Names  ·  Two Traditions

Biblical Names in Islam

Moses is Musa. Jesus is Isa. Mary is Maryam. The Quran and the Bible share a great many of the same people under names that have drifted apart in the telling. Here are 23 of them, with what each name means in Arabic and where the two accounts part company.

23 names

On this page
23 shared names
Pairs like
Joseph and Yusuf, Noah and Nuh, John and Yahya
Why they differ
English came through Greek and Latin; Arabic came direct
Same person?
Yes, in almost every case
Each entry links to
The full Arabic name page with meaning and Ilm ul Huroof

Are these the same people? Yes. Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic are related languages, so the names are cognates rather than translations. What separates Joseph from Yusuf is mostly the route each word took: one through Greek and Latin, the other straight into Arabic.

The names, side by side

EnglishArabicRead asIn Islam
AbrahamإِبْرَاهِيمIbrahimProphet, Khalilullah
IsaacإِسْحَاقIshaqProphet
IshmaelإِسْمَاعِيلIsmailProphet
JacobيَعْقُوبYaqubProphet
JosephيُوسُفYusufProphet
MosesمُوسَىMusaProphet, spoken to directly
AaronهَارُونHarunProphet
DavidدَاوُدDawudProphet
SolomonسُلَيْمَانSulaymanProphet
JobأَيُّوبAyyubProphet
JonahيُونُسYunusProphet
NoahنُوحNuhProphet
LotلُوطLutProphet
ElijahإِلْيَاسIlyasProphet
EnochإِدْرِيسIdrisProphet
ZachariahزَكَرِيَّاZakariyyaProphet
JohnيَحْيَىYahyaProphet
JesusعِيسَىIsaProphet, al-Masih
MaryمَرْيَمMaryamNamed in the Quran
EveحَوَّاءHawwaNot named in the Quran
MichaelمِيكَائِيلMikailAngel
Avicennaابْن سِينَاIbn SinaScholar
Averroesابْن رُشْدIbn RushdScholar

Why the same name sounds different

Nothing was translated. Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic are sisters, and a name that exists in one usually exists in the others already, changed by the regular sound shifts between them. Yosef, Yausep and Yusuf are not three names for one man. They are one name in three accents.

English is the outlier. It received these names at second and third hand, through Greek scribes who had no sh sound and no way to end a masculine name without an s, and then through Latin, and then through a French-inflected medieval English. Yeshua became Iesous, then Iesus, then Jesus. Yochanan became Ioannes, then Johannes, then John. Arabic skipped all of that, which is why Yahya and John look unrelated and are not.

Where the accounts part company

Sharing a person is not sharing a story. The Quran gives Yusuf a single unbroken chapter where Genesis spreads him over fourteen. It has Harun warning against the golden calf rather than making it. It does not name Hawwa at all. And on Isa it agrees with the Gospels about the virgin birth and the miracles while parting from them on the question of divinity, which is the one difference that is doctrinal rather than narrative.

Reading the pairs side by side is the fastest way to see both what the traditions hold in common and where, precisely, they stop agreeing. Each name below opens onto that comparison.

Questions people ask

Are the Biblical prophets the same people in Islam?
For the most part, yes. The Quran names many of the same figures the Hebrew Bible and the Gospels name, and treats them as one line of prophets carrying one message. The accounts differ in detail and, in the case of Isa, in doctrine, but the identification of the person is not in dispute.
Why do the names sound different?
Because they travelled by different roads. Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic are related languages, so Yosef, Yausep and Yusuf are the same name with regular sound changes between them. English received these names through Greek and Latin, which added their own endings and shifted sounds: Yeshua became Iesous, then Iesus, then Jesus. Arabic received them directly. The distance between Joseph and Yusuf is mostly the distance between two routes.
Can Muslims name children after Biblical prophets?
Yes, and most do. Muhammad, Ibrahim, Yusuf, Musa, Isa, Maryam and Yahya are among the most-given names in the Muslim world. The Arabic form is normally used rather than the English one.
Is Jesus in the Quran?
Yes, by the name Isa, named more than two dozen times. The Quran affirms his virgin birth, his miracles and his return, and holds him to be a prophet and servant of God rather than divine.
Which figures are in the Bible but not the Quran, and the other way round?
The Quran names prophets the Bible does not, including Hud, Salih and Shuaib, sent to the peoples of Arabia. The Bible names many figures the Quran does not mention at all. Where a name appears in both, this page links the two forms.

Every pair

Abraham and IbrahimIsaac and IshaqIshmael and IsmailJacob and YaqubJoseph and YusufMoses and MusaAaron and HarunDavid and DawudSolomon and SulaymanJob and AyyubJonah and YunusNoah and NuhLot and LutElijah and IlyasEnoch and IdrisZachariah and ZakariyyaJohn and YahyaJesus and IsaMary and MaryamEve and HawwaMichael and MikailAvicenna and Ibn SinaAverroes and Ibn Rushd

Or browse names by meaning, A to Z, or find a name.