Who is the most mentioned person in the Bible? The top 25 names, counted
The most mentioned person in the Bible by name is David: 1,139 times in the KJV, ahead of Jesus and Moses. See the top 25 names and how we counted.
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The most mentioned person in the Bible by name is David: his name appears 1,139 times in the King James Version, in 968 verses, by our count. Jesus is second by name with 983, and Moses third with 848. But if you add the title "Christ", Jesus is named in 1,216 verses, more than David. And God, named as "God" or "Lord", appears more than 12,000 times.
So the answer depends on the question. Most mentioned human by a single name: David. Most mentioned once you include his title: Jesus. Most mentioned of all: God.
We counted every capitalized name in the KJV text used in the Bible Academy app. Below are the top 25 names, the most mentioned women, and an honest explanation of what a name count can and can't tell you, because several people in the Bible share the same name.
The 25 most mentioned names in the Bible
We counted how many times each personal name appears in the KJV, including possessives ("David's" counts as David). The table excludes names that mostly refer to a tribe, nation or place (like Israel, Judah and Ephraim) and the title Pharaoh, which belongs to several kings. The "with other names" column adds a person's other names where they're clearly the same person.
| Rank | Name | Times named (KJV) | With other names | Who it refers to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David | 1,139 | King David (also in "son of David" and "city of David") | |
| 2 | Jesus | 983 | Christ: 571 more | Jesus of Nazareth in 980; Joshua twice, and Jesus Justus once |
| 3 | Moses | 848 | Moses | |
| 4 | Saul | 425 | King Saul in about 398; Saul of Tarsus 25; a king of Edom 2 | |
| 5 | Jacob | 377 | plus Israel, his other name | The patriarch, often standing for his descendants |
| 6 | Aaron | 350 | Aaron the high priest | |
| 7 | Solomon | 306 | King Solomon | |
| 8 | Abraham | 250 | Abram: 61, total 311 | Abraham |
| 9 | Joseph | 250 | Mostly Jacob's son; also Mary's husband, Joseph of Arimathea and others | |
| 10 | Joshua | 216 | Mostly Moses' successor; also a high priest after the exile | |
| 11 | Paul | 163 | Saul: 25, total 188 | The apostle Paul |
| 12 | Peter | 162 | Cephas: 6, and often Simon | The apostle Peter |
| 13 | Jeremiah | 147 | Jeremy, Jeremias in the NT | Mostly the prophet; several other men |
| 14 | Joab | 146 | David's army commander | |
| 15 | Samuel | 142 | The prophet Samuel | |
| 16 | John | 133 | John the Baptist, John the apostle, John Mark and others | |
| 17 | Isaac | 132 | Isaac, son of Abraham | |
| 18 | Hezekiah | 128 | Mostly King Hezekiah of Judah | |
| 19 | Jonathan | 121 | Mostly Saul's son; several other men | |
| 20 | Absalom | 109 | David's son | |
| 21 | Jeroboam | 104 | Two kings of Israel, Jeroboam I and Jeroboam II | |
| 22 | Esau | 100 | Jacob's brother, often standing for Edom | |
| 23 | Elijah | 69 | Elias: 30, total 99 | The prophet Elijah |
| 24 | Ahab | 94 | Mostly King Ahab of Israel | |
| 25 | Jehoshaphat | 85 | Mostly King Jehoshaphat of Judah |
Just outside the top 25: Daniel (83), Simon (76, several men), Eleazar (74), Balaam (63), Abner (63), Zedekiah (62), and Job, Asa, Nebuchadnezzar and Mordecai (60 each).
The KJV's New Testament sometimes uses the Greek forms of Old Testament names: Elias for Elijah, Esaias for Isaiah, Jeremy and Jeremias for Jeremiah, Noe for Noah, and Jonas for Jonah. If you search the KJV for "Elijah" alone, you'll miss Elias on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:3).
Every name in this table with a link has a full character page in the app: life in order, key moments, strengths, weaknesses and lessons for today.
David vs Jesus: who is mentioned more?
