Hebrew Name - Hebrew-Greek Names

Hebrew-Greek Names

Due to the Hellenisation of the Eastern Mediterranean and the movement of Jews around the area, many names were adapted to Greek, reinforced by the translation of the Tanakh in the Septuagint with many Hellenized names.

Many of the names in the New Testament are of Hebrew and Aramaic origin, but were adapted to the Greek by Hellenistic Christian writers such as Paul of Tarsus.

Such Hebræo-Greek names include Ιησους Iēsous (originally from ישׁוע Yēšûªʻ), Νωη Nōē (originally from נח Nōªḥ), Ισαιας Isaias (originally from ישׁעיהו Yəšaʻªyāhû), Ισραήλ Israēl (originally from ישראל Yiśrā’ēl which can mean "person (mind) seeing God. Emmanuēl (originally from Hebrew עִמָּנוּאֵל ʻImmānûʼēl "God with us" or Greek Εμοί εν Ηλ(ί) or εν εμοί ο Ήλιος or within me is God.

Also, some Jews of the time had Greek Gentile names themselves, such as the Christian Luke (Greek Λουκας Loukas). Though used by some Jews at the time, these names are generally not associated with Jews today, and are considered characteristically Greek and largely confined to use by Christians. Hebrew forms of the names exist, but they are extremely rare.