First Name Fashions

Do the names used in the New Testament match the ones used at that time, in that region?

First names go through fashions in countries and times and names would be hard to get right if the Gospel writers were making the stories up. Two researchers were involved in showing that the names of the New Testament are correct according to archeological records of the time and place.

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First an Israeli scholar by the name of Tal Ilan listed and counted all the names in ancient documents, engravings, scraps of papyrus, ossuaries and so on from the time period surrounding Jesus and the apostles. She came up with a list of more than 3,000 personal names used during that time and in those places. "It was as if she were compiling a phone book from ancient trash heaps." [1]

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Next, Professor Bauckham did a study on the frequency of names in the New Testament and wrote a book on this in 2007. "What he finds is that there is a remarkable correlation between the frequency of names found in the Gospels and Acts and the frequency of names found in writings outside the New Testament." [2] "Ilan’s list of the 10 most popular names matched rank for rank the list of the most frequent names in the Gospels and Acts." [1]

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References:

1. What's in a Name? New Research Supports Authenticity of Gospels
Craig Hazen — April 22, 2012)

2. Are the Gospels Based on Eyewitness Testimony? The Test of Personal Names by  Jonathan McLatchie