In the Gospel of Luke, Mary is the mother of Jesus. Joseph travels with her to Bethlehem before Jesus’s birth.
Every name links to its full page: meaning, origin, and its real popularity curve since 1890.
ElizabethHebrew · "God is my oath," from the Hebrew Elisheva; the great durable classic of English girl names, worn by two reigning queens and rarely out of the US top 30 in over a century of records. Its nickname wealth is unmatched: Liz, Beth, Eliza, Betsy, Libby
JamesHebrew · traditionally "supplanter," the English form of Jacob by way of the Late Latin Iacomus; the name of kings, two apostles, and more US presidents than any other. Royal in Britain, everyman in America, durable everywhere: Jim, Jamie, and Jem included
AnnaHebrew · "grace, favor," the Greek and Latin form of Hannah that spread wherever Christianity went; empresses of Russia, a prophetess in the Gospel of Luke, and centuries of quiet European use. The plainest spelling of one of the world's most shared names
JonathanHebrew · "Yahweh has given," from the Hebrew Yehonatan; in the Bible the prince whose loyalty to David defined friendship. A steady Anglo-American classic for three centuries that folds warmly to Jon and Johnny without being John
AnnHebrew · variant of Hannah, meaning 'grace, favor' in Hebrew
ChristineFrench · French form of Christina, from Christianus, 'a Christian'
EvaHebrew · a form of Eve, from Hebrew Ḥawwa, linked either to "breathe" or to "live"
JoeHebrew · diminutive of Joseph, meaning 'God will add' in Hebrew
DanielHebrew · "God is my judge," from Daniyyel, the dream-reading prophet who walked out of the lions' den; a steady classic in English since the Middle Ages and a cornerstone name across Spanish, Hebrew, and Slavic worlds alike. Dan and Danny come standard
AnneHebrew · variant of Hannah, meaning 'grace, favor' in Hebrew
BenjaminHebrew · "son of the right hand," from the Hebrew Binyamin, Jacob's youngest and best-loved son; a name for cherished last-borns through centuries of Jewish, Puritan, and American use. Full of gravity, while Ben could not be friendlier
JessieHebrew · originally a Scots pet form of Jean; now also used for Jessica, with a separate masculine use for Jesse
PhilipGreek · means 'lover of horses', from Greek philos (love) and hippos (horse)
MariaSpanish · traditionally linked to the Virgin Mary; bitter, or of the sea; the ever-present Spanish classic, woven into countless compound names like María del Carmen
JacquelineFrench · French feminine form of Jacques/James; traditionally translated 'supplanter' or 'holder of the heel'
LydiaGreek · "from Lydia", a region of western Asia Minor
JacobHebrew · traditionally "holder of the heel" or "supplanter," from the Hebrew Ya'aqov, the patriarch who wrestled the angel and fathered the twelve tribes; a Jewish and Puritan staple that ruled the US boys' charts for over a decade around the 2000s. Jake comes free
MadelineHebrew · English form of Madeleine, from Magdalene, "of Magdala"
PhillipGreek · variant spelling of Philip, 'lover of horses'
LoisGreek · meaning uncertain, traditionally 'good, desirable'
EvanWelsh · "Yahweh is gracious," as the Welsh form of John, worn smooth through Ieuan and Ifan; centuries of use in Wales, then an easy crossover into the American mainstream. All the heritage of John with none of its ubiquity
JesusHebrew · "Yahweh is salvation," from Yeshua by way of Greek and Latin; in Spanish-speaking families, where it is pronounced heh-SOOS, giving the name is an act of devotion with centuries of tradition behind it, common from Mexico to the Philippines
JimmyHebrew · an English nickname for James, from the Hebrew Yaakov, the same root as Jacob, traditionally 'supplanter'
SadieHebrew · diminutive of Sarah, from Hebrew sarah, "lady, princess, noblewoman"
AbigailHebrew · "my father's joy," from the Hebrew Avigayil, the quick-witted wife of David in the Bible; a Puritan favorite that fell out of use when "abigail" became slang for a lady's maid, then returned in the 1970s to become a modern staple. Abby for short
