Real names of Bible characters

[~Anastasia~]

I'd love someone to explain how we get "James" from "Iakovos" in the Greek.

I'm still trying to figure out if there's a real reason "Haralambos" is always "Bob" -- or if it's maybe only a local abberation.

 

[prodromos]

I'm still trying to figure out if there's a real reason "Haralambos" is always "Bob" -- or if it's maybe only a local abberation.

I always thought it would be "Harry"!?
My mother-in-law was named "Anastasia" but everyone called her "Toula". Her cousin was also "Anastasia" but she was known as "Soula". I've known a couple of "Constantinos", one was known simply as "Con" and the other was "Dean"

 

[~Anastasia~]

Anastasia is usually Anna or Sia here. (Anna for me.)

Harry makes a lot more sense than Bob!

I think people make this stuff up as they go along ...

 

[prodromos]

Anastasia is usually Anna or Sia here. (Anna for me.)

Harry makes a lot more sense than Bob!

I think people make this stuff up as they go along ...

Ah yes, I have met an "Anastasia" known as "Sia" also.
The "Soula" and "Toula" come from the diminutive forms of the name, "Anastatoula" or "Anastasoula". Its what their parents called them as children which became shortened and stuck.

 

[FireDragon76]

Those names are mostly all transliterations from Greek or Hebrew. "Eve" for instance comes from the Greek Eva, which in turn comes from the Hebrew Hawwah.

 

[FireDragon76]

I'd love someone to explain how we get "James" from "Iakovos" in the Greek.

From the vulgar Latin Jacomus. Also related to the Spanish name Jaime.

james | Origin and meaning of james by Online Etymology Dictionary

 

[Dave-W]

I'd love someone to explain how we get "James" from "Iakovos" in the Greek.

Or Yakov in Hebrew.

 

[Dave-W]

From the vulgar Latin Jacomus. Also related to the Spanish name Jaime.

james | Origin and meaning of james by Online Etymology Dictionary

I understand how Iakovos comes from Yakov.
But I do not get how you get to jacomus.

 

[FireDragon76]

The names in English bibles have been anglicanized. Ha'adam and Chavah are Adam and Eve. Solomon's real name is Schlomo. Moses is Moshe. Even Jesus' name comes to english through the Greek Iesous. Originally it was Yahshua, sometimes pronounced Yeshua. In English it would be Joshua.

Joshua is actually a different name and comes from Hebrew, not Aramaic.

Yeshua literally means "salvation" in Aramaic (from the verb, yeshu, to save). It wasn't too rare a name around the time Jesus lived, either.

 

[FireDragon76]

I understand how Iakovos comes from Yakov.
But I do not get how you get to jacomus.

Latin had vowel and consonant shifts as it became less standardized after the fall of the Roman empire. And "J" was merely another way to write "I" of course.

 

[Dave-W]

Latin had vowel and consonant shifts as it became less standardized after the fall of the Roman empire. And "J" was merely another way to write "I" of course.

Except we are taking the text from the Greek, NOT the Latin.

 

[Blade]

Moses .. Moshe... for just one

 

[FireDragon76]

Except we are taking the text from the Greek, NOT the Latin.

Traditionally, English Bibles tend to follow Latinate names for historical reasons because English was influenced so much by French culture. The difference is that Protestant Bibles used more Hebrew words from the Old Testament, whereas Catholics continued to use Greek/Latin words such as Elias instead of Elijah, for instance (I think Elisha was Eliseus, as well)

 

[GodLovesCats]

Those names are mostly all transliterations from Greek or Hebrew. "Eve" for instance comes from the Greek Eva, which in turn comes from the Hebrew Hawwah.

How do they get Eva from Hawwah?

Because the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, I would have Englishized that, not the Greek Eva.

 

[GodLovesCats]

I understand how Iakovos comes from Yakov.
But I do not get how you get to jacomus.

That's the easiest name to figure out I have seen so far. After the first letter, the next four are identical. I don't know about Hebrew and Greek, but remember in English Y sometimes sounds like I, like in byte.

 

[FireDragon76]

How do they get Eva from Hawwah?

Because the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, I would have Englishized that, not the Greek Eva.

The early Church used Greek and Latin, not Hebrew (though some such as Origen did know Hebrew, most did not). Hebrew was not widely studied by Christians until the Reformation, and by that time, the popular usages of the names were already well established.

 

[Dirk1540]

It is common practice to transliterate names for ease of pronunciation in other languages, at least in the past. Often today people try and keep original forms unless a transliteration is widely known. Don't really know if it aids comprehension though.

So for instance, Gwenhwyffr in Welsh is transliterated to Guinevere in Arthurian legend and long ago entered English as Jennifer.
Or Yohannan in Hebrew became Latin Iohannes, then English John or Russian Ivan. Ultimately all the same name.

We used to translate names even, so up till the 19th century they would call Johannes Hendrikus Brand, John Henry Brand - but we stopped doing so. Or Christopher Columbus was Christobal Colon to the Spanish.

When we write ancient names, we do the same. Plinius becomes Pliny, or Pilatus Pilate, or Aristoteles becomes Aristotle. It isn't nefarious, it just makes it easier in other languages. Sometimes we know people by names that aren't even their own - like Genghis Khan (really a title of Temujin) or create different names for the same (French kings Clovis and Louis and the Frankish Hlodowig are all actually the same; or Jesus and Joshua from Yeshua).

The Bible merely came via Greek or Latin into other languages, so Hebrew or Latin or Greek or Aramaic names are all transformed thereby and then changed in the new language to fit its sound structure.

The first thing that popped into my head when I saw this thread is ‘Boy is this a perfect question for Quid’ lol!!

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Latin had vowel and consonant shifts as it became less standardized after the fall of the Roman empire. And "J" was merely another way to write "I" of course.

Actually, what we term Classical Latin was already diverging significantly from the common spoken tongue by the late Empire. Cicero's Latin was as different from Augustine's as perhaps Shakespeare or Chaucer from today's English. That is why Jerome wrote his Bible in the vulgar or common form, for comprehension - hence the Vulgate. They were well on their way to becoming the Romance languages.

As already noted, Iacobus became Iacomus, as the B became nasalised transforming it into an M, as similarly a D nasalised becomes an N. This is similar to how Bs become Vs (Gubernator to English Governor, or Caballus to Cavalry), or Ls to Rs (as in Japanese English pronunciation), Ps to Fs (relation of Pater and Father), etc. It depends how the sound is made, so that sometimes quite different sounds are actually somewhat similar. A small change in how the sound is formed, over a few generations of dialectical speakers, and the name often sounds very different - like Karel to Charles.

 

[GodLovesCats]

Quid are you an expert on oral lilngustics? "How the sound is made" looks like speech therapy stuff.

 

[Quid est Veritas?]

Quid are you an expert on oral lilngustics? "How the sound is made" looks like speech therapy stuff.

No, but I am very interested in history - especially Roman history. You quickly pick up a passing acquaintance with shifts in language, which follow patterns - more often than not based on related sounds via where they are formed. A good example is Grimm's Law, that explains consonant shifts in Germanic languages from other Indo-European ones.

Sometimes these gradual changes are startling: Roman Eburacum, became Anglo-Saxon Efeorwic, Viking Jorvik and finally English York; or Punic Hisbaal, became Roman Hispalis, Moorish Ishbilliya and then Spanish Sevilla (Seville in English).