What do Bible names mean?
72 of the names and places we count have a meaning in Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869). Israel is the most used (2,567 times in the King James Version), and it means "who prevails with God". David comes next (1,011 times, "well-beloved, dear"). Each name below links to its full count by book.
Meanings come from Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary, published in 1869 and in the public domain. It gives the traditional Hebrew and Greek roots; modern scholars sometimes read a name differently, and several meanings here are a guess at an old root.
The most used names and places, with their meanings
Times each appears in the text, headline count from the page for that name.
All 72 names and places
| Name | Meaning (Hitchcock, 1869) | Times in the Bible |
|---|---|---|
| Aaron | a teacher; lofty; mountain of strength | 319 KJV |
| Abraham | father of a great multitude | 231 KJV |
| Adam | earthy; red | 30 KJV |
| Babylon | confusion; mixture (same name as Babel) | 286 KJV |
| Barnabas | son of the prophet, or of consolation | 29 KJV |
| Cain | possession, or possessed | 22 KJV |
| Canaan | merchant; trader; or that humbles and subdues | 91 KJV |
| Christ | anointed | 555 KJV |
| Damascus | a sack full of blood; the similitude of burning | 61 KJV |
| Daniel | judgment of God; God my judge | 83 KJV |
| David | well-beloved, dear | 1,011 KJV |
| Eden | pleasure; delight | 20 KJV |
| Egypt | that troubles or oppresses; anguish | 611 KJV |
| Elijah | God the Lord, the strong Lord | 69 KJV |
| Elisha | salvation of God | 58 KJV |
| Esau | he that acts or finishes | 88 KJV |
| Esther | secret; hidden | 53 KJV |
| Eve | living; enlivening | 4 KJV |
| Gabriel | God is my strength | 4 KJV |
| Galilee | wheel; revolution | 72 KJV |
| Gideon | he that bruises or breaks; a destroyer | 39 KJV |
| Goliath | passage; revolution; heap | 6 KJV |
| Gomorrah | rebellious people | 20 KJV |
| Herod | son of a hero | 40 KJV |
| Isaac | laughter | 128 KJV |
| Isaiah | the salvation of the Lord | 32 KJV |
| Ishmael | God that hears | 47 KJV |
| Israel | who prevails with God | 2,567 KJV |
| Jacob | that supplants, undermines; the heel | 358 KJV |
| James | that supplants, undermines; the heel (same name as Jacob) | 42 KJV |
| Jehovah | self-subsisting | 7 KJV |
| Jeremiah | exaltation of the Lord | 146 KJV |
| Jericho | his moon; his month; his sweet smell | 64 KJV |
| Jerusalem | vision of peace | 811 KJV |
| Jesus | savior; deliverer | 984 KJV |
| Job | he that weeps or cries | 59 KJV |
| John | the grace or mercy of the Lord | 131 KJV |
| Jonah | a dove; he that oppresses; destroyer | 19 KJV |
| Jordan | the river of judgment | 197 KJV |
| Joseph | increase; addition | 228 KJV |
| Joshua | a savior; a deliverer | 216 KJV |
| Judah | the praise of the Lord; confession | 812 KJV |
| Judas | the praise of the Lord; confession (same name as Judah) | 33 KJV |
| Lazarus | assistance of God | 15 KJV |
| Leah | weary; tired | 29 KJV |
| Martha | who becomes bitter; provoking | 13 KJV |
| Mary | rebellion (same name as Miriam) | 54 KJV |
| Moses | taken out; drawn forth | 847 KJV |
| Nazareth | separated; crowned; sanctified | 29 KJV |
| Nebuchadnezzar | Nebuchadrezzar, tears and groans of judgment | 60 KJV |
| Nineveh | handsome; agreeable | 18 KJV |
| Noah | repose; consolation (another Noah: that quavers or totters (Zelophehad's daughter)) | 51 KJV |
| Paul | small; little | 156 KJV |
| Peter | a rock or stone | 158 KJV |
| Pharaoh | that disperses; that spoils | 231 KJV |
| Pilate | armed with a dart | 56 KJV |
| Rachel | sheep | 42 KJV |
| Rebekah | fat; fattened; a quarrel appeased | 28 KJV |
| Ruth | drunk; satisfied | 13 KJV |
| Samaria | watch-mountain | 124 KJV |
| Samson | his sun; his service; there the second time | 36 KJV |
| Samuel | heard of God; asked of God | 142 KJV |
| Sarah | lady; princess; princess of the multitude | 39 KJV |
| Satan | contrary; adversary; enemy; accuser | 55 KJV |
| Saul | demanded; lent; ditch; death | 389 KJV |
| Silas | three, or the third | 13 KJV |
| Sinai | a bush; enmity | 37 KJV |
| Sodom | their secret; their cement | 48 KJV |
| Solomon | peaceable; perfect; one who recompenses | 279 KJV |
| Stephen | crown; crowned (same name as Stephanas) | 7 KJV |
| Thomas | a twin | 12 KJV |
| Zion | monument; raised up; sepulcher | 152 KJV |
The count is the exact name in the King James Version, or the World English Bible when the KJV never uses it. Source for meanings: Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869).
Want counts for words rather than names? See how many times every word appears in the Bible, or the Bible by the numbers.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-06.