AARON JORDAN

Biblical name, borne by the brother of Moses, who was appointed by God to be Moses' spokesman and became the first High Priest of the Israelites (Exodus 4:14–16, 7:1–2). It is of uncertain origin and meaning: most probably, like Moses, of Egyptian rather than Hebrew origin. The traditional derivation from Hebrew har-on ‘mountain of strength’ is no more than a folk etymology. The name has been in regular use from time immemorial as a Jewish name and was taken up by the Nonconformists as a Christian name in the 16th century. Since the late 1990s it has been widely popular.

English, French, German, Polish, and Slovenian; Spanish and Hungarian (Jordán): from the Christian baptismal name Jordan. This is taken from the name of the river Jordan (Hebrew Yarden, a derivative of yarad ‘to go down’, i.e. to the Dead Sea). At the time of the Crusades it was common practice for crusaders and pilgrims to bring back flasks of water from the river in which John the Baptist had baptized people, including Christ himself, and to use it in the christening of their own children. As a result Jordan became quite a common personal name.