Obscure Biblical Names: Xerxes

Xerxes Paulk

Springfield, MA

emigrated to Ohio in 1798

Ok, Xerxes is not that obscure. There is limited choice in X names in the Bible, though.

This is somewhat interesting, though, because the name Xerxes does not appear in the KJV or Geneva Bibles — the KJV renders the king's name as Ahasuerus, while the Geneva Bible says Ahashuerosh. Modern translations give the king his Greek name — Xerxes. So where did Xerxes Paulk get his name? He was a Baptist preacher, and, while the 18th-century Baptists were not known for their learning, someone in his family may have been an educated man with access to a Greek testament or Herodotus.

Again, a terrible name for a Christian child.

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Note: There are no W names in the KJV.

Obscure Biblical Names: Vajezatha

Meet Vajezatha Daniels of Mendon, MA.

I think this goes on the list of names that may have been ok once upon a time, but are not good for the 21st century. See also Urana Daniels.

In the Bible, Vajezatha is another of Haman's sons, killed in the Book of Esther. I've given up trying to understand why New Englanders gave their children the names of people they believed to be the enemies of God. And such horrible names!

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Uzziel

Uzziel Rea

b. 1693

Danvers, MA

Uzziel Rea had a son named Archelaus, presumably after Herod Archelaus, aka the son of Herod the Great. In the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph and Mary are so afraid of Herod Archelaus that they never return to Judea. Why on Earth would you name your New England child after the guy who followed his father in his desire to kill baby Jesus?

There are a bunch of Uzziels in the Bible, none of them particularly distinguished.

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Tobijah

Edited: Per Boxfoot's explanation, I hereby deem Tobijah insufficiently obscure for this series. We'll go with Tyrannus instead (see comments). It raises an interesting question: which is a worse name for a child born in Massachusetts in 1775: Herod or Tyrannus?

Tobijah Perkins

Topsfield, MA

Not Tobias, not Elijah. Tobijah.

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Salathiel

Salathiel Judd

b. 1769

d. 1820 Chester, MA

In the Bible, Salathiel is named in the extensive genealogy of Joseph.

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Ruhamah

Ruhamah Wood

d. 8 March 1791

Brooklyn, CT

Ruhamah Wood, 1791, Brooklyn, CT

Ruhamah Wood's gravestone in Brooklyn, CT reads,

In Memory of Mrs

Ruhama, wife of

Mr Be(n)jamin Wood

who died March

8th 1791 in the 28th 

year of her age.

Behold me here

you splended youth

The tale I tell

is all the truth

Tho you are young

you may die soon

My morning sun

went down at noon

In the Bible, Ruhamah is a symbolic name given to the daughter(s?) of Hosea (Hosea 2:1).

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Quartus

Quartus Miles

b. 17 June 1810

Huntington, MA

This is not the best entry. There are only two Q names in the Bible, Quartus and Quirinius, but Quirinius is rendered as Cyrenius in the Geneva and KJV Bibles. Quartus could be named for the Biblical Quartus, I suppose, but it's probably only used for fourth sons. Boo.

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Parshandatha

Parshandatha (Ray) Sanborn Ferrin

of Plymouth, NH

m. Jonathan Ferrin c. 1850

This is a strange one. In the Bible, Parshandatha was a man, and not a very nice one. He was one of the ten sons of Haman killed in the Book of Esther. Why would a New Englander choose this name for any child, let alone a daughter?

Sometimes I think that some New Englanders weren't all that Biblically literate, even if they were familiar with the Bible.

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Onesiphorus

Onesiphorus Tileston

d. 27 November 1771

Boston, MA

Onesiphorus Tileston, 1771, Granary Burying Ground, Boston

The Biblical Onesiphorus was an early Christian and friend of Paul (2 Tim. 1:16-18; 4:19).

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Nehushta

Nehusta Moore Wells

m. 6 November 1794

Spencer, MA

In the Bible, Nehushta was the mother of a king of Judah (2 Kings 24:8).

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: M

The letter M is a real challenge. How can you choose just one?

Mahalaleel: Melhalaleel Munnings of Boston


Mehuman: Mehuman Hinsdell of Deerfield

Mephibosheth: Mephibosheth Adams of Groton


Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Lamech

Lamech Blandin

soldier in the American Revolution

Lemech/Lamech/Lemek was the son of Methuselah and the father of Noah.

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Kenaz

Kenaz Pixley

married Apphia Meachum, 19 February 1809

Chester, MA

There are actually three men named Kenaz in the Bible.

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Jehosheba

Jehosheba Taft

b. 11 May 1755

Uxbridge, MA

I actually kind of like this name.

In the Bible, Jehosheba was the daughter of Jehoram (2 Chr. 22:11).


Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Imla

Imla Keyes

b. 30 October 1793

Westford, MA

I get sucked into these records. I just go in looking for Imla, but my eye wanders down a line or two and I notice Ivory. That's right — Ivory Keyes. Then I see that Imla was the father of Emerline and twins named Liberty and Lydia. I could read these records all day long.

In the Bible, Imla was the father of the prophet Micaiah.

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Hazelelponi

Hazelelponi Gee

b. 27 May 1662

Boston

Hazelelponi Gee was named after her mother, Hazelelponi Willix.

The Biblical Hazelelponi shows up in a genealogy of the line of Judah (1 Chron 4:3) and is never mentioned again.


Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Genubath

Genubath Strong

b. 22 Oct 1791

Bolton, CT

Genubath was the third of six sons born to Ebenezer and Lucy Strong. His brothers were Ebenezer, Solomon, Daniel, Eli, and Samuel.

Also of note: the genealogy says that the youngest son, Samuel, was adopted in infancy. I don't know why — his mother was still alive and lived another 30 years after his birth (though she did not have any more children, so perhaps there was some sort of problem). Anyway, his adoptive parents were named John and Cleopatra Skinner.

In the Bible, Genubath is an Edomite brought up by an Egyptian queen (1 Kings 11:20).


Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Fortunatus

Fortunatus Bassett

b. 1742

Chilmark, Marthas Vineyard, MA

One of the nice things about Christians is that they really, really want you to know about the Bible. In service of that goal, they have created bajillions of websites that cover the minutia Bible in exhaustive detail. The Christian website I use for names is good for my purposes because it has lots of useful glossaries and tends to quote the King James Version (KJV), which would have been familiar to the residents of colonial New England (they also used the Geneva Bible, but that one isn't really so popular on the internet and it's similar to the KJV). Wikipedia also has an impressive list of Biblical names, but the spellings are not always taken from the KJV, so they seem less likely to show up in colonial New England.

The detail-oriented people at christiananswers.net assure me that there are only 3 names beginning with F in the whole Bible: Felix, Festus, and Fortunatus. The first two were certainly Romans and the third probably was — in any event, they are all in the New Testament. Colonial New Englanders liked to use Old Testament names — you won't find many Pauls or Lukes in this crowd — and none of these three names seemed particularly outlandish to me. I picked Fortunatus because he seems to be a relatively obscure character (1 Cor. 16:17).

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Eliashib

Eliashib Adams

b. 18 Feb 1659

Medfield, MA

Actually, the Adams family tree is lousy with Eliashibs.

There were two Eliashibs in the Bible, both priests (1 Chr. 24:12; Neh. 12:22).

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet

Obscure Biblical Names: Dumah

Dumah Tuttle

Ok, I cheated. Dumah Tuttle is from New York. He was elected to the New York State Legislature in 1831.

In the Bible, Dumah is the fourth son of Ishmael (Genesis 25:14).

Obscure Bible Names Alphabet