Biblical Names Database

The Bible contains thousands of names spread across 66 books, two testaments, and multiple source languages. The Biblical Names Database makes them searchable. Filter by Old or New Testament, by specific book, by gender, by meaning theme, or by current US popularity to find names that carry scriptural weight and still work in a modern American context. Each entry includes the Hebrew or Greek root, the root meaning, a primary scripture reference, and a link to American name statistics showing how many Americans currently carry that name.

How the Biblical Names Database Is Organized

The database holds approximately 3,000 names drawn from both testaments and the Apocrypha, each tagged across six fields. Testament tells you whether the name appears in the Old Testament, the New Testament, or both. Book identifies the primary scriptural source (Genesis, Psalms, Luke, Acts, etc.). Gender classifies the name as male, female, or used for both. Root language identifies whether the name originates from Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek. Root meaning gives the literal translation of the name in its source language. Meaning theme groups names by what their meanings describe: strength, grace, God's gift, light, wisdom, nature, or virtue.

These fields work as filters. A parent looking for Old Testament girl names meaning "grace" can set three filters and browse only the names that match all three. A researcher looking for every name in the Book of Ruth can filter to that single book. The filters stack, so the more you set, the narrower the results become.

Old Testament Names vs New Testament Names

The two testaments draw from different linguistic pools and carry different cultural associations. Old Testament names are overwhelmingly Hebrew and Aramaic. Many are compound names built from divine elements: El (God), Yah (the Lord), and their combinations produce Elijah ("my God is Yahweh"), Daniel ("God is my judge"), and Nathaniel ("gift of God"). The sound profile tends toward longer, multi-syllable names with strong consonants.

New Testament names blend Hebrew tradition with Greek and Roman influence. Mary, Martha, and John come from Hebrew roots but entered English through Greek transliteration. Paul, Luke, and Timothy are Greek or Latin names carried by early Christians who were not ethnically Hebrew. This linguistic mixing means New Testament names often feel more familiar to English speakers, which is one reason names like James, Peter, and Sarah dominated Western naming for centuries while names like Elkanah and Zebulun did not.

Which Biblical Names Are Most Popular in America Today

Several biblical names rank in the current SSA top 100. Noah has held a top-five position for over a decade. Elijah, Levi, Benjamin, and Luke rank in the boys' top 25. For girls, Hannah, Abigail, Naomi, and Leah all sit in the top 100. The database cross-references every entry against current SSA frequency data, so each name carries a "current US rank" badge showing exactly where it stands.

The trend that naming expert Laura Wattenberg identifies is a generational rotation. New Testament classics (John, James, Mary, Elizabeth) dominated for centuries. Mid-20th-century parents shifted to a different Old Testament layer (Deborah, Jonathan, Rebecca). Twenty-first-century parents have gone deeper still, pulling names like Ezra, Asher, and Phoebe from passages that previous generations overlooked. The database surfaces this pattern by showing each name's popularity timeline alongside its scriptural context, so you can see which biblical names are rising, which are falling, and which have held steady across generations.

Biblical Names That Have Fallen Out of Use

The Bible contains hundreds of names that no longer appear in SSA records. Tirzah (Old Testament, meaning "delight"), Jemima (Book of Job, meaning "dove"), Keturah (Genesis, Abraham's second wife), and Boaz (Ruth, meaning "strength") are all scriptural names with strong meanings that fewer than five American babies received in recent years. They sit in a sweet spot for parents who want a biblical name that is both authentic and genuinely uncommon.

The database hoods these as "rare in modern use" and lets you filter specifically for them. The filter is useful if you have already rejected the popular biblical names and want to explore deeper into the text. Some of these names are rare because they are difficult to pronounce in English (Jehoshaphat, Zerubbabel). Others are rare because their biblical associations are complicated (Delilah, Jezebel). The database includes all of them without editorial filtering, and the per-name detail page notes the biblical context so you can judge the association yourself.

How Hebrew and Greek Roots Shape Biblical Name Meanings

Biblical name meanings are not decorative. In Hebrew naming tradition, a name described the child's character, the parents' hopes, or the circumstances of birth. Isaac means "he laughs" because Sarah laughed when told she would bear a child at 90. Moses means "drawn from the water" because Pharaoh's daughter pulled him from the Nile. These are not abstract etymologies. They are narrative references embedded in the name itself.

The database shows the root language and literal root meaning for every entry. For compound Hebrew names, it breaks the components apart: Elijah = El (God) + Yah (the Lord), so the compound means "my God is Yahweh." For Greek-origin New Testament names, it traces the root: Timothy = timao (to honor) + theos (God), meaning "honoring God." This linguistic layer connects the name to its original function in ways that a simple "meaning: strong" label does not. If you want to explore how name meanings work across all origins (not just biblical), the name meanings by origin tool covers etymological roots from Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Celtic, Germanic, and other language families.

How to Use the Biblical Names Database

1. Set your filters. Testament (Old, New, Apocrypha, any), book (Genesis through Revelation), gender, meaning theme, and modern usage (popular today, rare today, or any).
2. Browse the results grid. Each name card shows the name, gender, testament, primary book, root meaning, and current US popularity badge.
3. Click any name for the detail page. The detail view shows the full root breakdown (language, components, literal meaning), the primary scripture reference with verse, all known alternate spellings, and the SSA popularity timeline for that name in the US.
4. Use the "rare in modern use" filter if you want biblical names that fewer than five American babies received in recent years.
5. Cross-reference with meaning. If you find a name you like, check its full etymology in the name meaning checker for additional context beyond the biblical reference.