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English Names and Their Arabic Counterparts Posted by on May 2, 2010 in Culture

There are many names that are common between the Arab world and the West. These names are mainly names of prophets (أنبياء) and messengers (رسل) mentioned in the Bible (الكتاب المقدس) and the Qur’an (القرآن). Some names are the same in English and Arabic, e.g. ‘Adam’, while others are different, e.g. ‘David’. In this post, I list the names of some prophets in English and their Arabic counterparts.

– Adam = آدم

– Enoch = إدريس

– Noah = نوح

– Abraham = إبراهيم

– Ishmael = إسماعيل

– Isaac = إسحق

– Lot = لوط

– Jacob = يعقوب

– Joseph = يوسف

– Job = أيوب

– Moses = موسى

– Aaron = هارون

– David = داود

– Solomon = سليمان

– Elias = الياس

– Elisha = أليسع

– Jonah = يونس

– Zechariah = زكريا

– John = يحيى

– Jesus = عيسى

There are also some names of women (نساء) and angel (ملائكة) that have Arabic counterparts, e.g.

– Eve = حواء

– Sarah = سارة

– Mary = مريم

– Gabriel = جبريل

– Raphael = إسرافيل

– Michael = ميكائيل

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Comments:

  1. Scheich Josef:

    مرحبا يا عزيزة

    The Christian Bible (الكتاب المقدس) consists of two parts, the Old Testament (العهد القديم) and the New Testament (العهد الجديد). The Old Testament contains inter alia the Torah (التوراة) of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament contains inter alia the four Gospels (لأناجيل الأربعة).

    الإنجيل is therefore the Book of Gospels, which is only a part of the whole Christian Bible.

    مع السلامة

    يوسف

    • aziza:

      @Scheich Josef Ahlan Josef,
      Thank you very much for the clarification. It is very much appreciated!
      Salaam,
      Aziza

  2. Johnny:

    Also some alternates…

    يوحنا John from the Bible. يحيى is from the Quran, it generally means just John the Baptist. In the middle east, John’s are usually حنا

    Also… عسى is يسوع in the Bible. عسى has greek origins, Isas. يسوع is from hebrew, both mean مخلاص or salvation ۔

    • aziza:

      @Johnny Thank you very much for the comment Johnny!
      By the way, what is the Arabic for Johnny?
      Salaam,
      Aziza

      • Jeb:

        @aziza Johnny is derives from John. It is kind of nickname. As for example a woman named Bethy, she would be called Beth ( by friends and family especially)

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  4. Ali:

    @Johnny, you’re halfway there.
    Yahya and Youhanna are both of Hebrew origin. Yahya means ‘Jehovah is Life’ and Youhanna means ‘Jehovah is Grace’. Why the Quran calls him that I don’t know, but it does use the word Hannan once to describe him.
    ‘Isaa(Jesus) is directly from Syriac EeSho’a, from Aramaic YeeShoa’. Y’Sua’ is directly from the Aramaic, but mistranslated. It should be YaaSou b/c their’s no Ayin.

    Johnny is short for Youhanna

  5. Jeb:

    Johnny is derived from John. It is kind of nickname. As for example a woman named Bethy, she would be called Beth ( by friends and family especially)

    I am not 100 % sure! But that what I think. Good l7ck finding out the answer for your question Aziza.

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