Biblical People
with Multiple Names

Question?   -   Newsletter   -   New!
The following Biblical individuals are referenced by more than one personal name in the King James (KJV) Bible.

Abram and Sarai were renamed, by God, to Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 17:1 - 16).

Baalzebub (2Kings 1), whose name means "dung god" or "lord of the flies," was a pagan deity of Ekron. The New Testament word Beelzebub, a variation of Baalzebub, was used by Jesus and others as another reference to Satan the devil (Matthew 10:25, 12:24 - 27, etc.). See our article on the devil's many names and titles for more information.

Daniel, Mishael, Hananiah and Azariah, Jews taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar, were given the Babylonian names of Belteshazzar, Meshach, Shadrach and Abed-Nego (Daniel 1:6 - 7).

Dorcas is also called Tabitha in the New Testament (Acts 9:36 - 42). She is the only recorded person resurrected from the dead by the Apostle Peter.

Gideon is also referred to as Jerubbaal. The name was given him by his father when he destroyed an altar to the pagan God Baal (Judges 6:32).

Jacob, Abraham's grandson, was renamed Israel by God after he wrestled all night long with a mysterious man who was likely Jesus Christ (Genesis 32:24 - 28).

Egypt's Pharaoh renamed Joseph (Jacob's son), after he raised him to the second most powerful position in the country, to Zaphnathpaaneah (Genesis 41:45). Joseph was thirty years old when he received this responsibility.

Joseph, who was also called Barsabas or Justus (Acts 1:23), was one of the two people who could have taken Judas' place as one of the New Testament's twelve apostles.

Judas (not Iscariot), one of Christ's twelve apostles, was also called Lebbeus (Matthew 10:3) or Thaddeus (Mark 3:18, Matthew 10:3).

Luke, the gospel writer, was also called Lucas in the King James translation of Philemon 1:24.

Matthew, the gospel writer, was also called Levi (Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27 - 29).

Molech (Leviticus 18:21, 20:2 - 5, etc.), the name of a pagan deity, is also called Milcom (1Kings 11:5, 33, 23:13) and Moloch (Amos 5:26, Acts 7:43).

Nathanael (John 1:46 - 47), another of Jesus' original disciples, was also called Bartholomew (Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18). It was Nathanael who, after first hearing about Jesus, openly questioned whether "any good thing" could come out of Nazareth (John 1:47)!

Saul, in the New Testament, is also referred to as Paul (the apostle) starting in Acts 13:9.

Simon (John 1:41) was called by four other names in the KJV New Testament. He was called Cephas by Jesus (John 1:40 - 42) and by the Apostle Paul (1Corinthians 1:12, etc.). Luke referred to him Simeon in Acts 15:14. His most well known references, however, are as Simon Peter (Matthew 16:16) or simply Peter (Matthew 4:18, etc.).

Simon the Canaanite (Matthew 10:4), one of the twelve original apostles, was also known as "Simon called Zelotes" (Luke 6:15) or Simon Zelotes (Simon the Zealot, see Acts 1:13).

Thomas, one of Christ's Jesus' original disciples, was also called Didymus (John 11:16), a name which means a twin or two-fold. Thomas' initial refusal to believe Jesus rose from the dead gave rise to the phrase "doubting Thomas."

Zacharias, found in Matthew 23:35, is referring to an Old Testament person named Zechariah (see 2Chronicles 24:20 - 22).

The name Zechariah is spelled Zachariah in four KJV Bible places (2Kings 14:29, 15:8, 11, 18:2).

Recommended Articles
Important Old Testament People
Cities in Ancient Israel Map!
Unusual Names in the Bible!
Should Jesus Be Named Immanuel?
Did Jesus Have a Last Name?
Original Biblical City Names
Why Did Sarah Lie About Abraham?
Biblical Cities With Multiple Names