>>>Alexander
>>
>>That one would be Greek, AFAIK, but you're right about the others.
>>
>>BTW, it would be quite interesting to spot these classic names (both Greek and Hebrew) as they progress through other languages. For instance, Schmuel - Ismail - Samuilo - Samuel, or Stephan - Štefan - Stevan - Stepa(n) - Stipe - Stipica - Steven - István (ishtvahn, nickname Pista - pishtah) - Esteban - Estevao (is that proper Portuguese?). Or John - Jochann(es), Jean, Giovanni, Jovan, János, Janošik, Jano, Ion(el/ut), Janko, Ivan, Juan, James (is it the same name?).
>
>James is Jacob, not John.

Thanks - I always had my doubts about that name.

>And, fwiw, John and Jonathan are not the same name. John derives from the Hebrew Yochanah, while Jonathan is pretty directly Yonatan. If you know the story of the Maccabees, you may remember that Judah had brothers Yochanan and Yonatan.

Frankly, not my kind of literature :).