By the plain count of a single name, David wins: 1,139 against 983 in the KJV. That surprises many people until they see where David's name appears. The Bible tells his story at length in 1 and 2 Samuel, retells it in 1 Chronicles, credits him in 73 psalm titles, and keeps referring back to him for centuries.
| Where "David" appears (KJV) | Times |
|---|---|
| 1 Samuel | 292 |
| 2 Samuel | 286 |
| 1 Chronicles | 190 |
| Psalms | 88 |
| 1 Kings | 78 |
| 2 Chronicles | 74 |
| New Testament (all books) | 59 |
Many of the New Testament mentions are about Jesus: "son of David" is a title for the Messiah (Matthew 1:1 begins "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David").
Jesus, on the other hand, has a name and a title. "Christ" (Greek for Messiah, "anointed one") appears 571 times in the KJV. Count the verses that name him as "Jesus" or "Christ" and you get 1,216, against 968 verses that name David. And the New Testament speaks of him constantly as "the Lord", "the Son", "the Son of man", "the Lamb" and "he", none of which a name count can capture.
| Where "Jesus" appears (KJV) | Times |
|---|---|
| John | 256 |
| Matthew | 172 |
| Luke | 100 |
| Mark | 97 |
| Acts | 68 |
| Romans | 38 |
So a fair answer to "who is mentioned most?" is: David is the most frequently named person, and Jesus is the central person of the whole story, mentioned by name and title more than anyone. Jesus himself said the Scriptures "testify of me" (John 5:39).
What about God?
If "person" includes God, nothing else comes close. In the KJV text in the app, "God" (capitalized) appears about 4,400 times and "Lord" (capitalized) about 7,700 times, for more than 12,000 in total. Almost all of these refer to God. Many printed KJV Bibles show "LORD" in small capitals when it translates God's personal name in Hebrew (YHWH); the ASV renders that name as "Jehovah", which appears about 6,900 times in the ASV text.
A name count is a crude tool for God, too: the Bible also calls him Father, Almighty, Most High, Holy One, Shepherd, and more.
The most mentioned women in the Bible
| Rank | Name | Times named (KJV) | Who it refers to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarah | 59 (38 as Sarah, 17 as Sarai, 4 as Sara) | Abraham's wife |
| 2 | Esther | 56 | Queen Esther |
| 3 | Mary | 54 | At least six different women |
| 4 | Rachel | 48 (including Rahel once) | Jacob's wife |
| 5 | Leah | 34 | Jacob's first wife |
| 6 | Rebekah | 31 (including Rebecca once) | Isaac's wife |
| 7 | Jezebel | 23 | Ahab's queen, and a false prophetess in Revelation 2:20 |
| 8 | Tamar | 22 | Three different women (two more uses name a place) |
| 9 | Naomi | 21 | Ruth's mother-in-law |
| 10 | Michal | 18 | Saul's daughter, David's wife |
For more on these women and others, try our women of the Bible trivia, with every answer tied to its verse.
Mary is the interesting case. The 54 mentions are split between at least six women: Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, Mary the mother of James and Joses, Mary the mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12), and a Mary in Rome (Romans 16:6). No single Mary comes near Sarah's or Esther's count, even though the mother of Jesus is arguably the most honored woman in the New Testament (Luke 1:48).
Esther's 56 mentions all sit in one book, Esther. Sarah's are spread from Genesis to Isaiah 51:2 and on into the New Testament, where the KJV spells her name "Sara" and holds her up as a model of faith (Hebrews 11:11, 1 Peter 3:6). One "Sarah" in Numbers 26:46 is a different woman, a daughter of Asher, and we left her out.
How we counted, and the limits of a name count
Here is exactly what we did, so you can judge the numbers:
- We took the KJV text in the app: 66 books, 31,102 verses.
- We split every verse into words and kept capitalized words that match a name, including possessives (David's) and all-capital forms (as in "JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS", John 19:19).
- We counted every occurrence, so a verse that names David twice counts twice. We also counted verses separately.
- We checked samples by hand to see who each name refers to.
