J.I.'s Personal Name List

Means "blessed" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a companion of the prophet Jeremiah, acting as his scribe and assistant. The deuterocanonical Book of Baruch was supposedly written by him. A famous bearer was Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677), a Dutch-Jewish rationalist philosopher.

Means "worthless" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this term is used to refer to various wicked people. In the New Testament, Paul uses it as a name for Satan. In later Christian tradition Belial became an evil angel associated with lawlessness and lust.

Means "swiftness" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of the man who marries Ruth. This was also the name of one of the two pillars that stood outside Solomon's Temple (with Jachin).

Variant of Kenan 1.

From כְּנַעַן (Kena'an), the Hebrew name of the ancient region of Canaan, which was possibly derived from a root meaning "low, humble". In the Old Testament this is the name of a son of Ham. He is said to be the ancestor and namesake of the Canaanite peoples.

Latin name that was derived from crescere "to grow". This name is mentioned briefly in one of Paul's epistles in the New Testament.

Biblical Hebrew form of Daniel.

Latin form of Greek Δαρεῖος (Dareios), from the Old Persian name 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎢𐏁 (Darayauš), shortened from 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 (Darayavauš). It means "possessing goodness", composed of 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹 (daraya) meaning "to possess, to hold" and 𐎺𐎢 (vau) meaning "good" [1]. Three ancient kings of Persia bore this name, including Darius the Great who expanded the Achaemenid Empire to its greatest extent. His forces invaded Greece but were defeated in the Battle of Marathon.

It has never been very common as a given name in the English-speaking world, though it rose in popularity after the middle of the 20th century. In the United States it is frequently an African-American name. In Lithuania it may be given in honour of the Lithuanian-American aviator Steponas Darius (1896-1933), who died attempting to fly nonstop from New York to Lithuania. His surname was an Americanized form of the original Darašius.

Possibly means "fountain" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of one of the conspirators against Moses.

Means "oak tree" in Hebrew. According to the Old Testament this was the name of one of the ruling judges of the Israelites. A notable modern bearer is the entrepreneur Elon Musk (1971-), who was born in South Africa and also holds Canadian and American citizenship (he is not Jewish).

Form of Phinehas used in the Latin Old Testament.

Means "my reward is God" in Hebrew. This name appears in the Old Testament belonging to a son of Pedahzur. It was also borne by a 1st-century Jewish priest and scholar, mentioned in Acts in the New Testament as a teacher of Saint Paul.

Old Church Slavic form of Gabriel.

Means "Yahweh is great" in Hebrew. This was the name of several characters in the Old Testament, including the governor of Judah appointed by Nebuchadnezzar.

Means "gracious" in Hebrew. This is the name of several minor characters in the Old Testament.

Greek form of Annas.

Means "God sees" in Hebrew. This is the name of a king of Aram in the Old Testament.

Means "wild goat" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a servant of Solomon.

Means "sorrow" in Hebrew. This is the name of a character in the Old Testament who is blessed by God.

Means "honeycomb" and "honeysuckle" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a descendant of Saul.

From the Hebrew name יְהוֹרָם (Yehoram) meaning "exalted by Yahweh". In the Old Testament this is the name of a king of Judah and a king of Israel, both of whom ruled at about the same time in the 9th century BC.

Means "taught by Yahweh" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament, Jeriah is a descendant of Hebron.

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

Form of Cyrus used in the Hebrew Bible.

Derived from Hebrew לָבָן (lavan) meaning "white". In the Old Testament this is the name of the father of Rachel and Leah.

From an Old Testament place name meaning "jawbone" in Hebrew, so called because it was the site where the hero Samson defeated 1,000 warriors using only the jawbone of a donkey as a weapon. It is also used in the Book of Mormon as the name of a prophet who travels out of Jerusalem and settles in the Americas.

Form of Levi used in the Greek Bible.

From the Hebrew name מַחְלִי (Machli), possibly meaning "weak, sick". This was the name of two characters mentioned briefly in the Old Testament.

Means "facing God" in Hebrew. This is the name of two minor characters in the Old Testament.

Means "spacious" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is the name of a woman of Jericho who helped the Israelites capture the city.

Biblical Latin form of Rachel, as well as a German form.

Means "friend of God" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament this is another name for Jethro. The fantasy author John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a famous bearer.

Biblical Hebrew form of Rebecca.

Means "heard by Yahweh" in Hebrew. This name is borne by many characters in the Old Testament including a prophet in the reign of Rehoboam.

Albanian form of Thomas, as well as the Old Church Slavic form.

Biblical Hebrew form of Uriah.

Russian form of Barnabas.

Biblical Hebrew form of Vashti.

Hebrew form of Jacob.

Hebrew form of Joab.

Hebrew form of Jubal. It is used as both a masculine and feminine name in modern Hebrew.