Names of the N.T. Apostles -from Institute Manual

GIVEN NAME	ALTERNATE NAMES OR SPECIAL MEANINGS	FAMILY FACTS
Simon	Given a special name by Jesus: Cephas (Syriac) or Petros (Greek) which means “stone or rock.” See John 1:42 .	He was the son of a man named Jonah and brother to Andrew. ( Matthew 16:17 ; John 1:42 )
James	James is an English form of the Hebrew Jacob. The Hebrew means “supplanter.” He and his brother John were called Boanerges, meaning “sons of thunder.”	Son of Zebedee and brother of John. ( Matthew 4:21 )
John	The name means “Jehovah is gracious,” from the Hebrew Johanan.	Son of Zebedee and brother of James. ( Matthew 4:21 )
Andrew	The name means “manly.”	Son of Jonah and brother of Simon Peter. ( Matthew 4:18 )
Philip	The name comes from the Greek and means “lover of horses.”	He may have been a Jewish-Greek as he was approached by the Greeks in John 12:21 .
Nathanael (Bartholomew)	Nathanael means “gift of God,” and is from the Hebrew.	He was likely the son of a man named Tholomew.
Thomas	He is also called Didymus, from the Greek, meaning “twin.” See John 11:16 ; 20:24 .	Didymus may have been his surname.
Matthew	A Hebrew word meaning “gift of Jehovah”; he was also called “Levi” and “the Publican.”	He was the son of Alphaeus. ( Mark 2:14 ) Brother of James the less.
James	Called “the less” to distinguish him from James above.	He was the son of Alphaeus and brother of Matthew.
Jude	This is the Hebrew form of the Greek Judas. He is also called “not Iscariot” to distinguish him from the traitor Judas ( John 14:22 ), Lebbaeus (Arabic for “root”), and Thaddaeus (Hebrew root for “heart”).
Simon	Called “the Canaanite” ( Matthew 10:4 ) and “the Zealot” ( Luke 6:15 ). The Hebrew word for zealots was Kananim. This would explain the title “Canaanite.”	He probably had been a member of the Hebrew group which advocated fierce allegiance to Israel and violent overthrow of Roman domination.
Judas	Called Iscariot, probably because he was from the village of Kerioth ( Joshua 15:24 ).	He was the son of Simon. ( John 6:71 ; 12:4 ).