The interest in the history of the appearance of names has always been high among people. He does not fade today. The owner of a given name usually wants to know where it came from, which means what impact it can have on a person’s fate. But from the whole list of proper forms used today, a special group is made up of biblical names. Each of them has not only a unique history of its appearance, but also a certain meaning.
What names are called biblical?
The heroes of the Old and New Testament narratives are endowed with names that have different origins. Regardless of this, they are usually classified as biblical names. In the future, many of them began to be used by different peoples of the earth. Names from the New Testament were especially popular after the widespread adoption of Christianity. Later they were enshrined in church names and firmly entered the life of many peoples. They are used today.
All biblical names are of different origin. Among them there are Hebrew, Greek, Egyptian, Chaldean, Aramaic, Canaanite. In total, in the narratives of the Holy Scripture, researchers have about 2800 personal names. Some of them are equally revered by both the Orthodox and the Catholic Church.
Hebrew names
Most of the names used in the Bible are of Hebrew origin. They, in turn, can be divided into two large groups:
- phrase names or phrases;
- having the grammatical form of one word.
The first group includes such names as Jeroboam, which means "the people will multiply, " Abigail - in translation means "my father is joy." The same category of names includes those where the name of God is mentioned. An example is the following: Daniel - “God is my judge”, Eleazar - “God helped”, Iedidia - “favorite of Yahweh”, Elijah - “my god - Yahweh”, Joel - “Yahweh - Lord God”, Joatham - "Yahweh is perfect, " Jonathan is "given to Yahweh."
Examples of biblical names having the grammatical form of one word: Laban - "white", Jonah - "dove", Epham - "constancy", "immutability", Noah - "rest", "peace", Anna - "grace", "grace ", Tamar -" fig tree ".
Borrowed Bible Names
As mentioned earlier, not all names in the Bible are of Hebrew origin. The borrowing of words came from the languages of neighboring peoples. This tendency is considered especially vividly in the presentation of the Old Testament. Examples are such names: Potiphar - "belonging to Ra", borrowed from Ancient Egypt. Esther is a "star", came from Persia. Mordecai comes from the name of the Babylonian deity. As a rule, the characters borrowed from the Bible did not belong to the Jewish people.
In the New Testament, there is another large group of onyms that are of Greek and Roman origin. The following of them can serve as examples: Aristarchus - “the best ruler”, Phlegont - “burning”, “burning”, Fortunat - “successful”, “happy”, Pud - “bashful”, “modest”, “decent”.
Greek was widely spoken in a large territory, including the Middle East. This was the reason that the Greek names were used to criticize children and Jewish nationality.
Roman names used in the Bible are also not an indicator of the ethnic origin of the holder: they were carried by everyone who had Roman citizenship. So, the Jew Saul (“begging”, “begging”) is also known to us as Paul. Indeed, the apostle Paul was a Roman citizen, and hereditary, which confirms the dialogue with the Jerusalem captain of Jerusalem: “Then the captain, approaching him, said:“ Tell me, are you a Roman citizen? ” He said yes. The commander replied: "I acquired this citizenship for a lot of money." Paul said: "And I was born in him."
The first two disciples of Christ also had names of different origins. One of them was called Simon - this is a Hebrew name, and the other was called Andrey - the name comes from the Greek language.
A short list of names. Their main meaning
Modern scholars are constantly making attempts to combine the names of biblical characters into a single list. An interesting fact is that the publication of such lists have a variety of variations. This applies to both the sound of the name and the disclosure of its meaning.
The following is a list and translation of the biblical names found most frequently in Scripture:
- Adam is the first man born into the world by the will of God. The word is translated into modern language in the meaning of "earth".
- Eve is the first woman on earth, the wife of Adam. The name means live.
- Cain is the first child born to humans. Adam and Eve were his parents. Translated, the word means "brand", "blacksmith" or "forge".
- Abel is the second son of Adam and Eve. The word is translated as "vanity", "steam", "breath".
