Unusual Biblical Baby Names

Omri

Hebrew

"my sheaf"

Old Testament name of a king of Israel, related to the harvest.

Ophir

Hebrew

Biblical place name and masculine given name in the Old Testament.

Oshea

Hebrew

"salvation"

Variation of Hosea.

Othniel

Hebrew

"lion of god, or strength of god"

Othniel is mentioned in the Bible and Tanakh (in the Book of Judges) where he is the first of the biblical judges mentioned. Othniel was related to Caleb, which might make these two names a nice…

Pallu

Hebrew

"distinguished"

Quirky Old Testament name.

Penuel

Hebrew

"facing God"

Biblical name from the Old Testament.

Perez

Spanish from Hebrew

"to blossom"

The newest surname names move beyond the Waspy, and this is an excellent example, associated these days with gossip blogger Perez (born Mario) Hilton.

Pharez

Hebrew

"to blossom"

Variation of Perez.

Philemon

Greek

"kiss"

Rarely heard New Testament name -- he was a friend of Saint Paul -- that might conceivably stand up to modern usage.

Philetus

Greek

"beloved"

Obscure name from the New Testament.

Pontius

Roman

"fifth"

This Roman name is featured in the New Testament as that of the governor of Judea.

Ram

Arabic, Sanskrit, Hebrew

"archer; pleasing; exalted"

One of the most familiar, and assertive, names found throughout the Middle East and India, Ram has an assertive and solid air about it. Derived from a number of different origins, in English speaking…

Reuel

Hebrew

"friend of God"

This soft-yet-sturdy Biblical name belonged to Moses’ father-in-law (also called Jethro) and was the second middle name of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Sargon

Hebrew

"true king"

Name of a king featured in the Old Testament.

Seraiah

Hebrew

"Yahweh is ruler"

Seraiah is an Old Testament name attached to several minor Biblical figures. The father of Ezra the scribe was named Seraiah, as was the father of Joab. While Seraiah sounds somewhat feminine to the…

Sharar

Hebrew

"enemy"

Biblical name from the Old Testament.

Shem

Hebrew

"name"

This down-to-earth Bible name is surprisingly little-used, considering the popularity of other Old Testament names. Shem was Noah's eldest son, and is the origin of the term Semitic (as in the…