Aramaic baby names

Aramaic was the everyday language of Judea in the time of Jesus, and a few New Testament names come from it rather than from Hebrew: Thomas ("twin"), Martha ("lady"), Tabitha ("gazelle") and Bethany, a village near Jerusalem. Of the names we have researched, 10 are Aramaic, given to 14,192 US babies in 2025.

Rising Aramaic names

Biggest climbers in rank since 2020: Martha (#767 to #713), Tadeo (#704 to #427), Tommy (#745 to #658), Silas (#100 to #71), Tomas (#708 to #691), Thomas (#45 to #34).

Aramaic girl names (4)

Name	Meaning	Rank 2025	Babies 2025
Martha	the lady, mistress (Aramaic)	#713	393
Bethany	biblical village (meaning disputed)	#752	362
Tabitha	"gazelle"	#1,308	171
Tommie	pet form of Thomas; "twin"	#2,352	78

Aramaic boy names (6)

Name	Meaning	Rank 2025	Babies 2025
Thomas	twin	#34	6,917
Silas		#71	4,639
Tadeo	Spanish form of Thaddeus	#427	753
Tommy	pet form of Thomas, 'twin'	#658	420
Tomas	twin (form of Thomas)	#691	394
Tom	short form of Thomas, 'twin'	#2,206	65

How origins are assigned

Each name gets one origin: the language its meaning comes from, which is not always the language it reached English through. Mateo is Spanish in form but Hebrew in origin, so it is listed as Hebrew. The lists cover the roughly 2,000 most used names we have researched so far. Common meanings among Aramaic names: king or queen, an animal.