- The name Abraham in some languages sounds like Abraham. Translated means "father of a large number of people", "father of peoples."
- The name Joseph is one of the most common in biblical tales. In some publications, it sounds like Yosef. The word means beautiful. Sometimes translated as "may God increase."
The common name Mary today also falls into the category of Bible Names. His translation sounds like "coveted, " "beloved."
The meaning of many names used in the Bible can be understood only from the specific content of a particular story.
The names of biblical heroes in the language of modern Islamic peoples
Biblical female names, as well as male ones, have become widespread in many regions. The countries in whose territory the religion of Islam is spread today are no exception.
Scientists have proven that some names from the languages of Islamic peoples have an analogue from the Bible. The coincidence cannot be called random. A similar fact may indicate the unity of peoples in the distant past. Examples of such names are: Ibrahim - Abraham, Isa - Jesus, Ilyas - Elijah, Musa - Moses, Mariam - Mary, Yusuf - Joseph, Yakub - Jacob.
Male Name Rating
Social public organizations regularly publish lists of the most popular male names that are used to name newborn boys in different countries of the world. According to statistics, the first ten lines of this list are biblical names. The masculine forms of such onyms in modern languages can have a different sound, but their roots go back to the times described in the Old and New Testaments.
It is known that the name Jacob has been on the top of the list of the most popular biblical names for boys for several years running. Onyms such as Ethan, Daniel, Noah, Elijah, John are also popular.
Bible female names: rating
A similar situation in the ranking is observed when choosing female personal names. Bible names for girls are popular in the USA, Europe and the CIS.
For a long time, the leading position in the list was occupied by the name Isabella as a variant of the name Elizabeth. In recent years, it has been shifted to second place by the personal name Sofia. Various variations of the name Eve are also popular, one of them is Ava. For many years, the name Maria has been out of competition on different continents of the earth.
Recently, the following trend has been observed. Parents choose forgotten names belonging to characters from the Old Testament to criticize the kids. Abigail, or Abigail, is one of these. But today its popularity has risen sharply. And today it is at the top of the ranking, in which the majority are biblical names for girls.
But it is also worth noting that in the Bible, most female names belong to maidservants or those whose fate was not so supportive. Therefore, parents who are confident that the name is capable of influencing the events of a person’s life should know well which characters belonged to the biblical names. And their meanings also need to be explored.
The names of angels and archangels
Biblical stories repeatedly mention events related to the actions of angels and archangels. According to legend, these are holy and incorporeal spirits whose purpose is to faithfully serve the Lord.
The angelic host is so numerous that it was impossible to list the names of each of them in Holy Scripture. However, from the same source it is known that there are seven spirits who, unlike other angels, are admitted to the throne of God. Their names are also known - Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Selafiel, Uriel, Barahiel, Yehudiiel, Jeremiel. As you can see, some of the biblical names for boys presented on the list are used to criticize children today.
Who owned the name Michael in the Bible
The personal name Mikhail in various variations is quite popular today. As already mentioned, the name is of biblical origin. Michael (as an option - Michael) translates "who is like God."
The dominant position among the supreme angels is precisely Michael. On icons, he most often appears in the guise of a warrior outfitted in full combat armor. This is a reminder that in heaven once upon a time there were events when two armies of angels were in opposition.
Michael with his army was forced to confront the army of fallen angels. The image of the Archangel Michael, like his name, is a symbol of honor, justice, courage.
Names and Holy Baptism
The statement that at the baptism of a child he is given the name of one of the angels is erroneous. This is due to the fact that the people have such a thing as angel's day. In fact, during this sacrament, a person can be assigned not only the names of angels, but also the holy servants of the church, biblical names - male or female. For example, the name Ivan can be given to a boy who was baptized on the day of St. John the Theologian. Peter refers to men who were born or accepted the sacrament of baptism on the day of the apostles Peter and Paul. It is believed that the saints in whose honor a person is named, like the guardian angels, protect him from adversity and all sorts of misfortunes.
