealth".

According to George R. Stewart (1979): 'In the biblical text this name is sometimes only another form for Bathsheba, though at least once it is the name of another person. It occurs rarely among names in early New England. It may represent an attempt to provide a substitute for Bathsheba, without that name's evil suggestions. Bathshua, however, failed to become established.' A bearer of the variant Bathsua was the great 17th-century scholar Bathsua Makin.

Means "daughter of the oath" in Hebrew, derived from בַּת (baṯ) meaning "daughter" and שָׁבַע (shavaʿ) meaning "oath". According to the Old Testament, this was the name of a woman married to Uriah the Hittite. She became pregnant by King David, so he arranged to have her husband killed in battle and then married her. She was the mother of Solomon.

From the Hebrew name עֲזַרְיָה (ʿAzarya) meaning "Yahweh has helped", derived from עָזַר (ʿazar) meaning "help" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of many Old Testament characters including of one of the three men the Babylonian king ordered cast into a fiery furnace. His Babylonian name was Abednego.

Possibly means "Yahweh is exalted" in Hebrew, from עֲתַל (ʿaṯal) possibly meaning "exalted" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. In the Old Testament this is both a feminine and masculine name. It was borne by the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, who later came to rule Judah as a queen.

Means "crown" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament Atarah is a minor character, the wife of Jerahmeel.

Possibly means "healer" in Hebrew. This name was borne by the third king of Judah, as told in the Old Testament.

From Ἁνανίας (Hananias), the Greek form of Hananiah. In Acts in the New Testament this is the name of three characters: a disciple in Damascus, the husband of Sapphira, and the high priest of the Jews who tries Paul.

Means "Yahweh has said" in Hebrew, derived from the roots אָמַר (ʾamar) meaning "to say" and יָהּ (yah) referring to the Hebrew God. This is the name of several Old Testament characters.

Contracted form of Adalia. This is the name of the father of one of King David's herdsmen in the Old Testament.

Meaning unknown, possibly of Persian origin. In Book of Esther in the Old Testament this is the name of a son of Haman the Agagite.

From the Hebrew name אַבְשָׁלוֹם (ʾAvshalom) meaning "father is peace", derived from אָב (ʾav) meaning "father" and שָׁלוֹם (shalom) meaning "peace". In the Old Testament he is a son of King David. He avenged his sister Tamar by arranging the murder of her rapist, their half-brother Amnon. He later led a revolt against his father. While fleeing on the back of a mule he got his head caught in a tree and was killed by Joab.