Christian names starting with N

The N cluster contains three substantively distinct Old Testament names. Naomi (Hebrew Naomi, "pleasant" or "delight") is the mother-in-law of Ruth whose decision to return from Moab to Bethlehem sets up the entire arc of the book of Ruth and the eventual lineage of David. Her story is the inverse of her name's meaning: she returned bitter and asked to be called Mara, "bitter," instead.

Nehemiah (Hebrew Nechemyah, "the LORD comforts") is the fifth-century BC cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes who returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls after the exile. His book stands alongside Ezra as the canonical record of the post-exilic restoration.

Noah (Hebrew Noach, "rest" or "comfort") opens the cluster as the patriarch through whom the flood story moves from judgment toward rescue (Genesis 6 to 9). Noah has held the #1 or #2 position in US baby names every year from 2013 through 2025, making him the most chosen biblical boy name in modern American naming for a 13-year run.