Seven Good but Uncommon Biblical Names for Boys and Girls

by Thom S. Rainer Founder

One of the churches I served as pastor had many babies born to our church members each year. On occasion, one or both of the parents would ask me what I thought about a specific name, particularly a name in the Bible.

I did not have all the tools and technology we have today, so I did my best to research the names they were considering. Today, we can go to the Social Security database and get the names given to babies each year. I did just that and, with the help of technology, found the names that have a biblical origin.

My criterial were simple. The name had to be a biblical name, and it had to fall out of the top 500 rankings for the past five years.

Here are the girls’ names:

Rank: Outside top 1,000 Meaning: “Cassia” (fragrant spice; beauty, restoration) Scripture: Job 42:14

Meaning: “Cassia” (fragrant spice; beauty, restoration)

Rank: Outside top 1,000 Meaning: “Delight, pleasantness” Scripture: Song of Songs 6:4

Meaning: “Delight, pleasantness”

Scripture: Song of Songs 6:4

Rank: Outside top 1,000 (U.S. girls) Meaning: “Movement, motion” Scripture: Numbers 27:1

Rank: Outside top 1,000 (U.S. girls)

Meaning: “Movement, motion”

Rank: Outside top 1,000 Meaning: “Adornment, beauty” Scripture: Genesis 4:19

Meaning: “Adornment, beauty”

Rank: Outside top 1,000 Meaning: “Beautiful, fair” Scripture: Exodus 1:15

Meaning: “Beautiful, fair”

Rank: Outside top 1,000 Meaning: “Myrtle tree” (peace, blessing) Scripture: Esther 2:7

Meaning: “Myrtle tree” (peace, blessing)

Rank: Outside top 1,000 Meaning: Often understood as “fruitful” or “increasing” Scripture: Philemon 1:2

Meaning: Often understood as “fruitful” or “increasing”

And here are the rankings for the boys’ names:

Rank: Outside top 1,000 Meaning: “Strength” or “swiftness”…