MOSES

(male) Biblical name, the English form of the name of the patriarch (Moshe in Hebrew) who led the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 4). His name is thought to be of Egyptian origin, most probably from the same root as that found in the second element of names such as Tutmosis and Rameses, where it means ‘born of (a certain god)’. Various Hebrew etymologies have been proposed, beginning with the biblical ‘saved (from the water)’ (Exodus 2:10), but none is convincing. It is now mainly a Jewish name, although until the mid-20th century it also enjoyed considerable popularity among Christians in England, especially among Puritans and Nonconformists.