Unusual Biblical Baby Names

Spelling variation of Michaiah, an obscure but attractive name used for both men and women in the Bible.

Adlai is an Old Testament name long associated with 1950's liberal presidential candidate Stevenson, who was named after his grandfather, who was Grover Cleveland's vice president in the nineteenth century. Now it's an unusual Biblical choice ripe for rediscovery.

Sapphira is a lovely name which unfortunately has an unsavory Biblical history. The New Testament Sapphira was killed by God for lying about a tax payment.

In the New Testament, Hosanna was exclaimed by those around Jesus when he first entered Jerusalem, making this an exuberant and spiritual choice. A possible alternative for Susanna or Hannah, it was given to more than 100 girls in a recent year in the US. Associated with the hymn "Give Me Joy In My Heart", Hosanna would fit in with the likes of Halo, Chosen, Shepherd, Blessing, and Messiah.

This is a multi-syllabic New Testament relic that could be yet another fresh way to get to Theo. In the beginning of Luke's gospel, he dedicates his words to Theophilus.

Parents seeking a distinctive New Testament name might consider this one. Adopted by some Puritans in the seventeenth century, Persis was used in the William Dean Howells novel The Rise of Silas Lapham for the wife of the protagonist.

Elisheva was the original name of Aaron's wife in the Book of Exodus; Elisheva gains strength and distinction via the v sound.

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.

This Persian name with an Old Testament pedigree has a warm Sasha-like feel. The Biblical Vashti was a queen who refused her husband's orders to appear naked in front of his party guests and so was deposed in favor of Esther. For her independent spirit, Vashti has become something of a feminist icon.

A sacred place to the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions, Mount Sinai is where Moses received the Ten Commandments and also the name of the peninsula on which the mountain stands.

Both a place name and a masculine given name in the Old Testament.

Ebenezer is the name of a biblical place --the stone set up by Samuel to mark his victory over the Philistines--rather than a person. It was adopted by the British Puritans as a first name and then exported to America, where it had some early popularity, even entering the Top 1000 in the 1880s.

In Roman mythology, Silvanus was the god of the forests. He protected farmers and fields and was credited with developing a system for marking field boundaries.

Adah is a biblical name twice over—one was the mother of Jabal and Jubal, the other was a wife of Esau. The latter Adah and Esau’s descendants settled in Edom and became the Edomites. Adah is unrelated to the visually similar name Ada, which is Germanic in origin.

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

Most famously, the name of a 1920s alley cat.

This Hebrew name of Queen Esther is well used in Israel (especially for girls born around the holiday of Purim), and in the US is the name of a Zionist women's philanthropic organization. Formerly shunned as hyper-religious, this name entered the Top 1000 in 2007 and has since climbed into the Top 700. Nickname Haddie feels like a natural companion for Addie and Maddie.

In Greek and Roman mythology, Aeneas was the legendary son of Venus (or Aphrodite) who was the hero of Troy and Rome. Appearing in the Aeneid by the poet Virgil, he goes on to found the Roman state and break the heart of Queen Dido of Carthage.

A chief member of the tribe of Benjamin, and another obscure Old Testament name that few parents, even those tired of Aaron and Zachary, would consider. But with a pronunciation that rhymes with Gannon, it has the strong, straightforward, two-syllable sound that's in step with modern style.

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.