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Greek Word for Name: What Does “Onoma” Really Mean?
Quick answer: The Greek word for “name” in the New Testament is ὄνομα (onoma), pronounced ON-oh-mah, Strong’s G3686. It appears about 230 times. In ordinary Greek it simply meant the name a person is called by. But the New Testament writers were Jews who thought in Hebrew, so onoma picked up the full weight of the Hebrew shem: a person’s character, reputation, and authority. When the New Testament talks about asking, gathering, healing, or baptizing “in the name of” Jesus, it is talking about acting under Jesus’ authority, the way an ambassador speaks for the king who sent them. A name was never a password.
Word Study: Where “Onoma” Comes From
Here is something most English speakers never notice: you already speak this word. Greek onoma, Latin nomen, Sanskrit nāman, and English name are all cousins. Linguists trace them back to one ancestor word in the prehistoric language behind most European and Indian languages. “Name” is one of the oldest words you use every day, and it has meant the same basic thing for thousands of years.
Onoma also lives inside a whole family of English words. Anonymous means “without a name.” A synonym is a word that shares a name with another. A pseudonym is a false name. Onomatopoeia is “name-making,” a word shaped like the sound it names. Paul uses one of these himself: in 1 Timothy 6:20 he warns about “science falsely so called,” which in Greek is pseudōnymos, knowledge with a fake name on it.
So far that’s plain Greek. What changed onoma was the Greek Old Testament. When Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek (the Septuagint, a couple of centuries before Jesus), they used onoma for every one of the Hebrew Bible’s hundreds of uses of shem. Every time Hebrew said “the name of the LORD” and meant God’s revealed character, Greek-speaking Jews read onoma. By the time the Gospels were written, the word had soaked up that meaning. (We trace the Hebrew side in Hebrew Word for Name: What Does “Shem” Really Mean?)
Two New Testament uses show how far the word stretched:
- A name can mean a person. Acts 1:15 counts the early believers this way: “the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty.” Revelation 3:4 says, “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments.” Here onoma doesn’t mean what people are called. It means the people themselves, each one known and counted.
- A name can mean authority. When the council arrests Peter and John after a lame man is healed, they don’t ask what word was spoken. They ask, “By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?” (Acts 4:7). Power and name sit side by side as two ways of asking the same question: on whose authority?
Documents from everyday life fill in the rest of the picture. Greek papyri recovered from Egypt, the receipts, contracts, and letters of ordinary people, use the phrase eis to onoma (“into the name”) for a payment credited to someone’s account. Money paid “into the name” of a person now belonged to them. Keep that phrase in mind. Jesus uses it in His last instruction in Matthew.
Want to know the name by knowing the One who carries it? A name in Scripture is a person’s character, and the way to learn Jesus’ character is to spend time with Him in the Gospels. 30 Days Walking with Jesus is a set of short, easy-to-read devotionals that bring His words, actions, and love to life. It’s built for new Christians learning how to start and for long-time Christians who want the connection back. The 3-day sample below is free.
Where “Onoma” Appears in the Bible
Onoma shows up in every part of the New Testament. A few of the places where the word does the most work:
| Reference | Text (KJV) | What onoma is doing here |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew 18:20 | “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” | Gathering as people who belong to Jesus, not a head-count |
| John 14:13 | “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” | Asking as Jesus’ representatives |
| Acts 3:6 | “Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” | Acting on authority Peter doesn’t have on his own |
| Acts 4:12 | “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” | The name standing for the person himself |
| Matthew 28:19 | “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” | One name (singular) for Father, Son, and Spirit |
Look closely at Matthew 28:19. In Greek, “in the name” is eis to onoma, literally “into the name,” the same phrase the papyri use for money credited to an account. Baptism is a transfer of ownership: the person baptized now belongs to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And notice it says “the name,” singular, not “the names.” Three persons, one name.
Verse Deep Dive: Philippians 2:9–11, The Name Above Every Name
Philippians 2 is among the oldest Christian hymns we have, and it ends with one of the most daring sentences in the New Testament:
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9–11)
Three things in the Greek change how this reads.
1. The name was given as a gift. The verb behind “given” is echarisato, from charizomai, the verb form of charis, grace. The name above every name is not something Jesus grabbed. The verses just before say He “made himself of no reputation” and “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7–8). Having emptied Himself of every claim, Jesus is graced with the highest name there is. That is the reverse of Babel, where people tried to “make us a name” (Genesis 11:4).
2. Paul is quoting Isaiah, and Isaiah is quoting God. “Every knee should bow… every tongue should confess” comes from Isaiah 45:23, where God says: “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” In Isaiah, that bowing belongs to God alone. The verses around it say so again and again: “there is no God else beside me.” Paul takes a promise that every knee will bow to God and says those knees bow at the name of Jesus.
