Bible Word and Place Names

As a boys' name, Angel has two distinct name personalities. One is as a perennial favorite Hispanic boys’ name, popular in the US along with Spain, Mexico, and South America.

An implied spiritual meaning makes this a plausible new name.

An undiscovered option among occupational names, Banner has never been used for more than 100 baby boys in a single year. But Banner has undeniable charm, much due to its associations with fêtes and phrases like "a banner year".

Bethany is a lyrical name that still strikes many parents as a fresher, more substantial substitute for the overused Brittany/Brittney or the more antiquated Beth.

A rarely used Biblical place-name with a soft and pleasant sound.

Pronounced KAY-nan, this Old Testament place name has a strong modern feel. It was one of the fastest-rising names of 2015, breaking into the Top 1000.

Carmel is a biblical place-name heard much more frequently in Ireland than in the U.S. and is considered a particularly Catholic name. It is given in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and is the name of a mountain ridge on the Mediterranean near Haifa in Israel, mentioned in the Old Testament, famous for its lush vegetation and said to have been often visited by Mary and the Infant Christ.

Cedar is, like Ash, Oak, Pine and Ebony, one of the new tree/wood names that parents are starting to consider; this one is particularly aromatic.

One of the new bird names, like Lark and Wren, this one's associated with the billing and cooing sounds of love. Soft and gentle, Dove also has the admirable association with peace.

Solemn but soaring name with patriotic symbolism.

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.

Eden is an attractive, serene name with obvious intimations of Paradise, one of several place names drawn from the Bible by the Puritans in the seventeenth century.

Galilee is a highly unusual place name, Galilee being a large region in northern Israel, the home of Jesus during at least thirty years of his life, and also where he cured a blind man. The Sea of Galilee gets its name from the area.

Like Bethany and Shiloh, a meaningful biblical place-name.

Glory sounds fresh and uplifting and a lot more modern than Gloria (which is definitely feeling the stirrings of a revival, though some might still view it as a terminal Old Lady name). Glory, as in "Glory Be" and "Old Glory," has both a religious and a patriotic flavor.

In the New Testament this was exclaimed by those around Jesus when he first entered Jerusalem. An exuberant choice!