II. PERSONAL NAMES
Personal names are either purely Hebrew or hebraicized. To the latter category belong not only (passing over foreign names as Teglathphalasar, Assuerus, etc.) Babylonian (Daniel-Balthassar) and Persian (Hadassa-Esther) names assumed by some persons of Hebrew origin living in far-away countries, and the Greek and Latin names in use among Jews of later times conjointly with their Hebrew or Aramaic names (John/Mark; Saul/Paul, etc.,) but also certain very old names which were handed down by tradition, such as Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham, etc., and treated by the sacred writers as Hebrew words. There is scarcely any doubt but that in passing from one language to the other these names were altered to some extent; and as the etymological explanation pretends to interpret the Hebrew form, the meaning arrived at can hardly be more than fanciful. It is from the original language of these names that their meaning should be sought (so Abram and Abraham may be explained from the Assyr. Abi-ramu, or Abi-rame, "my father loveth"; Sarai and Sara from Sharat, "the great princess"; Lot from Latu, or La'itu, "the consumer"; from the Egyptian might be explained likewise a few names, e.g., Moses, "the child", etc.). Of the pure Hebrew names some are simple and others compound. Simple names appear to have been more frequent in early times, but some are in reality hypocoristic, i.e., abbreviated forms of compound names as Saul (asked), David (beloved) Nathan (he gave), etc., which were probably combined with a Divine name, Yah or 'El.
Simple Names
Of the simple names a few seem to have been suggested by particular circumstances attending the child's birth: e.g, Jacob (the supplanter), Joseph (possibly an hypocoristic name: "Whom God added" -- Eliasaph was at one time a favourite name for the youngest son in a family). A large class of proper names for men and women is made up of adjectives denoting personal characteristics. Here are a few instances: Acan (afflicting), Achaz (possessor), Agar (wanderer), Amos (strong), Amri (eloquent), Aod (praising), Asaph (gatherer), Aser (happy), Asir (captive), Ather (bound), Azbai (dwarf), Balac (vain), Baruch (blessed), Cetura (sweet-smelling), Dalila (yearning), Doeg (anxious), Edom (red), Esthon (women-like), Gaddel, Geddel (tall), Gedeon (destroyer), Heled (fat), Job (ruthlessly treated), Laban (white), Manahem (consoler), Nabal (fool), Nachor (panting or snoring), Nahum (comforter), Noemi (pretty), Omri (tiro, awkward), Ornan (nimble), Ozni (long-eared), Phesse (lame), Ruth (friend), Sepho (bald-headed), etc.
Names of animals and plants were at the same period not infrequently given to persons both by the Hebrews and by their neighbours, the Chanaanites and others. Among the names of animals assumed as proper names, we may mention: Achbor (mouse), Aia (vulture), Aran (wild goat) Caleb (dog), Debora (bee), Eglon (calf), Gaal (beetle) Hagaba, in N.T. Agabus (locust), Hulda (weasel) Jahel (chamois), Jonas (dove), Nahas (snake), Ozi (goose-like), Rachel (ewe), Saphan (coney), Sebia (gazelle), Sephora (little bird), Sual (jackal) Tabitha (Aram., gazelle), Tola (worm), Zeb (wolf).
Of the names of plants, apparently less frequently used than those of animals, here are a few instances: Asena (bush), Cassia (a kind of balsam tree), Cos (thorn), Elas (oak), Elon (terebinth), Hadassa (myrtle), Oren (pine), Susan (lily), etc. Some modern scholars explain the relatively frequent recurrence of these two kinds of names among Palestinian populations as remnants of totemism which, these scholars maintain, prevailed in early times. This is hardly the place to discuss such a question. It is illogical to extend to all primitive peoples religious conceptions observed in some few; were we to yield to the fascination for totems which prevails among some writers, we might consider as traces of totemism such English names as Fox, Wolf, Hawthorne, and the like. Granting even that the names mentioned above are unmistakable signs of totemism among the early populations of Palestine, it would by no means necessarily follow that these names manifest the prevalence of the same religious ideas among the Hebrews. Hebrew was not the primitive language of the descendants of Abraham, they having adopted it from the natives of the land of Chanaan; naturally along with the language they adopted certain of their modes of speech.
Sometimes names of things, also of natural phenomena, even (though rarely) abstractions, and words referring to trades or avocations were taken as proper names. Of the latter class we have for instance: Abdon, Obed (servant), Amon (architect), Berzellai (blacksmith), Charmi (vine-dresser), Somer (watch-man), Zamri (singer); of the former: Agag (fire), Ahod (union), Amos (burden) Anna (grace), Barac (lighting), Bezec (thunderbolt), Cis (straw), Core (frost), Ephron (dust), Hon (strength), Mary (stubbornness, disobedience, see Numbers 12), Naboth (fruit), Ur (light), Samson (sun), etc.