240+ Unusual Biblical Baby Names

The biblical Zilpah was a handmaiden of Leah who had two sons with Jacob, Gad and Asher. Zilpah is a one-hit wonder, appearing on the US Top 1000 only one year, 1881. No baby girls were named Zilpah in the US last year.

A Roman forename, and later family name, used for both sexes in ancient times (but more commonly men).

A minor Old Testament prophet, and a (deservedly) even more minor name.

Biblical name from the Old Testament.

A rare alternative to Tobias, with a lesser-known Biblical story.

Place name and feminine given name in the Old Testament.

Abital is popular for boys as well as girls in Israel, but we rarely hear it here. In the Old Testament, Abital was one of King David's wives and the mother of his fifth son.

Menahem derives from a Hebrew word meaning "the comforter" King Menahem of the Old Testament did not live up to his name — he was one of Israel’s cruelest kings.

Derivative of Shalom and one of the unique baby names featured in the Old Testament.

Greek name featured in the New Testament.

Biblical name from the Old Testament.

One of the wives of King David in the Old Testament.

Obscure name from the New Testament.

Greek variation of Candace used in the Bible.

Hillel the Great was a famous Talmudic scholar, the spiritual and ethical leader of his generation, and his name is greatly honored by parents in Israel and, to some extent, here.

Rosh is not Ross, not Rush, but an improvement on both of those more familiar names. The Biblical Rosh was a son of Benjamin, so you might consider it to honor a father or otherwise ancestral Benjamin. Very much associated with the Jewish New Year holiday, Rosh Hashanah.

Old Testament name that would make a nice alternative to Matteo.

Old Testament name of the daughter-in-law of Naomi, now eclipsed by the originally misspelled Oprah.

Biblical name from the Old Testament.

A masculine name in the Old Testament, but used contemporarily as a feminine name.