873+ Names That Mean God

Maori form of Matthew

Honus is inextricably linked with baseball legend Honus Wagner. The son of German immigrants, he was born Johannes Peter Wagner in 1874. His childhood nickname was Hans, which evolved into Honus. Honus Wagner was a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates — considered the greatest ever — yet his distinctive name has never been given to more than four children in a single year.

This spelling is almost exclusively feminine, but is occasionally given to boys as a variation on Ariel — to 6 baby boys in 2020, for instance.

Ianto is a lively and unique spin on John, possible familiar to American sci-fi fans via the popular character on Torchwood.

A Scandinavian short form of Johanna, properly pronounced with a Y sound at the start, but would likely be read as the more prosaic "John-a" in an English-speaking context.

Striking Spanish name derived from the name of the Greek sun god, related to the French Apollinaire.

A cute diminutive of Jack, already technically a nickname for John, famously borne by Hong Kong actor, director and martial artist Jackie Chan.

Anže was originally a nickname for Janez, a Slovene form of Johannes, but now ranks in the Slovene Top 20 as an independent name.

This name originally comes from the wild and remote Shetland Islands. Although it bears a lot of similarities to the new darling of Scottish names Isla, it is nearly completely unknown.

Mahelet, Mahlet or Mahilet is a chant performed to praise god in the Ethiopian Orthodox church, also used as a female name.

Too much teasing potential for an English speaker.

Rather dated smoosh name.

New Testament name -- Thekla was the first virgin martyr -- with an unappealing sound.

Variant (mis)spelling of Siobhan.

Rebekka is a more creative spelling -- at least in some people's opinion -- of the biblical favorite Rebecca. Rebekka is also the usual German version. The Rebekkah spelling was commonly used in Early America.

Eliyahu is the Hebrew form of the increasingly popular Biblical prophet name Elijah, also found in forms Elias and Eli. There were 100 boys given the name Eliyahu in the U.S. in 2012. Its upside is that it's one of the most distinctive forms of the name, but that final yahoo may prove difficult.

A common unisex name in Nigeria. Kerry Washington used it as the middle name for her son Caleb.

This little-known Biblical name belonged to Hosea's first son. There is also a Jezreel Valley in Israel.

Pronounced YAH-nosh, has a serious, violin-playing air. Perhaps that's why it has so many nicknames: JANCKZI, JANCSI, JANI, JANKIA, JANKO.

This feminine form of Jean was most popular in the 1930s in its home country, and in the 1960s in the US. It's fallen off the Top 1000 list since, but perhaps cute retro nickname Jeannie could tempt some vintage-loving parents back.