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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Biblical names.

37 replies

Supercherry · 25/02/2009 09:16

Are there any unusual biblical names or are they all really popular- eg. adam, Jacob, Mary etc

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pickledbabe · 28/10/2010 17:12

Dorcas.

that's another name for Tabitha.

BellaBearisWideAwake · 28/10/2010 17:11

Worth looking at who these people are as well. Some of the girls names are maids used to child-bear. (Not that that should bother you necessarily, but it might)

I have a Seth which I didn't even realise was OT till we chose it.

Lots of alternative pronunciations in Hebrew as well.

BellaBearisWideAwake · 28/10/2010 17:09

I have a row of girls in one of my classes that I call the Old Testament Row. Sarah, Leah, Naomi (and Aliyah which isn't christian but is old!).

I keep calling Leah Ruth by mistake as she is sat next to Naomi, and she doesn't get why.

Flossiebelle · 28/10/2010 17:04

We have got a baby Martha who is 7 weeks old. The other name we seriously considered was Esther Smile

dotnet · 28/10/2010 13:20

Shem, Ham and Japheth (Noah's sons I think.)
Shadrach, Meshak and Abednigo (who went in the fiery furnace and survived - but I'm not too sure of the spelling of Meshak, I didn't check.)
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, Judas, James (disciples/apostles).

I think Josiah, which I like, is a biblical name.
How about Balthasar, Eli, Joshua, Levi, Obadiah, Saul, Zachariah, Zaccheus, Seth?
I don't like 'Aaron' being spelled as Arron -Aaron is a biblical name as well; he was Moses's son, I think, and the two As together make it much better than 'Arron', I think.

MumOfBaby · 02/03/2009 16:21

There's lots of boys on this thread so I'll add girls:

Delilah
Magdalen

Jemima's lovely.

Pasiphae · 02/03/2009 12:20

Amos, Absolom,Cornelius, Solomon, Eleazar, Bartholomew, Azarias, Felix, Gideon, Ichabod, Philemon, Timon, Zebulun/Zebulon

Delilah, Eunice, Siloe, Damaris, Esther, Jezebel, Junia/Juno, Noa, Salome, Sapphira, Zilpah

Springhassprung · 02/03/2009 12:19

Zillah and Adah are nice

is Kezia in the Bible?

chaya5738 · 02/03/2009 11:20

"You don't see many Jesus' around"

Actually Joshua is Jesus since Jesus' name was actually Yeshua (Jesus is the anglicised version).

For boys:

Isaiah
Isaac
Elijah
Menachem
Ezra
Avi
Ari
Gabriel

Girls:

Naomi
Dinah
Miriam
Sarai
Hadassah
Zipporah

LynetteScavo · 01/03/2009 21:12

Shakespear? Too much wine!

LynetteScavo · 01/03/2009 21:11

We were all given one from teh Bible, and one from Shakespere.

2HotCrossBunsAnd1InTheOven · 01/03/2009 20:12

I like the less commonly used OT names too. Favs being Asher for boys and Naomi for girls. DH was concerned about sounding too "jewish" - I was about that considering my mother is Jewish. Also was as his 2 favourite girls names were Jemima and Esther!!!

Incidentally all of my 3 sibs have OT names, my first name isn't but my middle name is.

DeeBlindMice · 01/03/2009 19:48

LynetteScavo you've just reminded me that when I was a child (9 or 10) I actually went through the bible and copied out a list of all the names in it

It took a while...

I guess I was a weird kid, although I have always been very interested in people's names for some reason.

LynetteScavo · 01/03/2009 19:44

Er..maybe you should take a look in the bible?

I'm presuming you are trying to choose a name for your child.

DeeBlindMice · 01/03/2009 19:42

very interesting hedgiemum

randomname · 01/03/2009 19:38

I personally love biblical names; the only thing that would put me off is that my child would end up sounding like one of the Dingles from Emmerdale!

atowncalledalice · 01/03/2009 19:18

Zilpah for a girl.

hedgiemum · 01/03/2009 19:07

Jemima is a lovely biblical name - it means dove.
Don't forget that most of the names in our English bibles have been anglicised, so there are the original Hebrew forms online which can be used ie Guvriel rather than Gabriel. Jesus is actually very popularly used here unbeknown to some parents who choose it - Joshua is the same name! "Jesus" the historical character would have heard his name spoken as "Yeshua" I believe.
So there are actually lots of different forms for many of the popular bible names, plus uncommon names...

HecatesTwopenceworth · 01/03/2009 18:57

quite a big list here

AnnVan · 01/03/2009 16:52

what about Miriam? I love Miriam. also love Simeon, Elijah for boys

shivermetimbers · 01/03/2009 16:05

Abigail is Biblical.

CuppaTeaJanice · 01/03/2009 16:02

You don't see many Jesus' around!!

Not in this country, anyway.

Weegiemum · 01/03/2009 15:57

Unusual Biblical noone ever calls their children

(dh and I are bored)
Boys:
Nebuchadnezzer
Shadrach, Meshach or Abednego
Lucifer
Job
Judas
Pontius
Cain
Onan
Lot

Girls:
Jezebel
Rahab

harder with girls!

jellibob · 01/03/2009 14:33

DS2 was in NICU for ages after he was born, and one night, the nurses and I realised that he was in an all biblical room:

Elijah
Daniel
David
Noah
Gabriel!

BTW love Hepzibah for a girl

MrsMattie · 25/02/2009 11:18

Boys:
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Obadiah
Ephraim
Tobiah
Malachi
Lemuel
Joachim
Simeon

Girls:
Ruth
Esther
Dinah

The apparently 'chavvy' Jadon is a biblical name, too. Bet you didn't know that!