And here are the limits:
- Shared names. The Bible has many men named Jonathan, Joseph, John, Simon and Zechariah, and several Marys. A string count can't tell them apart. We've noted the main ones in the tables, but the numbers are for the name, not always one person.
- Other names. Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel, Saul is also Paul, Simon is also Peter and Cephas. We've added clear cases in the "with other names" column. "Israel" is left out because the vast majority of its roughly 2,600 uses mean the nation.
- Pronouns and titles. "He", "the king", "the prophet", "the Son of man" aren't counted. A careful reader would say Jesus is referred to far more often than any count of the word "Jesus" shows.
- Translations. Other translations spell some names differently (the ASV uses "Joshua" where the KJV says "Jesus" in Hebrews 4:8, for example) and sometimes add or remove a name where the original says "he". Their totals will differ a little.
We used the same method for words like love, faith and grace in how many times love is mentioned in the Bible. If you want to check a count yourself, a Bible Gateway search for David in the KJV lists every verse; just remember it counts verses, not occurrences.
Why the most mentioned names are worth studying
The top of this list reads like the spine of the Bible's story: Abraham and the promise, Moses and the exodus, David and the kingdom, Jesus and the fulfillment. Some of them also lived astonishingly long lives; see our list of the oldest people in the Bible. Reading the lives of these people in order is one of the best ways to see how the whole Bible fits together. Our guide on how to do a character study in the Bible shows a simple method, and the Bible characters page lists every profile in the app.
You can also test yourself: there's a quiz for each character, like the David quiz and the Moses quiz. Here are three questions on 1 Samuel, where David's name appears more than in any other book:
Quick quiz: 1 Samuel
What is the name of Samuel’s mother?
Hannah, one of Elkanah’s two wives, conceived and bore a son whom she named Samuel: “Because I have asked him of the LORD.” Peninnah was Elkanah’s other wife. 1 Samuel 1:20
What does Samuel finally answer when the LORD calls him in the night?
On Eli’s advice, Samuel answers: “Speak; for thy servant heareth.” “Here am I; for thou calledst me” was what he had said to Eli. 1 Samuel 3:10
Which son of Saul becomes David’s faithful friend?
“The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” Abner, by contrast, is the commander of Saul’s army. 1 Samuel 18:1
There are many more questions like these in Bible Academy, each with its explanation and verse. Start free, no card needed.
In the app, each of the 100+ character profiles ends with a short quiz, and every answer cites its verse.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the most mentioned person in the Bible?
By name, David is the most mentioned person in the Bible: 1,139 times in the King James Version, in 968 verses. Jesus is second with 983 mentions of the name "Jesus", but counting the title "Christ" as well, he is named in 1,216 verses. If God counts as a person, "God" and "Lord" together appear more than 12,000 times.
How many times is Jesus mentioned in the Bible?
The name "Jesus" appears 983 times in the KJV, by our count, mostly in the Gospels and Acts. Three of those refer to other people: Joshua in Acts 7:45 and Hebrews 4:8, and Jesus called Justus in Colossians 4:11. "Christ" appears 571 times, and 1,216 verses mention Jesus or Christ.
How many times is David mentioned in the Bible?
David's name appears 1,139 times in the King James Version, in 968 verses. Most are in 1 Samuel (292), 2 Samuel (286) and 1 Chronicles (190). It appears 59 times in the New Testament, often in the title "son of David" for Jesus. David is the only person in the Bible with that name.
Who is the most mentioned woman in the Bible?
Sarah, Abraham's wife, is the most frequently named woman in the KJV: 59 times, counting her earlier name Sarai and the New Testament spelling Sara. Esther is second with 56, all in the book of Esther. Mary appears 54 times, but those mentions are shared by about six different women. Rachel (48) and Leah (34) follow.
Who is mentioned most in the New Testament?
Jesus is by far the most mentioned person in the New Testament: the name "Jesus" appears 983 times and "Christ" 571 times in the KJV. Among others, Paul is named 163 times (plus 25 as Saul) and Peter 162 times (plus Simon and Cephas). John, several different men, is named 133 times.