Names of God and Their Meanings
Updated October 22, 2026. Counts from the full KJV and World English Bible text.
The Bible gives God many names, and 15 of the best known are explained here: Elohim ("God"), Adonai ("my Lord"), El Shaddai ("God Almighty"), Jehovah or Yahweh (the personal name, 6,829 times in the World English Bible and printed LORD 6,577 times in the KJV) and compounds such as Jehovah Jireh ("the LORD will provide"). Each name below has its Hebrew, Strong's meaning, first verse and a count from the full text.
Core names and titles
| Name | Hebrew | Meaning | Strong's | First verse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elohim | אֱלֹהִים | God, the general Hebrew word for deity | H430 | Genesis 1:1 |
| Adonai | אֲדֹנָי | my Lord, a title of respect and rule | H136 | Genesis 15:2 |
| El Shaddai | אֵל שַׁדַּי | God Almighty | H410 + H7706 | Genesis 17:1 |
| Jehovah | יְהוָה | LORD, the personal name of God | H3068 | Genesis 22:14 |
| Yahweh | יהוה | the personal name of God, as the World English Bible writes it | H3068 + H3050 | Genesis 2:4 |
Jehovah (Yahweh) compound names
| Name | Hebrew | Meaning | Strong's | First verse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jehovah Jireh | יְהוָה יִרְאֶה | the LORD will provide | H3070 | Genesis 22:14 |
| Jehovah Rapha | יְהוָה רֹפְאֶךָ | the LORD who heals | H3068 + H7495 | Exodus 15:26 |
| Jehovah Nissi | יְהוָה נִסִּי | the LORD is my banner | H3071 | Exodus 17:15 |
| Jehovah Shalom | יְהוָה שָׁלוֹם | the LORD is peace | H3073 + H7965 | Judges 6:24 |
| Jehovah Tsidkenu | יְהוָה צִדְקֵנוּ | the LORD our righteousness | H3072 | Jeremiah 23:6 |
| Jehovah Shammah | יְהוָה שָׁמָּה | the LORD is there | H3074 | Ezekiel 48:35 |
| Jehovah Sabaoth | יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת | the LORD of hosts | H3068 + H6635 | 1 Samuel 1:3 |
Common questions
What are the names of God in the Bible?
The main ones are Elohim (God), Adonai (my Lord), El Shaddai (God Almighty), El Elyon (God Most High), El Roi (the God who sees me), El Olam (the everlasting God) and the personal name Yahweh, written Jehovah in some Bibles. Compound names such as Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Tsidkenu, Jehovah Shammah and Jehovah Sabaoth join the personal name to a second word.
What is the difference between Elohim, Adonai and Yahweh?
Elohim is a general word for God. Adonai is a title meaning my Lord, which Jewish readers say aloud in place of the name. Yahweh (YHWH) is the personal name God gives Moses in Exodus 3, printed LORD in capitals in the KJV.
Are Jehovah Rapha and Jehovah Jireh names in the Bible?
Jehovah Jireh is printed once, in Genesis 22:14. Jehovah Rapha is not printed in either the KJV or the World English Bible; it is a name drawn from Exodus 15:26, "I am the LORD that healeth thee".
Sources
Meanings: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Hebrew dictionary, public domain. Every Hebrew form, transliteration and definition on these pages was read against the matching Strong's entry on Biblehub on 2026-10-22. Verse text is the King James Version and the World English Bible, both public domain. First verse is the first match in the text we searched for each name (see its page for the exact wording).
More: Bible names and their meanings, how many times God is in the Bible and every word count.
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 2026-10-22.