FYI, just posting this here since I had trouble finding an answer. Thought you might enjoy the question: Why was it so important that John the Baptist was named ‘John’? The angel demanded it in Luke chapter 1. Upon circumcision of the baby and official naming it caused a stir since none of the relatives had the name. One scholar speculated that NOT taking the name of a relative symbolized he was the end of the priestly line, the last of the old prophets and the last of the old priests, a “believer” called to something new. But still, why John? I’m not happy with the answer I found but here it is: “John” is the Greek version. All the Jews back then also had Hebrew names. The Hebrew for it is ” Yochanan” which means “God is gracious.” Hmm. I wish it were foretold in the Bible somewhere. But it kind of make sense, because the next person to come along was Jesus. This is also the Greek version of HIS name. The Hebrew version is Jeshua, a variant of Joshua, which comes from Yehoshua, which means “God saves.” So, together, they amount to “God is gracious, God saves.” I would appreciate hearing any other insights.