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Saints

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › St. Mary and the Saints › Saints

The question

What is the meaning of the name Tobias and Raphael?

The answer

Tobias is a Hebrew name tobyyahu, where toby means good or goodness and yahu is the Hebrew for Yahweh" or "Jehovah" which means "God" so the name means "Yahweh is good"; or "God is good."

Raphael is also a Hebrew name where Rapha means "has healed" and the last syllable "el" (common in many Hebrew names such as Michael, Gabriel, Samuel etc...) in Hebrew means God. So the name Raphael means "God has healed."

As for the word Raphy and Toby I think they are just nicknames abbreviated from the original names.

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

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Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 543 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.