Greenford Baptist Church and GBC WEB TV

Biblical Christian Names

Written by Author unknown

Sunday, 04 February 2007

Welcome to the Biblical Meaning of Christian Names.

What a wonderful blessing our children are and choosing the name/s for your baby is part of the pleasure that parents enjoy with their new family. Christian names are important, because baby’s Christian name will normally be with him/her throughout their entire lives. Could this be daunting?... Yes! Exciting? Yes, very exciting: and many Christian parents derive additional satisfaction when they are able to know a name’s meaning before they make the final decision. There are two things that you need think about carefully. Make sure that the name you choose goes well with the surname: and that the initials don’t produce any unfortunate combinations.

A
Abel: Breath. (Able was the second son of Adam and Eve.)

Abigail: A father’s joy/Source of joy

Abiel: God is my Father

Ada: Prosperous/Happy, or Ornament

Adam: A man of the red earth. (Adam was the first man
that God created.)

Adina: Slender/Delicate

Amos: Burden/Burden bearer

Andrew: Manly/Courageous. (Andrew was the brother of
the apostle, Simon Peter.)

Anna: Grace/Graceful

Ariel: Lion of God

Asher: Happy/Lucky

B

Barnabas: Son of consolation

Benjamin: Son of the right hand. (Benjamin was the
youngest son of Jacob.)

Bernice: Victorious

Bethany: House of unripe figs

Bethesda: House of mercy

Blossom: As a rose

Boaz: Strength/Swiftness. Boaz was the husband of Ruth
(an ancestor of Jesus)

C

Cain: The firstborn son of Adam and Eve (Cain was the
first ever murderer.)

Caleb: Devoted and wholehearted

Carmel: Garden/Orchard, or Field

Claudia: She was a disciple in Rome

Cornelius: Strong/Sunrays. (In the New Testament
Cornelius was a Roman centurion)

D

Damaris: An Athenian woman who was converted by Paul

Darius: Possessing the good. (Darius was a great ruler
of Persia (now Iran) about 500 B.C.

Daniel: God is my judge. (Daniel was a prophet who
lived in Old Testament times and interpreted the sign of
the moving finger.)

David: Beloved/The adored one. (David was a great
Israelite king, who won many battles and wrote many of
the psalms.)

Deborah: The bee/An industrious woman. (Deborah was
an Old Testament prophetess who led the Israelites.)

Debra: Like Deborah

Dinah: Judgement

Delilah: Beautiful temptress/Delicate, (Delilah was the
lover of Samson. She tricked him into cutting his hair and
thus losing his strength.)

Drusilla: (The wife of Felix, the governor of Judea.

E

Eli: God is high. Eli was an Old Testament prophet.
(Eli also means ‘My God’ Jesus’ cry from the cross.

Elijah: Jehovah is God. (Eli was an Old Testament prophet.)

Elisabeth: Consecrated to God

Elisha: God is my help/My God is salvation

Emanuel: God is with us

Emma: All embracing/Wide reaching/Completely

Enoch: Dedicated teacher. (Enoch was a son of Cain)

Esther: A star, (Queen Esther was the Jewish queen of
Xerxes the king of Persia, and by her faith God used her
to save the Jewish people from annihilation.)

Ephraim: Doubly fruitful, (In the Old Testament Ephraim
was the younger son of Joseph)

Ethan: One noted for wisdom/Constant/Firm/Strong

Eve: Life giving/Life, (God made Eve from Adam’s rib and
she became the wife of the first man.)

Ezekiel: God strengthens

Ezra: The helper, (An Old Testament priest, who led the
Israelis back to Zion

G

Gabriel: Man of God/God is my strength

Gabrielle: Woman of God/God is my strength

Gideon: The mighty warrior/cutter of trees, (Gideon was
called by an angel.)

H

Hanna: Favoured by God/Graciousness/Graceful

Hannah: As Hanna (above)

Hagar: Flight/God has heard, (Hagar was a servant in
Abram’s (Abraham’s) household

Hazael: God has seen/Sees the Lord

Hazel: God has seen/Sees the Lord

Hiram: Exalted/High born, (Hiram was the King of Tyre
who helped the Jewish kings, David and Solomon

Hosanna: Please save now/A prayer of praise

Hoshea: Salvation, (Hoshea was the original name for
Joshua)

I

Immanuel: God is with us

Isaac: Laughter/The laughing one, (Isaac was a son of
Abraham and the father of Jacob,
(All were ancestors of Jesus.)

Isaiah: God is salvation, (Isaiah was a great Old
Testament prophet and many of his prophecy’s were
about Jesus Christ.)

J

Jabal: Flowing/Flowing River

Jacob: Held by the heel, God changed Jacob’s name to
Israel, and made him father of the Jewish Nation, who
are still called Israelis.)

James: Heel catcher, (Greek form of Jacob.)

Jemima: A dove

Jeremiah: God will establish/Yahweh will exalt

Jeremy: Means the same as Jeremiah (above.)

Jephthah: He will open

Jerubbaal: Contends with Baal, (the name given to
Gideon for destroying Baal’s alter.)

