Biblical male names: what they are and their meaning

The names in the Bible have always provided an inspiration for parents to choose how they would like to call their unborn child. Here are the most popular biblical names for men

Giving a child who is about to be born a name taken from the Bible is an important choice, which goes beyond personal fashions and tastes. From Adam, the name of the first man, to the spread of names taken from biblical characters, but also from places mentioned in the Bible, such as Nazarene, The name referred to Jesus because of his birth in Nazareth, has deep and ancient roots. There are many biblical names chosen by future parents, some just for the sweetness of the sound, more often for the admiration for the character who carried that name, or even for their meaning. This article is dedicated to the biblical names of men and their meaning, which, far from claiming to be exhaustive, It just wants to give an idea of the most popular and chosen male names in the Bible for babies.

Biblical prophet names

There are many names of prophets in the Bible that can perfectly fit a child who is born today. The prophets are those men through whom God chose to reveal himself to mankind. The Old Testament in particular can be considered a historical account in which the prophets have interpreted historical events on the basis of divine influence upon them. Just as the priest acted as an intermediary between men and God, so the prophet was a kind of mediator between God and men.

18 I will raise up a prophet among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them what I shall command him.  19 If any man will not hear the words which he shall speak in my name, I will ask him for an account.  20 But the prophet who has the presumption to say in my name something that I have not commanded him to say, or who will speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.  (Deuteronomy 18:15-20)

Among the main names of biblical prophets, we remember Abraham, Aaron (brother of Moses), Moses himself, who was the spokesman of the Law of God to the chosen people. Another prophet with an interesting name was Joshua, who succeeded Moses as head of the Israelites, and Samuel, whose name means “his name is God”, or “the name of God”, or “The Lord has listened”.

Then there are the names of the major prophets, authors of the books of the Old Testament longer: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel; and those of the minor prophets: Hosea, Amos, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

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Cradle headboard medallion light blue with angel and musical box

Cradle headboard medallion light blue with angel and musical box.

The meaning of the name Gioele

In particular, the name of the minor prophet Joel, author of the book of the same name, combines the name of God, Yah[weh], with the word El (divinity), with the meaning of: “Yah[weh] is God“, or “He for whom YHWH is God“, or again “God is God“. According to other sources the name Joel may mean “oath“, “vowing“, “willing“.

Evangelist names

Among the religious names, those of the evangelists are also very widespread, not only in our country but also in the rest of the world, where they boast countless variations. The names of the four men who wrote the Gospels are: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Each of them is remembered with different characteristics and depicted in the iconography with well-defined symbols.

Matthew, whose name means “Gift of God“, is depicted as a winged man. His name comes from the Hebrew “Mattityahu”, where “mattath” means gift, and “Yah” is the abbreviation of YHWH. Marco, depicted as a winged lion, has a Latin name associated with the god Mars and derives from the noun “mas, maris”, male, virile.
Luke is depicted as a winged ox, and his name comes from the Greek “Lykanòs“, “native of Lucania” or Lyke, “born at first light in the morning“.
John, “the theologian” par excellence, is depicted as an eagle, and his name comes from the Hebrew “Yehohanàn“, literally “YH made grace“, which in Greek will become Ιωάννης and in Latin Ioànnes.

Matthew/Matthias, name that means gift of God

We have quoted speaking of the names of the evangelist Matthew, whose name means “Gift of God“. The same goes for the Matthias variant, another of the most popular Christian names. Matthias and Matthew derive from a single Greek Hebrew name later latinized into two different forms: Matthias and Mattheus. In the New Testament, Matthias is the apostle who replaced Judas Iscariot, while Matthew, as we have seen, was one of the evangelists. Matthew is one of the most popular male Christian names.