# Hebrew/Aramaic counterparts for Christian names... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hebrew-aramaic-counterparts-for-christian-names/232197 "2004-03-03T00:43:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/2bfe46/32.png) [@Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hebrew-aramaic-counterparts-for-christian-names/232197/1 "2004-03-03T00:43:55Z")
Can anybody give me the Hebrew/Aramaic equivalent to these (Anglified) names: \*\*Peter Jason John (or Johnathon) Samuel Matthew James Joseph Luke Benjamin Saul Gary Ruth Rachel Rebecca Steve Eve Mary Richard Michael Jack Jonah Paul Mark Seth Daniel Robert Norah Arnold Kathryn Alison Claudia\*\* And give the phonetics as well i.e. Simon could be Shimon or “She-mon”… etc. you get the picture. How it’s pronounced. And how it is spelt. Apologies if any do not have equivalents. ---
**Author:** ![Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/2bfe46/32.png) [@Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hebrew-aramaic-counterparts-for-christian-names/232197/2 "2004-03-03T00:45:44Z")
Well some are Christian. ---
**Author:** ![Thrillhouse15](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ad7895/32.png) [@Thrillhouse15](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thrillhouse15)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hebrew-aramaic-counterparts-for-christian-names/232197/3 "2004-03-03T01:08:14Z")
“PETER m English, German, Scandinavian, Biblical Pronounced: PEE-tur Derived from Greek petros meaning “stone”. In the New Testament Jesus gave the apostle Simon the name Cephas (meaning “stone” in Aramaic) which was translated Peter in many versions of the Bible (compare Matthew 16:18 and John 1:42).” From [http://www.behindthename.com/](http://www.behindthename.com/) That website should help you with most of the rest. ---
**Author:** ![elliot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/858c86/32.png) [@elliot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elliot)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hebrew-aramaic-counterparts-for-christian-names/232197/4 "2004-03-03T02:41:04Z")
In Hebrew, I’ve always heard Rebecca being said as “Rivkah” with a short I and the “kah” like “cut.” Rachel is said like “raw-chel” with a hard ch, like Bach, and an accent on the second syllable. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hebrew-aramaic-counterparts-for-christian-names/232197/5 "2004-03-03T05:28:15Z")
Remember that the Hebrew/Aramaic alphabet is different from English. Some of the names you’ve listed are derived directly from the Hebrew or Aramaic names in the Bible, and I can give you those. But the other English names comes from some other source (for instance, from Greek, from German, from Norse, etc) and so there’s no one-to-one translation. By analogy, you might ask what the equivalent English is for the French Jean-Pierre. You could say, “John-Peter” but have you ever heard of “John-Peterl” as a common English name (the Pope excluded)? Yet, Jean-Pierre is a common French name. OK, so with that caveat, here goes: Peter – It’s from Greek, not from Hebrew. Jason – ditto John (or Johnathon) – Yonaton Samuel – Shmu-el Matthew – Matti-yaw (also Mattithias and related Greek) James – Usually from Ya-akov (also Jacob) Joseph – Yosef Luke – I have no idea. Benjamin – Benyamin Saul – Shu-el Gary – Gershom, probably Ruth – Root Rachel – Rakh-el (pronounce “kh” like the “ch” in German “achtung”) Rebecca – Riv-kah Steve – could be anything, there’s no direct equivalent, often Shlomo (Solomon) Eve – Khavah (pronounce “kh” like the “ch” in German “achtung”) Mary – Miryam (Miriam), I presume Richard – could be anything, there’s no direct equivalent, often Reuven (Reuben) Michael – Mikh-a-el (pronounce “kh” like the “ch” in German “achtung”) Jack – probably Ya-akov (also Jacob) Jonah – Yonah Paul – I have no idea Mark – I have no idea Seth – Set Daniel – Dan-i-el Robert – could be anything, there’s no direct equivalent, often Reuven (Reuben) Norah, Arnold, Kathryn, Alison, Claudia – I have no idea, could be anything Most Biblical names that have a J in them in English, the J came through the German where “J” is pronounced “Y”, and the original Hebrew is pretty similar if you replace the J with a Y. Hence, Yosef for Joseph, Yonah for Jonah, etc.