Jesse: God’s gift/God exists, (Jesse was the father of
king David.)

Joanna: God has been gracious, (with others she
heralded Christ’s resurrection.)

Job: He that weeps, or cries.

Joel: Jehovah is God, (Joel was one of king David’s
mighty men.)

Jonah: A man of peace/A dove.

Jonathan: God has given, (Jonathan was the eldest son
of king Saul, and a good friend of king David.)

Joseph: God shall add, (Joseph was the earthly father of
Jesus Christ, and the husband of Mary, Jesus’ mother.)

Joshua: God is salvation, (God’s man to take over from
Moses and lead the Israelites to the Promised Land.)

Jude: Praise

Judith: Jewess/A woman from Judea, Judith also means
Praise.

Julia: A family name of the Roman Caesars, it is the
feminine form of Julius.

L

Lazarus: God has helped (Jesus raised Lazarus from the
dead!)

Levi: United, (Levi was the name given to Old testament
priests.)

Leah: Light of the sun

Lucia: Light

Luke: Bright/Light/White, (Luke is another name for Lucia,
or Lucas.)

Lois: Agreeable, (She was Timothy’s grandmother.)

Lydia: Of Lydia, (she was converted by Saint Paul.)

M

Magdala: Seaside village/Tower

Magdalene: Tower, (Magdalene was one of the Mary’s at
the time of Jesus.)

Malachi: My angel/My messenger

Marcus: Defence/warlike

Mark: An object/Large hammer, (it relates to the planet,
Mars.)

Martha: A lady, (Martha was the sister of Mary and
Lazarus, the man raised from the dead by Jesus.)

Mary: Obstinate/Stubborn, (There are several Mary’s in
the Bible, the best know was the mother of Jesus.)

Matthew: A gift from God, (Matthew was an apostle of
Jesus.)

Micah: Who is like Yahweh, (Micah was one of the prophets
who warned the Jews of the judgment of Israel.)

Michal: A brook

Michael: Like the lord, (Michael was an archangel.)

Miriam: Obstinate/Stubborn/Bitter, (Miriam was the elder
sister of Moses and Aaron.)

Myra: Myrrh, (Myrrh was one of the gifts from the three
wise men to Jesus, It is also the name of a city in Lycia.)

N

Naomi: My delight/pleasant

Nathan: The gift of God

Nehemiah: Comfort of God

Nebuchadezzar: (Was the king of Babylon, who took the
Jewish Nation captive.)

Nicolas: Victory of the people

Nicodemas: Conqueror/Victory for the people, (This was
the man that Jesus told, “You Must be born again.”)

Noah: Peace/Rest, (Noah built the ark that saved him,
his family and the animals at the time of the flood.)

O

Obadiah: Serving God

Orpah: A fawn/Lively maiden/Neck

P

Paul: Small, (but Paul was never small in achievement,
he was one of the outstanding preachers in the
New Testament.)

Peter: A rock, (After denying that he knew Jesus, Peter
became a fearless and very effective preacher.)

Philip: A lover of horses.

Phoebe: Pure/Bright, (Phoebe was a deaconess of a
New Testament church.)

Priscilla: (Was one of Paul’s helpers and the wife of
Aquila, a Jewish tent maker.)

R

Rachel: A ewe, (Rachel was the wife of Jacob and the
mother of Joseph.)

Rahab: Spacious, (Rahab was the name of a prostitute in
Jericho.)

Rebekah: A knotted cord, She was wife of Isaac in the
Bible.)

Reuben: Behold a son, (Jacob’ eldest son.)

Rhoda: Rose bush

Ruth: Female companion, (Ruth was the wife of Boaz,
an ancestor of Jesus.)

S

Samuel: Asked of God, (Samuel anointed the shepherd,
David, who slew the philistine giant and later became
king David.)

Salome: Peace, Salome entered the tomb of Jesus.)

Sapphira: Deep blue/Beautiful

Sapphire: Deep blue

Sarah: A princess, (Sarah was the wife of Abraham.)

Seth: The appointed one, (Seth was the first son of
Adam and Eve.)

Sharon: A flat plane

Simeon: Hearing, (Simeon is another name of Simon.)

Simon: Hearing

Solomon: Peaceable/Wants peace, (King Solomon asked
God to give him wisdom and became the wisest man who
ever lived, (except for Jesus of course.)

Sophia: Wisdom

Stephen: A crown/A garland.)

Susan: Lilly, (Jesus said that the lilies of the field were
beautiful.)

Susanna: A Lilly/A rose, Susanna was a believer who
ministered to Jesus.)

Rachel: A ewe, (Rachel was the wife of Jacob and the
mother of Joseph.)

T

Tabitha: A gazelle/A doe

Tamara: A palm tree

Tiffany: The Trinity/Manifestation of God

Tim: Shortened from Timothy, means, Revere
God - Honoured by God

Timothy: Honouring God/Honoured by God

U

Uriah: God is light

Z

Zacharias: Remembered by the Lord, (He was the father
of John the Baptist.)

Zion: Fortress, (Zion is also used for the Jewish homeland.)

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