Moses (given name)

Moses (Greek: Μωϋσῆς),^{[NB 1]} Moishe (Yiddish: משה),^{[NB 2]} Moshe (Hebrew: משה),^{[NB 3]} or Movses (Armenian: Մովսես) ^{[NB 4]} is a male given name, after the biblical figure Moses.

According to the Torah, the name "Moses" comes from the Hebrew verb, meaning "to pull out/draw out" [of water], and the infant Moses was given this name by Pharaoh's daughter after she rescued him from the Nile (Exodus 2:10)^[1] Since the rise of Egyptology and decipherment of hieroglyphs, it was postulated that the name of Moses, with a similar pronunciation as the Hebrew Moshe, is the Egyptian word for Son, with Pharaoh names such as Thutmose and Ramesses roughly translating to "son of Thoth" and "son of Ra," respectively.^[2]

There are various ways of pronouncing the Hebrew name of Moses, for example in Ashkenazi western European it would be pronounced Mausheh, in Eastern Europe Moysheh, in northern Islamic countries Moussa, and in Yemen Mesha. The nicknames are accordingly (usually with emphasis on the first sylable) Moishe, Moysh, Maish, Moeez, Mo, Moyshee, Musie (pronounced Mooziyeh).

Jews named with the Hebrew name of Moses, commonly held a similar name in the language of the countries where they were born or lived. In Europe they were named Maurici, Maurice, Morris, Mauricio. In Arabic speaking countries, along with Moussa - the Arabic name for Moses, they were also named Mustafa.^[3]

People with this name[]

Ancient times[]

Moses, the most important figure in the Torah
Moses of Alexandria, alchemist

Medieval[]

Moses (bishop of the Arabs) (c. 389), saint, first Arab bishop of the Arab people
Moses the Black (330–405), saint, ascetic monk and priest in Egypt, a Desert Father
Moses of Chorene (5th century; Armenian: Մովսես Խորենացի, Movsēs Xorenac‘i), Armenian historian, "father of Armenian history"
Moses of Kalankatuyk (7th century; Armenian: Մովսէս Կաղանկատուացի, Movses Kaġankatvac’i), Armenian historian
Moses the Calm (8th century; Arabic: موسى الكاظم, Mūsá al-Kādhim), Twelver Shia imam
Moses the Hungarian (990s–1043; Russian: Моисей Угрин, Moisey Ugrin), Russian saint
Moses ibn Ezra (1070–1138), Jewish, Spanish philosopher
Moses Kimhi (died c. 1190), medieval rabbi from Hachmei Provence, Occitania (modern France)
Moses Maimonides (1135–1204), Spanish rabbi, physician, and philosopher
Moses de León (c. 1250–1305; Hebrew: משה בן שם-טוב, Moshe ben Shem-Tov), Spanish rabbi who is thought to have composed the Zohar
Moses Shirvani, Jewish writer who authored a Hebrew/Aramaic–Persian dictionary in 1459

Early modern to 18th century[]

Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (1522–1570; Hebrew: משה קורדובירו, Moshe Kordovero), a central figure in the historical development of Kabbalah, also known as Ramak (רמ״ק)
Moses Holden (1777–1864), English astronomer
Moses Isserles (1530–1572; Hebrew: משה בן ישראל איסרלישׂ, Polish: Mojżesz ben Israel Isserles), Polish Ashkenazic rabbi and talmudist
Moses Amyraut (1596–1664; also Moïse Amyraut), French theologian and metaphysician
Moyses Hill (died 1629), English army officer who settled in Ireland
Moses Cordovero (17th century), Italian physician
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (1707–1746; Hebrew: משה חיים לוצאטו), Italian rabbi and poet, also known as Ramchal (רמח״ל)
Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), German Jewish philosopher
Moses Robinson (1741–1813), judge, governor, and senator from Vermont
Moses Cleaveland (1754–1806), surveyor of the Connecticut Land Company
Moses Sofer (1762–1839; Yiddish: משה סופר), a leading Orthodox rabbi of European Jewry in the early 19th century
Moses Montefiore (1784–1885), sheriff of London

Modern[]

