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This page introduces a list of about 2,600 proper names from the Bible. It was originally compiled from the 19th century public domain resources of Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary as part of Hitchcock's New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible written by Roswell Dwight Hitchcock and Dictionary of the Bible by William R. Smith. It has since been augmented by names found in other sources.
Some of the names are given with a proposed etymological meaning. For further information on the names included on the list, the reader may consult the sources listed below in the References and External Links.
Significance of names
Names played a variety of roles in the Bible. The names given to characters sometimes relate to the role of those characters in biblical narratives, as in the case of Nabal, a foolish character whose name means "fool." Names in the Bible can represent human hopes, divine revelations, or are used by prophets to illustrate their prophecies. See also Theophory.
Before the Protestant Reformation the most common names were Adam, Benjamin, Elias, Daniel, David, Joseph, Samson, and Solomon. After the Reformation names like Aaron, Elijah, Joshua, Moses, and Nathaniel were added to mainstream popularity. Saint names associated with the Roman Catholic Church were used less after the Reformation. Maher-shalal-hash-baz is the longest name in the Bible, and was much used as a given name. Mary and John are the most used of the Christian names.
Most of the meanings come from Hebrew, while many of the others come from Greek, Aramaic, or Latin.
Lists of biblical names