Hebrew Names for Boys

Aram is a popular Armenian name with a pleasing sound that became known in this country through the works of William Saroyan, namely the 1940 book of short stories, My Name in Aram, centering on Aram Garoghlanian, a boy of Armenian descent growing up in Fresno, California. Saroyan also named his son Aram. 
 Aram also appears in the bible as a son of Shem and grandson of Noah; it is also a biblical place name. 
 
While it is best known as an Armenian and Biblical name, meaning "child of the sun" or "highly elevated", Aram is in fact a more multicultural choice than that. It also has its roots in Kurdish and Persian where it means "calm, peaceful, repose", and in Thai, where it relates to the words for temple and monastery, glittering and illuminating.
 A well known bearer is Aram Khachaturian, the Armenian composer, while Aram is also the third day of the month in the Armenian calendar.

Aram

A Near Eastern favorite, with an agreeable, evocative sound. 

Tamir

Orin is one of a variety of similarly-spelled names that have a soft and sensitive image. The Orrin spelling has been known nationally via Republican Senator Hatch.
 Orin is the name of a character in Eugene O'Neill's drama Mourning Becomes Electra. Oren is a Hebrew name that means laurel while Oran is Irish and means pale little green one.

Orin

A mash-up of Ezra and the popular -en ending for boy names, Ezren is a modern invention with legitimate and very on-trend sounds. Borrowing the meaning of Ezra, this name could mean "help" and has also appeared in the stats as Ezryn, and Ezran, both of which can be found in pop culture too.
 
Ezren was chosen for 83 boys in a recent year, while Ezran was given to 69 and Ezryn to 27.

Ezren

A variation of Azriel, which could get you to nicknames Ezri and Ezra. More than 80 boys were given the name in a recent count. 

Ezriel

More common -- when it was common -- with the Meyer spelling. 

Mayer

Yasiel is gaining a following thanks to superstar baseball player Yasiel Puig, a Cuban native who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  The Biblical Yasiel, which can also be spelled Jasiel, was a warrior in David's army.  About 100 baby boys were given the name in both spellings in the U.S. last year, a number that is expected to rise.

Yasiel

Often stands alone in Israel, but rarely here. 

Lior is a unisex name frequently heard in Israel, capturing the popular light theme through its meaning.  For English speakers, the one down side is possible pronunciation confusion with "liar," though it's really lee-OR, with a long e sound and emphasis on the second syllable.

Lior

Gentle yet rugged, cool but well established, Shay is straightforward and memorable. An anglicized spelling of the Irish Shea ("dauntless, fine, good" "hawk") and the Hebrew Shai ("gift"), Shay appeared in the Top 100 in Ireland and the Top 400 in England and Wales in a recent year.
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Also used as to describe a kind of horse-drawn carriage and sometimes used as a short form of Seamus, Shay has dropped in an out of the US Top 1000 since the 70s, most recently appearing on the charts in the 2020s for girls. In fact, it currently given twice as often to girls in the States than it is to boys (208: 98).

Shay

A simple and streamlined Biblical name, Joah borne by several figures in the Old Testament. Meaning "Yahweh is his brother" or "brother of God", it could be an unexpected way to honor a family Joe or an alternative to the popular Noah, Josiah, and Jonah. 
 
Currently popular in The Netherlands where it ranks in the Top 100, Joah is less familiar elsewhere, though it has been receiving increased attention in the US since 2010. Pronounced as YO-a in Dutch but more like JO-uh in English, 70 American boys were called Joah in a recent year.

Joah

Lemuel is a neglected Old Testament name, with the friendly nickname Lem, that we're surprised hasn't been picked up on by parents who have known too many Samuels.

 In the Bible, Lemuel is mentioned twice in Proverbs as a king, but the name is probably remembered more as the first name of the narrator who journeys to Liliput in Jonathan Swift's satirical Gulliver's Travels.

 In the Book of Mormon, Lemuel was one of the sons of Lehi, notable for his rebellion against Lehi and Nephi.

 Lemuel was Number 195 in 1881, but started a downward trajectory from which it never recovered.

Lemuel

Ezrael is a faux Biblical name, combining the elements of friendly Ezra and the popular Ezekiel, with the angelic-style of Gabriel, Rafael, and Azrael. Complete with the cool letter Z and with the nickname possibilities of Ezri and Ezzy, it could be interpreted to mean "God is my help". 
 
First appearing in the US stats in 2009, it's been quietly on the rise since the late 2010s, with more than 70 boys given the name in a recent year.

Ezrael

Pugnacious and spunky like the young Mickey Rooney and the original Mickey Mouse, but virtually never given to babies today. 

Mickey

Aharon is one of the many variations of the Old Testament Aaron, one of the first Biblical patriarch names to become trendy in the modern world.

Aharon

Mordecai, although it has a noble heritage, has never caught on in this country, because of its rather weighty image. Nevertheless, with parents searching for rarer Biblical names that work as alternatives to Malachi and Matthew, Mordecai has seen increased interest in recent years and was given to 74 boys in the US in 2024. 

 Mordecai is a symbolic name for boys born on the holiday of Purim, because this cousin of Queen Esther helped her save the Jews from destruction at the hands of Haman.
 Mordecai Richler was a Canadian author and screenwriter whose best known work is The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

Mordecai

A symbolic name for boys born during a period between Passover and Shavuot. 

Omer

A twist on Biblical Ezra, Ezran is a modern invention with a trendy yet established sound. Given to around 70 boys in a recent year, it appeared in the show The Dragon Prince in 2018, which coincided with its first feature in the US stats.
 
You could interpret the name as meaning "help" as Ezra does, while Ezren and Ezryn are alternative forms.

Ezran

Since so many of the biblical prophet names -- Daniel, Jonah, Nathan, Samuel -- are overused, you might want to consider this distinctive alternative. Hosea was the author of the book of prophesies bearing his name, whose underlying message was a promise of restoration. The Talmud claims that he was the greatest prophet of his generation.
 Hosea Williams was an important civil rights leader. Martin Luther King called him "my wild man, my Castro," in recognition of Williams' skill as an organizer.

Hosea

Hebrew boy names have been in continual use for thousands of years, and with good reason: such 

 are all Hebrew boys’ names. In fact, many of the most widely-used boys’ names in English-speaking countries are Hebrew in origin, include recent Number one names Noah and Jacob. 

Along with Noah and Jacob, other 

 include Adam, Asher, Caleb, Elijah, Isaac, Levi, Nathan, and Samuel. 

origins include James, Joseph, and John.



 popular in Israel include Uri — especially among Jewish Israelis — Ariel, Noam, and Eitan.


But some Hebrew boy names are still far off the beaten track. 

Hebrew boy names including meaning and popularity, with Old Testament boy names such as Isaac and Moses and top Hebrew boy names such as Noah and Jacob. (Page 10)

Hebrew Boy Names