Moses Alexander (1853–1932), former governor of Idaho
Moisés Alou (born 1966), American baseball player
Moshe Arens (1925–2019), Israeli politician
Moses Barrett III (born 1973), African–American hip hop artist, better known by his stage name Petey Pablo
Moshe Bejski (1921–2007; Hebrew: משה בייסקי), Israeli judge
Mosè Bianchi (1840–1904), Jewish-Italian painter
Moysés Blás (born 1937), Brazilian Olympic basketball medallist
Moses Bloom (1833–1893), American politician, the first Jewish mayor of a major American city (Iowa City, Iowa)
Moshe Brener (born 1971), Israeli basketball player
Moses Brown (basketball) (born 1999), American basketball player
Moses Costa (1950–2020), Bangladeshi Roman Catholic prelate
Moshe Czerniak (1910–1984; Hebrew: משה צ'רניאק), Israeli chess master
Moshe Dayan (1915–1981; Hebrew: משה דיין), Israeli military leader and politician
Moses Dyer (born 1997), New Zealand association footballer
Moses J. Epstein (c. 1911–1960), New York assemblyman
Moses Jacob Ezekiel (1844–1917), American sculptor
Moshe Gutnick, Australian Orthodox Chabad rabbi
Moses Harrison (1932–2013), American jurist
Moses Hess (1812–1875), French-Jewish Zionist
Moses Hogan (1957–2003), American composer and arranger of spirituals
Moe Howard (born Moses Horwitz; 1897–1975), one of the Three Stooges
Moses Hurvitz (1844–1910), Galician-born Jewish playwright
[uk] (1898–1976), French Ukrainian-born Jewish physicist and radiochemist
Moses Isegawa (born 1963), Ugandan author
Moshe Ivgy (born 1953; Hebrew: משה איבגי), Israeli actor
Moshe Kasher (born 1979), American comedian
Moshe Katsav (born 1945; Hebrew: משה קצב), Israeli-Iranian president of Israel
Moshe Kaveh (born 1943; Hebrew: משה קוה), Israeli physicist and former President of Bar-Ilan University
Moses Kotane (1905-1978), South African anti-apartheid activist, Secretary-General of the South African Communist Party from 1939-1978
Moshe Kotlarsky (Hebrew: משה קוטלרסקי), Chabad rabbi and spokesman
Moses Malone (1955–2015), American basketball player
Moshe Many, Israeli urologist; President of Tel Aviv University, and President of Ashkelon Academic College
Moses Martin, the son of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin
Moses Mbye (born 1993), Australian Rugby League player of Gambian descent
Moshe Mizrahi (basketball) (born 1980; Hebrew: משה מזרחי), Israeli basketball player
Moša Pijade (1890–1957; Serbian Cyrillic: Мoшa Пијаде), prominent Yugoslav communist and statesman of Sephardic Jewish origin
Moshe Ponte (born 1956; Hebrew: משה פונטה), Israeli Olympic judoka and President of the Israel Judo Association
Moshe Prywes (1914–1998; Hebrew: משה פריבס), Polish-Israeli physician and educator; first President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Moses Regular (born 1971), American football player
Moshe Romano (born 1946), Israeli footballer
Moses Rosen (1912–1994), Romanian rabbi
Moses Josef Rubin, (1892–1980), Hasidic Jewish cleric in Romania and, later, in New York City
Moses Russell, (1888–1946) Welsh footballer
Moshe Safdie (born 1938), Israeli-Canadian architect
Moshe Sharett (1894–1965; Hebrew: משה שרת, born Moshe Shertok, משה שרתוק, Моше́ Черток), Israeli Prime Minister, 1954–1955
Moshe Sharon (born 1937; Hebrew: משה שרון), Israeli historian of Islam
Moses Sherman (1853–1932), American land developer in Arizona and California
Moses Sithole (born 1964), South African serial killer and rapist
Moshe Y. Vardi (born 1954; Hebrew: משה ורדי), Israeli computer scientist and professor of Computer Science at Rice University
Moshe Wallach (1866–1957), German-Jewish physician; founder and director of Shaare Zedek Hospital, Jerusalem
Moshe Weinberg (1939–1972; Hebrew: משה ויינברג), Israeli Olympic wrestling coach killed in the Munich massacre
Moshe Weinkrantz (born 1954), Israeli basketball coach
Moses M. Weinstein (1912–2007), American politician
Moshe Wilensky (1910–1997; Hebrew: משה וילנסקי), Polish-born Israeli composer
Moshe Ya'alon (born 1950; Hebrew: משה יעלון), Israeli general and politician

Fictional characters[]

Moses the raven in Animal Farm
Moses E. Herzog, title character in Saul Bellow's Herzog

Animals[]

Moses (horse), a 19th-century British Thoroughbred

Other uses[]

Moishe's, a steakhouse and supermarket food product brand from Montreal, Canada
Moshe's, a chain of restaurants and cafés in Mumbai, India

Notes[]

^ from Latin and Greek
^ from Yiddish
^ from Modern Hebrew
^ from Armenian

References[]

^ Exodus 2:10
^ Hanks & Hodges, Oxford Dictionary of Names, page 377
^ Maurici Gotlieb, Ezra Mendelson chapter 1, Zalman Shazar Center Publishing (Hebrew National Library card)

Bibliography[]

Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges, Oxford Dictionary of Names, (1988), Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-211592-8