The Apostles’ Names — Pronunciation Guide

How to Pronounce the Twelve Apostles' Names

Jesus called twelve disciples to be his apostles, and their names have echoed through two thousand years of Christian history. Most English speakers know these names from childhood — but many have only ever read them on a page, never heard them spoken confidently at full speed. Bartholomew (bar-THOL-oh-myoo) is not “Barth-uh-loo.” Thaddaeus (THAD-ee-uhs) trips readers mid-sentence. Even “Thomas” carries a nuance: his Aramaic name meant “twin,” and his Greek name Didymus means exactly the same thing.

Greek Names, Aramaic Roots

Most of the apostles were Galilean Jews who spoke Aramaic as their first language. Their names come down to us in Greek transliterations: Petros (Peter) for the Aramaic Cephas, Iakobos (James) for the Hebrew Ya’akov (Jacob), Ioannes (John) for Yochanan (God is gracious). Philip and Andrew are actually Greek names — not unusual in first-century Galilee, which had been under Greek cultural influence for 300 years.

Matthias and Paul

After Judas Iscariot, the disciples chose Matthias by lot to restore the number to twelve (Acts 1:26). Paul — originally Saul of Tarsus — became the apostle to the Gentiles and wrote nearly half the New Testament. Both appear below.

Why the Four Lists of Apostles Don’t Quite Match

The four NT lists of the twelve apostles (Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16, Acts 1:13) all give different orderings and occasionally different names — which has caused centuries of debate. The clearest case: “Lebbaeus whose surname was Thaddaeus” (Matthew 10:3 KJV) appears as “Judas the son of James” in Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13. Most scholars conclude these are the same person under different names or appellations. Simon is distinguished in every list as “the Zealot” or “Simon Zelotes” — he was either a member of the Jewish Zealot movement or someone with a zealous temperament; scholars disagree. Understanding these variants matters when reading Acts aloud: “Judas son of James” is not Judas Iscariot, and the text always distinguishes them.

Name variant quick reference:

• Thaddaeus (Matthew/Mark) = Judas son of James (Luke/Acts) — same apostle
• Simon Peter = Cephas (Aramaic for “rock”) — Greek Petros = Aramaic Kepha
• Matthew (Matthew 10:3) = Levi son of Alphaeus (Mark 2:14) — the tax collector
• Bartholomew = possibly Nathanael (John 1:45-49) — “bar Ptolemy” may be a patronymic, Nathanael a given name