3. The name is “Lord.” What is the name above every name? The hymn tells us in the next line: every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Kyrios, Lord. That was the word the Greek Old Testament used in place of God’s own personal name, the four Hebrew letters YHWH that English Bibles print as “the LORD.” For a first-century Jewish reader, that was no ordinary title. It was the Name.
And the whole thing ends “to the glory of God the Father.” Honoring the name of Jesus takes nothing away from God. It is exactly what God intended.
Why the Original Word Changes the Meaning
Most of us end our prayers with “in Jesus’ name, amen.” Knowing what onoma carries changes what that phrase means.
Jesus promises, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14). Read with an English sense of “name,” that can sound like a formula: add the right words at the end and the request goes through. Read with onoma, it means something else. To ask in someone’s name is to ask as their representative, for what they would want, under their authority. An ambassador who signs a treaty “in the name of” a king can’t use that seal for his own shopping list.
Luke records what happens when people treat the name as a magic word. In Acts 19, some traveling exorcists see what Paul does and try to copy it: “Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth” (Acts 19:13). They say the right name, and it goes badly. “And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” (Acts 19:15). The man attacks them, and “they fled out of that house naked and wounded” (Acts 19:16).
The name worked for Peter in Acts 3 and failed for the exorcists in Acts 19, and the words weren’t the difference. Peter belonged to the One whose name he spoke. The sons of Sceva were borrowing a name that didn’t belong to them. Peter explains it himself: “his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong” (Acts 3:16). The power is in the person, reached through trust. It isn’t in the sound of the word.
That is the good news hidden in this word. You don’t need the right formula to pray. You need to belong to Jesus, and then His name is yours to pray in.
Living It Out
Next time you say “in Jesus’ name” at the end of a prayer, stop for one second before the “amen” and ask: Is this something Jesus would put His name to? Some of your requests will pass easily. Some might change as you ask. A few you might quietly set down. That isn’t a loss of faith. It’s what praying in His name has always meant.
Then try it the other way. If you’re baptized “into the name,” you belong to that name, and the people around you are reading it on you. Where will you carry that name today?
Journal Prompts
- Acts 1:15 counts believers as “names,” and Revelation 3:4 speaks of “a few names even in Sardis.” What does it mean to you that in Scripture you are a name, a whole person, known and counted, and not just a number?
- Think about the last thing you asked for “in Jesus’ name.” If praying in His name means praying as His representative, would that prayer change? How?
- Philippians 2:9 says Jesus was graced with the name above every name after He “made himself of no reputation.” Where are you working hardest to protect your reputation, and what would it look like to trust God with it instead?
Prayer
Lord, thank You that I am not just a number to You but a name, known and counted. I confess I have sometimes used Jesus’ name like a password at the end of my prayers. Teach me what it means to ask in that name: to want what Jesus wants, to speak as one who belongs to Him, and to trust the person behind the word. Jesus emptied Himself and was given the name above every name. Help me stop grasping for a name of my own and bow gladly at His. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Share This
If this study helped you, here are two posts you can copy and share:
- “In Jesus’ name” isn’t a password. The Greek word onoma carries authority: to ask in His name means to ask as His representative, for what He wants. That changes how I pray. [Post URL]
- Matthew 28:19 says to baptize “into the name” (eis to onoma), the same phrase ancient receipts used for money credited to someone’s account. Baptism means you belong to someone. [Post URL]
FAQ
What does “onoma” mean in Greek?
Onoma (ὄνομα, Strong’s G3686) means “name.” In the New Testament it goes beyond a label to mean a person’s character, reputation, and authority. Sometimes it means the person themselves, as in Acts 1:15, where believers are counted as “names.”
What does it mean to pray “in Jesus’ name”?
In John 14:13–14, Jesus tells His disciples to ask “in my name.” Because onoma carries authority, this means praying as Jesus’ representatives, in line with His character and purposes. It isn’t a formula that guarantees a request. Acts 19:13–16 shows people using the name as a magic word, and it fails.
What is “the name which is above every name” in Philippians 2:9?
Philippians 2:11 answers it: every tongue confesses that “Jesus Christ is Lord.” The Greek word is Kyrios, the word the Greek Old Testament used in place of God’s personal name. Paul also applies Isaiah 45:23, where every knee bows to God, to the name of Jesus.
Is onoma related to the English word “name”?
Yes. Greek onoma, Latin nomen, and English name all come from the same ancient Indo-European root. Onoma also gives English words like anonymous, synonym, pseudonym, and onomatopoeia.
Know the name by knowing the One who carries it. 30 Days Walking with Jesus offers 30 days of short, easy-to-read devotionals that bring Jesus’ words, actions, and love to life, whether you’re just starting out or rekindling a faith that has gone quiet. Start with the free 3-day sample:
