Names Meaning Peace

Peace in biblical vocabulary is much wider than the absence of conflict. The Hebrew word shalom names wholeness, completeness, right relationship, and the kind of well-being that comes when everything is in its proper place. The Greek New Testament uses eirene to carry the same load, though the Greek word travels with a Roman background of imperial peace, the pax that Rome imposed by force. The biblical writers take the Greek term and fill it with the Hebrew sense.

The priestly blessing in Numbers 6:24 to 26 sits at the heart of this vocabulary: the LORD bless thee and keep thee; the LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; the LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. John 14:27 records Jesus picking up the same word for a different kind of giving: peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you.

Parents who pick a name meaning peace often want the wider register, not just calm but wholeness and blessing. Solomon's name comes from the same shalom root, naming the king whose reign symbolized the peaceful establishment of Israel under the temple. Irene carries the Greek eirene directly, with a Saint Irene tradition extending the name into Eastern Christian use. Salome carries the Hebrew shalom into a different form. Frederick takes the meaning through Germanic Christian Europe, the peaceful ruler, naming a register of kingship anchored in blessing rather than conquest.

Here are the names in the catalog that carry this meaning.