Christian meaning of names

• 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
• 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)
• 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)
• 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.
• 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
• 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.)
• 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)
• 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.)
• 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.
• 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.)
• 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.)
• 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.)
• Obadiah: Serving God
• Orpah: A fawn/Lively maiden/Neck
• 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.)
• 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.)
• 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.)
• 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
• Uriah: God is light
• Zacharias: Remembered by the Lord, (He was the father of John the Baptist.)
• Zion: Fortress, (Zion is also used for the Jewish homeland.)