MattieAramaic · diminutive of Martha, 'lady/mistress' (sometimes also short for Matilda)
PriscillaLatin · from Latin 'priscus', 'ancient/old-fashioned'; a diminutive of Prisca, named in the New Testament
TommyAramaic · diminutive of Thomas, from Aramaic Ta'oma, 'twin'
ChrisGreek · diminutive of Christopher/Christian, from Greek 'Christophoros', 'bearing Christ'
JeremiahHebrew · "Yahweh will exalt," from Yirmeyahu, the prophet whose laments named a whole genre, the jeremiad; Puritans loved it, the frontier kept it, and it outlasted its 1970s revival cousin Jeremy. Weighty, warm, and fully modern in feel
JohnnieHebrew · diminutive of John, 'God is gracious'
JoannaHebrew · feminine form of John, "Yahweh is gracious"
RubenHebrew · a variant of Reuben, traditionally understood as "look, a son"; how the Hebrew name was formed is disputed
SeanIrish · "Yahweh is gracious," John come home to Ireland through the Norman French Jehan; anglicized without its accent mark, it became a mid-century Irish-American signature and spun off the phonetic Shawn and Shaun
IanScottish · Anglicized form of Scottish Gaelic Iain, from Iohannes and the John line; the underlying Hebrew name means "Yahweh is gracious"
IsabelleHebrew · "God is my oath," through Elizabeth and medieval Occitan Isabel; this spelling is used in French
JudyHebrew · diminutive of Judith, 'praised' / 'woman of Judea'
HannahHebrew · "grace, favor," from Channah, the mother who prayed for a child and gave the Bible one of its tenderest stories; a Puritan mainstay revived in the 1980s and 90s to the American top five. A palindrome, warm from either direction
MadelynHebrew · "woman of Magdala," from Magdalene, the fishing village on the Sea of Galilee; Madelyn is the streamlined American spelling of Madeline, part of the same vintage current that lifted Evelyn. Maddie leads its short forms
MichealHebrew · variant spelling of Michael, 'who is like God'
JonHebrew · short form of John/Jonathan, traditionally 'God is gracious' or 'gift of God'
MathewHebrew · variant of Matthew, meaning 'gift of God'
NoahHebrew · "rest," from the Hebrew Noach, the ark-builder who rode out the flood; quiet for most of the 20th century, then the defining boys' name of the 2010s in the US and much of Europe. Gentle in sound, patriarch in weight
EllisEnglish · English surname from medieval Elis, a form of Elias; separately, an Anglicized form of Welsh Elisedd, "kind, benevolent"
EmanuelHebrew · variant of Emmanuel, meaning 'God is with us'
GabriellaHebrew · feminine form of Gabriel, "God is my strength"
GabrielleHebrew · French feminine form of Gabriel, "God is my strength"
BennieHebrew · diminutive of Benjamin, son of the right hand
ElijahHebrew · my God is Yahweh; English form of the Hebrew name Eliyyahu
ElisabethHebrew · variant of Elizabeth, traditionally translated as 'God is my oath'
JeannetteFrench · diminutive of Jeanne, traditionally 'God is gracious'
DaviPortuguese · Brazilian Portuguese form of David, traditionally "beloved"
IsraelHebrew · traditionally "he who struggles with God"
JaimeHebrew · Spanish and Portuguese form in the James and Jacob family, carried by medieval kings of Aragon; English Jaime also belongs to Jamie’s branch; Jacob is traditionally interpreted as "supplanter", though its etymology is debated
MadeleineHebrew · woman from Magdala; famously borne by Princess Madeleine of Sweden
EmmanuelHebrew · "God is with us," the name Isaiah promised and the Gospels claimed; long favored in French, Spanish, Filipino, and African Christian families. Grand in full, easy as Manny, and never far from its meaning
GabrielHebrew · traditionally "God is my strength," from Hebrew Gavriel
JohnathanHebrew · variant spelling of Jonathan, "Yahweh has given"
MicheleItalian · feminine form of Michael, traditionally 'who is like God'
RebekahHebrew · variant of Rebecca, traditionally 'to bind' or 'captivating'
