Bible names part II

David is one the most popular bible related names, which has become detached from its religious origins.  King David in the bible is an important if flawed figure.  The name became popular in the UK particularly in Scotland and Wales and St David was the patron saint of Wales.  It is now one of the most used British names.  It means beloved, and can be abbreviated to Dave or Davie.  The Welsh version of it is “Daffyd” which led to the nickname of Taffy for a Welshman.  A prominent Welshman is of course the wartime Prime Minister David Lloyd George.

Daniel has also become a very popular name.  Dan which is also a bible name means “Judge” and Daniel means “God has judged”.  In Ireland, it became known as an anglicised version of the Irish name Donal, and so became quite popular.  Daniel O’Connell was an important political figure in the 19^th century.   The name is well liked and can be abbreviated to Dan or Danny. 

Elias is a rather old fashion bible name, that used to be used in Victorian times but is now less so.  The name means “God is Yah”...Yah or Yahweh is one of the names used for God in the bible…Elliot is a variant which has become more popular in modern times…

 Emanuel means “God is with us” and was popular in the 17^th century.   It can be abbreviated to Manny, but it is also known in Spanish as Manuel…

Ethan is more popular in the USA, but is becoming known in Britain, meaning Long lived…

Another Name is Ephraim, which means fruitful.  It is not common any more but it was the name of one of Joseph’s sons in the bible.   It can be abbreviated to Ep or Eph-. 

Ezra means “Help” but has never been all that popular.  It is the name of the famous fascist sympathising poet, Ezra Pound...

Felix appears in the bible, it is a Latin name and means happy or lucky. In recent years it’s become quite popular, and so has the female version Felicity.   Its famous as the name of the Neil Simon character Felix Unger, in the Odd Couple....